Baroque Period (1600-1750)

• Baroque started with Martin Luther and his protest and call for a reform of the protestant church. It ended with the death of Bach.
*The word Baroque derives from the word ‘Baraquo’ meaning irregular shaped pearl.
In the Baroque period, more of a middle class begins to form.

°Monody- Texture of independent part shift, I singer with instruments to stand out

Monody
S : ÃÄÅŶµ´
A:----------------------------
T:----------------------------
B: ----------------------------

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I. Art and Science 1475-1564
• Michelangelo (1475)- Influential because of the twisted bodies he created and the movement
• Paul Rubbens - Depicted nude bodies. The shapes of women became more irregular.

*This correlates over to music which at the time has a lot of movement and innovation; becomes more secular. Distortion of the real world is common.
Monody- shift to one single melody which stands out. There are several independent parts which equates to a defined polyphonic melody (1 song)
°New Harmonic Structures- They put roman numerals under the chord to indicate the key
°Figured Base- They would simply put the key (Roman numeral) under the measure as an indication of the key. The musician would then be free to improvise, opening up a whole new horizon in the musical world.
- Creation of root to make chords and major and minors.

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2. Basso Continuo- Renaissance texture was polyphony while baroque was more florid treble with a firm base
• Melody and Base part written out
• Upper voices- fill out the chords
• Lower instruments-Reinforcement
• Major and Minor tonalities (getting away from church mode

Dissonance was emotional color shifts which heightened the impact and was similar to the effect of word painting.

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3. Terraced Dynamics were incorporated into the music (crescendos and decrescendos) abrupt, loud to soft, or soft to loud

Eventually, works were written that demanded better playing. People had to become better at their instruments in order to excel and keep up with the pace of the composers. Virtuosos were considered the best players of their instrument. Some examples of a virtuoso player are Dominico Seariotti and Antionio Vivaldi

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4. In the 18th century Castruto was brought up by the virtuosic players and the talented composers. Vocalists began to lag behind the virtuoso instrument players and the composters.

Castruto – Vocal superstar arose. They were castrated in order to preserve their high voices which would be lost in puberty if they were mutilated.
Famous Castruto- Fernelli

There was a Giant Explosion (figuratively of course) which led to Aria –Musical selection which main purpose was to show off the talents of a single musician

*Best Example- Fat Lady at the Opera( evolution of Madrigals) who shatters the wine glass with her voice.
Aria- Solo singer to expose talent.
3. Harpsichords VS. Piano
Harpsichords: Plucked, stringed, restraint in rage
Piano: Hammered(keys), more range

° D. Ethos/ Effective
-word poetry with 1 feeling, affection
- Women now enter ranks

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5. Opera
° Overture:
- is the beginning of a piece that introduces the coming themes, and parts.
-An introduction
° Recitative
- explanation in an opera of the story plot, which is usually fast paced, talking repation.
-Types:
1. Secor: Dry with continuo
2. Accompagnato: With an accompany, and orchestra
°Librettist- Writer of text
°Libretto- Text

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- Tradgedic Lyrique: French Opera

°Jean Baptiste Lully 1630-1687, The man!

°Masque- is an English opera combined with vocalist, instrumentalist and poetry with dance

°Henry Purcell 1660- 1695
- Buried at West Minster Abby
- Worked at a girls’ school
- 1619 presents Dio and Aeneas.

°.Ground Base
- descends and repeats
- recurring Base line

6. George Frideric Handel 1685 – 1759
Was a German-English Baroque composer, who is famous for his operas, oratorios, and concerti grossi. His life and music may justly be described as "cosmopolitan": he was born in Halle, Germany, trained in Italy 91706-1710, and spent most of his life in England. His works include Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks.

°Oratorio- is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists.
Their similarities include the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is musical theatre, while oratorio is strictly a concert piece—though oratorios are sometimes staged as operas, and operas are sometimes presented in concert form. In an oratorio there is generally little or no interaction between the characters, and no props or elaborate costumes.

°Diatonic- Scales, no modes- organized key
°Cantata- a solo vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment and often containing more than one movement, based off of a poem.

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7. Pitch- Orchestra

Key C :1. Violin- Carries melody

2. Cello

3. Viola- small violin, high octave

4. Bass

Key Bb (klar): 5. Clarinet- smaller Clarinet in Eb

Key C : 6. Flute/ Pic.

7. Oboe

8. Faggot (Bassoon)

Key Bb : 9. Trumpet- has different trumpets for different keys

Key F: 10. Horn- (Cor)

Key C: 11. Trombone

12. Euphonium

13. Tuba

14. Harp

No Pitch- 15. Timpani

16. Percussion 

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8. Antonio Vivaldi 1678- 1741
He wrote four violin concertos, the 4 seasons(Le quattro stagioni) , which are accompanied by a poem. Teacher in a girl’s school
- 49 operas, oratories, cantatas, 445 concertos, 90 sonatas, and more

°Ritornello- Recurring theme

9. J. S. Bach 1665- 1750
- German family, and assimilated from other works and took part in the 18th century’s patronage system. From 1708- 1717 focused on *Organ virtuosos*. From 1717- 1723 focused on the Brandenburg Concertos. In addition he is greatly known for his genius of Fugues. He also wrote the Well- Tempered Clavier books for learning and practicing Piano.

°Fugues.
- a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts. Repeated melody, consist of:
1. Subject- beginning of Exposition
2. Episode-function of modulating for the next entry of the subject
3. Answer- other voices.

°Passacaglia- repeated base line w/ different polyphonic melodies above, usually in triple meter.

°Condenza- brief pause, untimed, soloist.
°Counter Point- Round/ Cannon, note to note.

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