Baroque era

Origination of Opera

Born in Italy.1575 - group of nobles, poets, and composers who began to meet regularly in Florence, this group was called the Camerata (fellowship or society).

Suite no. 3 in D Major Fourth Movement

Bourrée - even livelier dance, also in duple meter and shortest movement of the suite - AABB. Section A uses full orchestra, including trumpets and timpani. Section B is three times as long as section A and alternates loud tutti sections and softer passages for strings and oboe. Antonio vivaldi

First Opera

Euridice by Jacopo Peri was earlier opera preserved. Seven years later, Monteverdi composed Orfeo - the first great opera - for the court of the Gonzaga family in Mantua.

Basso Continuo

Two instruments, keyboard and low melodic instrument.

Words and Music

Very similar to the Renaissance used music to depict the meaning of specific words Heaven/hell.

Dido's Lament (When I Am laid)

by Henry Purcell. It is included in many classical music textbooks on account of its exemplary use of the passus duriusculus in the ground bass.

Tu se' morta

by Monteverdi Bc played by small organ and bass lute. Homophonic. Accompaniment is only for harmonic support to the voice. Vocal line is rhytmically free, Word painting.

Orfeo

by Monteverdi, 1607, Composed for the Mantuan court and no expense was spared to make it a lavish production. Star soloists, chorus, dancers, and a large orchestra of 40 players. Recits, arias, duets choruses and instrumental interludes.

Opera characters can be

can be gods, empresses, dukes, servants, priests, prostitutes, peasants, clowns, and cowboys.

Opera

drama that is sung to orchestral accompaniment. It entails the combination of music, acting, poetry, dance, scenery and costumes in a theatrical experience that offers excitement and emotion

Da Capo Aria

It is sung by a soloist with the accompaniment of instruments, often a small orchestra.

Oratorio

is a large-scale composition for chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra; it is usually set to a narrative text.

Fugue

is a polyphonic composition based on one main theme. Subject - the main them of a fugue.

Dance Opera

is incidental, as an ornamental interlude that contrasts with and relaxes the thrust of the plot.

Clavichord

is the simplest and at the same time the most subtle and expressive of those keyboard instruments whose sound is produced by strings rather than by pipes.

Libretto

is the text of an opera written by a librettist or dramatist.

Opera is based on

new vocal style modeled on the music of ancient Greece tragedy.

Corelli Trio Sonata

only instrumental music - sixty sonatas and twelve concertos - all for strings.

Inversion

the music notes turned upside down.

Augmentation

the original time values are lengthened.

Diminution

the original time values are shortened.

Cantata

the principal means of musical expression in the Lutheran service, and used chorales.

Trio sonatas

three melodic lines - two high and a basso continuo.

Episodes

transitional section in a fugue between presentations of the subject, which offers either new material or fragments of the subject or countersubject - but never the whole episode.

Figured Bass

Bass part with numbers.

Overture

a prelude, or purely orchestral accompaniment that opens an opera. Material comes from within the opera.

Ritornello

a short recurrent instrumental passage in a vocal composition.

Concerto grosso

a small group of soloists is pitted against a larger group of players called the tutti

Aria

a song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment, an outpouring of melody that expresses an emotional state.

Stretto

a subject is imitated before it is completed, one voice tries to catch the other.

Recitative

a vocal line that imitates the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech. Words are sung quickly and clearly, often on repeated tones.

Tutti

all players or singers. usually string instruments, with harpsichord as part of basso continuo

Supers

are extras, the people in the back ground and such.

Opera characters

are people overwhelmed by love, lust, hatred, and revenge.

Retrograde

beginning with the last note of the subject and proceeding backwards to the first.

Chorale

hymn tune that was sung to a German religious text.

Countersubject

in a fugue, the melodic idea that usually accompanies the subject.

Monteverdi

1567-1643. One of the most important composers of the early baroque era. Born in Cremona, Italy. Works bridge gap from Renaissance to Baroque and greatly influenced composers of the time.

Henry Purcell

1659 - 1695. Mastered all the music forms of the late seventeenth century England Wrote church music, secular music, small groups, songs and music for the stage.

Antonio vivaldi

1678-1741. Born in Venice - his father was a violinist at St. Mark's Cathedral. Vivaldi also trained for the priesthood. Ill health prevented him from fulfilling priesthood. 450 concerti grossi and solo concerto.

Handel

1685 - 1759 Master of Italian opera and English oratorios Born in Halle, Germany

Movement

A piece that sounds fairly complete and independent but is part of a larger composition. Fast/slow/fast

Terraced dynamics

A sudden change from full to soft, with no crescendo or decrescendo.

Suite no. 3 in D Major Second Movement

Air - one of Bach's best-loved melodies. It is scored for only strings and continuo and is serene and lyrical. Not related to dance, it is in AABB form, with the B section twice as long as the A section.

Ev'ry Valley Shall be Exalted

Aria for tenor, strings and continuo Prefaced by Comfort ye, Comfort ye my people Based on a verse from Isaiah Describes the desert highway on which God will lead his people back to their homeland Opens and closes with a string ritornello Word painting - exalted

Brandenburg concerto

Bach composed six BC. Each is written for a different and unusual combination of instruments. No. 5 uses a string orchestra and group of soloists - flute, violin and harpsichord. No. 5 has three movements - fast/slow/fast

La Primavera (Spring)

By Antonio Vivaldi Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra, Op. 8, No. 1, from the Four Seasons. One of Vivaldi's famous works. Four seasons - collection of four solo concertos for violin, string orchestra, and basso continuo. Each depicts sounds and events associated with one of the seasons - birdsong in spring and gentle breezes of summer.

Dido and Aeneas

By Purcell 1689. Written for students at a girls' boarding school. Scored for strings and harpsichord continuo. Very plain blocking. Solo roles are for women. Many dances - director of the school - dance. master.

Choral Pieces in Church

Cantata text was related to the different Gospel/Epistle readings for each Sunday and holiday.

Chorale and church cantata

Church, during Bach's time, was the social event of the week. Music was a significant part of the Lutheran service. Bach's church had a small orchestra - 14-21 players.Choir of men and boys - 12. Choral pieces could last 30 min. Believer had direct connection to God - Church in vernacular (German).

Music in Church

Churches had a choir and organ, but also had an orchestra to accompany services.

Bach

Director of the Leipzig Collegium Musicum - a student organization that gave concerts every Friday night at a coffee house Eminent teacher of organ and composition Gave organ recitals Often asked to judge the construction of organs The last year of his life - he was totally blind

Baroque

Dramatic potential of color, depth, and contrast of light and dark - create totally structured worlds. divided into three parts - early (1600-1640), middle (1640-1690) and late (1690-1750)

Melisma

Emphasized of words many rapid notes for a single syllable of text.

Baroque orchestra

Evolved into a performing group based on instruments of the violin family. Small orchestra of ten to thirty or forty players. Varied from piece to piece. The core was the basso continuo - cello, double bass, or bassoon and upper strings. Woodwinds, brass, and percussion were variable. Recorders, flutes, oboes, trumpets, horns, trombones. or timpani could be added. Flute/two. oboes/trumpets/timpani. Trumpets and timpani for festive music

Suite no. 3 in D Major Third Movement

Gavotte - inspired by dance, written in duple meter and in a moderate tempo and uses the full orchestra. Contrast between the sections for full orchestra and those w/o trumpets and timpani. Antonio vivaldi

Suite no. 3 in D Major Fifth movement

Gigue - Conclusion in 6/8 in form AABB. Timpani and trumpets periodically join the rest of the orchestra. Antonio vivaldi

Baroque trumpet

Had no valves. Trumpeter was the aristocrat of the orchestra.

Baroque texture

Late baroque music was polyphonic - two or more melodic lines compete for listeners attention Imitation between the various lines of texture is common - melodic voices heard in one line is surely heard in another voice. Some late was homophonic to emphasize text or mood.

Baroque melody

Melody would create a feeling of continuity. The melody would be heard throughout the piece. Melody would unwind, expand, unfold throughout piece. Sequence at higher or lower pitch.Melodies would elaborate or be ornamented.

Baroque mood style

Music would express one theme, if it was expressing joy then it would remain expressing joy. Emotions could be joy, grief, agitation, etc.Composers would develop this language - by specific rhythms or melodic patterns or even key. Vocal pieces could change, but would stay in one affect for a period of time.

Music in baroque society

Music written mainly from churches or aristocratic courts by demands.

Ground bass

Musical idea in the bass that is repeated over and over while the melodies above it change.

Suite no. 3 in D Major First Movement

Overture - scored for two oboes, three trumpets, timpani, strings and bc. Opens in French overture style which exploits the brights sounds of trumpets. After that, the energetic fast section, which begins like a fugue, with an upward-moving theme introduced by the violins and then imitated by other instruments. Antonio vivaldi

Baroque rhythm

Rhythm would remain consistent - rhythmic patterns.This would provide a drive and energy of the piece. The beat emphasis was more apparent in the Baroque than the Renaissance.

Types of Opera

Some operas are comic or serious or both.

Baroque dynamics

The level of volume tends to stay fairly constant for a stretch of time. Dynamic shift is sudden - from one level to another. Terraced dynamics. Gradual changes are not really prominent during the baroque period, except for expressive purposes subtlety. Organ and harpsichord. Clavichord - inexpensive, Germany.

Musical Affect

The mood of the music, had to do with the key and mood.

The baroque suite

They were for solo instruments, small groups or orchestra.They are made up of movements that are all written in the same key but differ in tempo, meter, and character.

Sonata

a composition in several movements for one to eight instruments.

chiesa

four movements. More than one melody was often used, movements slow-fast-slow-fast with respect to tempo.

Chorus

generates atmosphere and makes comments on the action. Could be courtiers, sailors, peasants, prisoners, ballroom guests, etc.

Prompter

gives cues and reminds singers of words or pitches if the forget.

Wachet auf fourth Movement

handel Fourth movement is scored for tenors violins and violas in unison and bc. Chorale tune returns in this movement. Likes this movement so much he rescored it for organ later in life. Ritornello theme against choral tune.

Messaih

handel Part I - starts with the prophecy of the Messiah's coming and makes celestial announcements of Christ's birth and the redemption of humanity through his appearance Part II - redemtion by the sacrifice of Jesus Part III - expresses faith in the certainty of eternal life through Christ as the redeemer

Wachet auf First Movement

handel chorus, small orchestra, two oboes, English horn, French horn, strings and bc. Watchmen on the towers of Jerusalem call on the wise virgins (Christians) to awake because the bridegroom (Christ) is coming. Opens with orchestra ritornello that may have been intended as a march.

camera

set into three or four different movements, beginning with a prelude, or small sonata, as an introduction.

Suite

sets of dance-inspired movements

Prelude

short piece, can be introduced before the fugue.

Pedal point

single tone is held while the other voices produce a series of changing harmonies against it.

French overture

slow sections with dotted rhythms full of dignity and grandeur and the second section is quick and lighter in mood, often beginning like a fugue.

Soloists

were the best and highest-paid members of the baroque orchestra more difficult music.

Ensemble

when three or more singers are involved.