Music Test #2

Chapter 10: Antonio Vivaldi

---Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), a towering figure of the late Italian baroque, was born in Venice; his father was a violinist at St. Mark's Cathedral. Along with his musical training, Vivaldi prepared for the priesthood. He took holy orders at the age of about twenty-five, but poor health caused him to leave the ministry after a year. Because of his religious background and his red hair, Vivaldi was known as the "red priest" (il prete rosso). ---For most of his life, Vivaldi was a violin teacher, composer, and conductor at the music school of the Pietà, an institution for orphaned or illegitimate girls in Venice ---Vivaldi was famous and influential as a virtuoso violinist and composer. Bach arranged some of his concertos. ---Although Vivaldi composed operas and fine church music, he is best known for his 450 or so concerti grossi and solo concertos. A solo concerto is a piece for a single soloist and an orchestra ---Vivaldi's most popular work is the concerto La Primavera (Spring) from The Four Seasons, a set of four solo concertos for violin, string orchestra, and basso continuo. Each of these concertos depicts sounds and events associated with one of the seasons, such as the birdsong heard in spring and the gentle breezes of summer ---The concertos Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter are examples of baroque program music, or instrumental music associated with a story, poem, idea, or scene

Chapter 2: Music in Baroque Society

---Before 1800, most music was written to order, to meet specific demands that came from churches and aristocratic courts. Opera houses and municipalities also required a constant supply of music. In every case, the demand was for recent music; audiences did not want to listen to pieces in an "old-fashioned" style. ---The music director supervised performances and composed much of the music required, including operas, church music, dinner music, and pieces for court concerts. This overworked musician also was responsible for the discipline of the other musicians, and for the upkeep of the instruments and the music library. ---Large towns employed musicians for a variety of functions—to play in churches, in processions, in concerts for visiting dignitaries, and for university graduations

Church Directors of the Baroque Period

---Churches also needed music, and church music was often very grand. Along with an organ and a choir, many baroque churches had an orchestra to accompany services ---The music director of a church, like the music director at a court, had to produce a steady flow of recent music and was also responsible for the musical training of choristers in the church school. Fine church music contributed to the prestige of a city, and cities often competed to attract the best musicians. ---Still, church musicians earned less and had lower status than court musicians.

Chapter 12: The Baroque Suite

---Baroque composers wrote suites, which are sets of dance-inspired movements ---Suites frequently begin with a movement that is not dance-inspired. One common opening is the French overture, which is also the type of piece heard at the beginning of baroque oratorios and operas. Usually written in two parts, the French overture first presents a slow section with dotted rhythms that is full of dignity and grandeur. The second section is quick and lighter in mood, often beginning like a fugue. ---Bach wrote four suites for orchestra

Overture (prelude)

Most operas open with a purely orchestral composition

Main keyboard instruments

organ and harpsichord

Chapter 7: Claudio Monteverdi

---Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), one of the most important composers of the early baroque era, was born in Cremona, Italy. He served at the court of Mantua for twenty-one years, first as a singer and violist, then as music director. For this court Monteverdi created the earliest operatic masterpiece, Orfeo (Orpheus, 1607). Though widely recognized as a leading composer in Mantua, Monteverdi received little pay or respect ---Monteverdi is a monumental figure in the history of music. His works form a musical bridge between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and influenced composers of the time. All his music—madrigals, church music, opera—is for voices, ordinarily supported by a basso continuo and other instruments. Monteverdi wanted to create music of emotional intensity. He felt that earlier music had conveyed only moderate emotion, and he wanted to extend its range to include agitation, excitement, and passion. To achieve this intensity, he used dissonances with unprecedented freedom and daring. ---Monteverdi was the first composer of operatic masterpieces. Only three of the twelve operas he wrote are preserved, but they truly blend music and drama. ---Fittingly enough, Monteverdi's first opera is about Orpheus, the supremely gifted musician of Greek myth ---Orfeo was composed in 1607 for the Mantuan court, and no expense was spared to make it a lavish production. There were star soloists, a chorus, dancers, and a large orchestra of about forty players (The texture is homophonic: the accompaniment simply gives harmonic support to the voice.) ---Monteverdi frequently uses word painting, the musical representation of poetic images that was favored by baroque composers

Chapter 4: The Fugue

---Fugues usually convey a single mood and a sense of continuous flow. They may be written as independent works or as single movements within larger compositions. Very often an independent fugue is introduced by a short piece called a prelude. ---One is stretto, in which a subject is imitated before it is completed; one voice tries to catch the other. Another common procedure is the pedal point (or organ point), in which a single tone, usually in the bass, is held while the other voices produce a series of changing harmonies against it. ---A fugue is a polyphonic composition based on one main theme, called a subject ---can be written for a group of instruments or voices, or for a single instrument like an organ or harpsichord ---different melodic lines, called voices, imitate the subject. The top melodic line—whether sung or played—is the soprano voice, and the bottom is the bass. The texture of a fugue usually includes three, four, or five voices

Chapter 15: George Frideric Handel

---George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), a master of Italian opera and English oratorio, was born in Halle, Germany, one month before J. S. Bach. Handel was not from a musical family—his father wanted him to study law—but by the time he was nine, his musical talent was so outstanding that he could study with a local organist and composer. By eleven, Handel was able not only to compose but also to give organ lessons. At eighteen, he set out for Hamburg, where he was drawn to the renowned opera house. There he became a violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra. When he was twenty, one of his operas was successfully produced. ---Handel became England's most important composer and a favorite of Queen Anne. ---Handel shares Bach's stature among composers of the late baroque. ---the core of his huge output consists of English oratorios and Italian operas ---Handel's English oratorios are usually based on stories from the Old Testament and have titles like Israel in Egypt, Saul, and Joshua. They are not church music, however; they were composed to entertain paying audiences in public theaters. ---Changes in texture are more frequent in Handel's music than in Bach's. He liked to combine two different melodic ideas polyphonically, and he achieved sharp changes of mood by shifting between minor keys and major keys. ---The form of a typical late baroque aria is A B A. An aria in A B A form is called a da capo aria: after the B section, the term da capo is written; this means from the beginning and indicates a repetition of the opening A section. However, the repetition was usually not literal because the singer was expected to embellish the returning melody with ornaments

Chapter 8: Henry Purcell

---Henry Purcell (c. 1659-1695), called the greatest of English composers, was born in London; his father was a musician in the king's service. At about the age of ten, Purcell became a choirboy in the Chapel Royal, and by the time he was in his late teens his extraordinary talents were winning him important musical positions. In 1677, at about eighteen, he became composer to the king's string orchestra; two years later he was appointed organist of Westminster Abbey; and in 1682, he became an organist of the Chapel Royal. During the last few years of his short life, Purcell was also active composing music for plays. ---buried beneath the organ in Westminster Abbey ---He wrote church music, secular choral music, music for small groups of instruments, songs, and music for the stage. His only true opera is Dido and Aeneas (1689), which many consider the finest ever written to an English text ---He treated the chorus with wide variety and was able to obtain striking effects through both simple homophonic textures and complex polyphony. His music is spiced with dissonances that seemed harsh to the generation of musicians who followed him. Some of Purcell's finest songs use a variation form found in many baroque works—a ground bass

Musicians in the Baroque Period

---How did one become a musician in the baroque period? Often the art was handed from father to son; many leading composers—such as Bach, Vivaldi, Purcell, Couperin, and Rameau—were sons of musicians. Sometimes boys were apprenticed to a town musician and lived in his home. In return for instruction, the boys did odd jobs, such as copying music. Many baroque composers began their studies as choirboys, learning music in the choir school. In Italy, music schools were related to orphanages. ---To get a job, musicians usually had to pass a difficult examination, performing, and submitting compositions. Sometimes there were nonmusical job requirements too. An applicant might be expected to make a "voluntary contribution" to the town's treasury, or even to marry the daughter of a retiring musician.

Chapter 9: Baroque Sonata

---Instrumental music gained importance rapidly and dramatically during the baroque period. One of the main developments in instrumental music was the sonata, a composition in several movements for one to eight instruments. (In later periods, the term sonata took on a more restricted meaning.) ---Composers often wrote trio sonatas, so-called because they had three melodic lines: two high lines and a basso continuo. Yet the word trio is misleading, because the "trio" sonata involves four instrumentalists. There are two high instruments (violins, flutes, or oboes) and two instruments for the basso continuo—a keyboard instrument (organ or harpsichord) and a low instrument (cello or bassoon). ---The sonata originated in Italy but spread to Germany, England, and France during the seventeenth century. Sonatas were played in palaces, in homes, and even in churches—before, during, or after the service

Chapter 15 (Cont.)

---Julius Caesar was a success at its first performance in London in 1724 and today is the most widely performed of Handel's operas ---The Hallelujah Chorus is one of the world's most famous choral pieces ---Handel offers sweeping variety by sudden changes among monophonic, polyphonic, and homophonic textures. The monophonic texture is very full sounding as all the voices and instruments perform in unison at the proclamation for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. The texture becomes polyphonic when this majestic proclamation is set against joyful repeated exclamations of Hallelujah in quick rhythms. Polyphony gives way to homophony as the chorus sings the kingdom of this world to hymn like music

Chapter 13: The Chorale and the Church Cantata

---Lutheranism stressed direct communication between the believer and Christ; to further this communication, the rite was largely in the vernacular—German. Each service included several hymns, or chorales. The chorale, or hymn tune, was sung to a German religious text ---New church music was often based on traditional melodies written as far back as two centuries earlier. Before the congregation began to sing a hymn, the organist might play a chorale prelude, a short composition based on the hymn tune that reminded the congregation of the melody. By using traditional tunes in their works, composers could involve the congregation and enhance the religious associations. ---The principal means of musical expression in the Lutheran service, and one which used chorales, was the church cantata. Cantata originally meant a piece that was sung, as distinct from a sonata, which was played ---Many kinds of cantatas were being written in Bach's day, but we shall focus only on the cantata designed for the Lutheran service in Germany in the early 1700s ---Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Cantata No. 140), one of Bach's best-known cantatas, is based on a chorale that was then about 130 years old and widely familiar.

Chapter 6: Opera in the Baroque Era

---Opera was born in Italy. Its way was prepared by musical discussions among a small group of nobles, poets, and composers who began to meet regularly in Florence around 1575. This group was known as the Camerata (Italian for fellowship or society) and included the composer Vincenzo Galilei, father of the astronomer Galileo. ---The first public opera house opened in Venice in 1637; now anyone with the price of admission could attend an opera performance. Between 1637 and 1700 there were seventeen opera houses in Venice alone, as well as many in other Italian cities ---Euridice by Jacopo Peri is the earliest opera that has been preserved. ---Much baroque opera was composed for ceremonial occasions at court and was designed as a display of magnificence and splendor. The subject matter was drawn from Greek mythology and ancient history.

Chapter 5: Elements of Opera

---The baroque era witnessed the development of a major innovation in music—opera, or drama that is sung to orchestral accompaniment. This unique fusion of music, acting, poetry, dance, scenery, and costumes is a theatrical experience offering overwhelming, excitement and emotion. Since its beginnings in Italy around 1600 ---Opera performers must sing and act simultaneously. ---The creation of an opera involves the joint efforts of a composer and a dramatist. The libretto, or text, of the opera, is usually written by the librettist, or dramatist, and set to music by the compose ---Some operas are serious, some comic, some both. Operas may contain spoken dialogue, but most are entirely sung. (Spoken dialogue is used in comic opera, where stage action must be performed quickly for the most humorous effect.) ---An opera chorus generates atmosphere and makes comments on the action.

Chapter 11: Johann Sebastian Bach

---The masterpieces of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) mark the high point of baroque music. Bach came from a lengthy line of musicians and passed on this musical heritage; four of his sons were also composers. He was born in Eisenach, Germany, and began his musical career as a church organist and then as court organist and later concertmaster of the court orchestra in Weimar. His most lucrative and prestigious post was as court conductor for the prince of Cöthen ---Bach was a deeply religious man—a Lutheran—who wrote the letters J. J., standing for Jesu Juva (Jesus help), at the beginning of each of his sacred compositions and S. D. G. for Soli Deo Gloria (to God alone the glory) at the end ---Bach created masterpieces in every baroque form except opera. ---Bach's vocal music—the bulk of his output—was written mostly for the Lutheran church and was often based on familiar hymns. But his personal style was drawn from Italian concertos and French dance pieces, as well as the church music of his native Germany. ---Bach's music is unique in its combination of polyphonic texture and rich harmony.

orchestra pit

---The nerve center of an opera in performance ---a sunken area directly in front of the stage. An opera orchestra has the same instruments as a full symphony orchestra, but usually it has a smaller string section

Chapter 3: Concerto and Grosso Form

---This principle governs the concerto grosso, an important form of orchestral music in the late baroque period. In a concerto grosso, a small group of soloists is pitted against a larger group of players called the tutti (all)

Chapter 14: The Oratorio

---Together with the opera and cantata, the oratorio stands as a major development in baroque vocal music. ---oratorio differs from opera in that it has no acting, scenery, or costumes. Most oratorios are based on biblical stories, but usually they are not intended for religious services. Today they are performed in either concert halls or churches. ---An oratorio contains a succession of choruses, arias, duets, recitatives, and orchestral interludes. The chorus is especially important and serves either to comment on or to participate in the drama. ---Oratorios (which sometimes last more than two hours) are longer than cantatas and have more of a story line ---Messiah, by George Frideric Handel, has for decades been the best-known and most-loved oratorio.

Chapter 1 (Cont.)

---We focus on the late baroque period (1690-1750), which produced most of the baroque music heard today. Many aspects of harmony—including an emphasis on the attraction of the dominant chord to the tonic—arose in this period. ---instrumental music became as important as vocal music for the first time ---A baroque piece usually expresses one basic mood: what begins joyfully will remain joyful throughout. Emotional states like joy, grief, and agitation were represented—at the time, these moods were called affections. ---a musical language to depict the affections; specific rhythms or melodic patterns were associated with specific moods

Chapter 1: Baroque Music

---the word baroque has at various times meant bizarre, flamboyant, and elaborately ornamented ---The baroque period (1600-1750) is also known as the "age of absolutism" because many rulers exercised absolute power over their subjects ---Along with the aristocracy, religious institutions powerfully shaped the baroque style. Churches used the emotional and theatrical qualities of art to make worship more attractive and appealing. ---The baroque period can be divided into three phases: early (1600-1640), middle (1640-1690), and late (1690-1750) ---Early baroque composers favored homophonic texture; by the late baroque period, polyphonic texture returned to favor ---To depict extreme emotions in their texts, early baroque composers used dissonance with a new freedom ---in the early baroque, voices were accompanied by melodic lines designed for instruments ---During the middle phase of the baroque (1640-1690), the new musical style spread from Italy to practically every country in Europe ---By about 1690, major or minor scales were the tonal basis of most compositions. Another feature of the middle baroque phase was the new importance of instrumental music. Many compositions were written for specific instruments, the violin family, being the most popular.

concerto grosso

A concerto grosso presents a contrast of texture between the tutti and the soloists, who assert their individuality and appeal for attention through brilliant and fanciful melodic lines. The soloists were the best and highest-paid members of the baroque orchestra because their parts were more difficult than those of the other players. Concerti grossi were frequently performed by private orchestras in aristocratic palaces. (A concerto grosso consists of several movements that contrast in tempo and character. Most often there are three movements: (1) fast, (2) slow, (3) fast)

Handel and Bach

Bach inclined toward a consistently polyphonic texture, whereas Handel used much more contrast between polyphonic and homophonic sections

Two musical giants of the Baroque Period

George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach (Bach's death in 1750 ends the Baroque Period.)

countersubject

In many fugues, the subject in one voice is constantly accompanied in another voice by a different melodic idea

Other Musicians of the Baroque

Other baroque masters—Claudio Monteverdi, Henry Purcell, Arcangelo Corelli, Antonio Vivaldi— were forgotten until the twentieth century.

prompter

Person who gives cues and reminds singers of their words or pitches during an opera performance. The prompter is located in a box just over the edge of center stage, which conceals him or her from the audience.

ritornello form

The first and last movements of concerti grossi are often in ritornello form, which is based on alternation between tutti and solo sections. In ritornello form the tutti opens with a theme called the ritornello (refrain). This theme, always played by the tutti, returns in different keys throughout the movement.

Baroque Orchestra

The orchestra evolved into a performing group based on instruments of the violin family. By modern standards, the baroque orchestra was small, consisting of from ten to thirty or forty players. Its instrumental makeup was flexible and could vary from piece to piece. At its nucleus were the basso continuo (harpsichord plus cello, double bass, or bassoon) and upper strings (first and second violins and violas). Use of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments was variable

ensemble

When three or more singers are involved

castrato part

a baroque opera is often sung by a countertenor, a male who sings in a female pitch range using a special kind of voice production

Oratorio

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

Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas

a masterpiece of baroque opera, was written for students at a girls' boarding school. It lasts only an hour, is scored only for strings and harpsichord continuo, and requires no elaborate stage machinery or virtuoso soloists. Most of its solo roles are for women. Purcell used many dances in Dido and Aeneas, because the director of the school was a dancing master who wanted to display the students' accomplishments.

Movement

a piece that sounds complete and independent but is part of a larger composition

basso continuo

a small ensemble of at least two instrumentalists who provide a foundation for the melody or melodies above; heard almost exclusively in Baroque music (two instruments: keyboard or low melodic instrument)

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 the instruments and voices together

ground bass

may be as short as four notes or as long as eight measures. In this type of variation form, the constant repetition of the bass pattern gives unity, while the free flow of the melodic lines above it results in variety.

aria

operatic solo; a song sung by one person in an opera or oratorio

trill

ornament consisting of the rapid alternation of two tones that are a whole or half step apart

figured bass

the bass part with numbers.

episodes

transitional sections; which offer either new material or fragments of the subject or countersubject. Episodes do not present the subject in its entirety.