Baroque Era
Sonata
A sonata is an instrumental piece often for a solo instrument, but can also be written for small ensembles. There are three or four movements that generally follow the pattern of fast, slow, fast.
Select all the major vocal genres from the baroque era.
Chorale Oratorio Cantata
How can Monteverdi's melodies be described?
Clear and linear to focus on words Reason: Correct. Monteverdi worked on a single melody to emphasize words and expressions.
Johannn Sebastian Bach
Bach was a master of baroque polyphony and counterpoint even though his music was thought of as old fashioned at the time. As a church musical director, Bach composed many works of sacred vocal music, but also wrote many instrumental works, especially numerous concertos, sonatas, and suites.
Listen to the audio clip. In this excerpt of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, I, what is function of the harpsichord?
Basso continuo Reason: Correct. The harpsichord was often used as the basso continuo in baroque music to provide a continuous harmonic accompaniment to the melody.
Listen to the audio clip. In this music, we can hear a basso continuo. What does basso continuo indicate?
A bass line with chordal accompaniment Reason: Correct. The basso continuo accompaniment developed from emphasis on chords and bass. It involved at least two instruments, usually a nonsustaining keyboard paired with a sustaining instrument, either string or wind.
Select all the dances that can be part of a suite.
Gigue Sarabande Gavotte
George Frideric Handel
Handel was a virtuoso organist who taught and performed throughout his life. He spent his career in England writing and producing numerous Italian operas and oratorios for appreciative English audiences. His music represented the late baroque style in its use of functional harmony (major-minor tonal system), polyphonic and homophonic textures, emphasis on virtuosity, and a heightened focus on drama.
In addition to being a successful composer, Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre was also an accomplished performer on what instrument?
Harpsichord
Select all the characteristics of an aria in operas.
It is expressive. It is melodic. It can stand apart as a complete song.
What kind of music is Handel most famous for writing?
Italian operas and English oratorios Reason: Correct. He started his career writing Italian operas, but then turned to English oratorios.
Claudio Monteverdi
Monteverdi bridged the late Renaissance and early baroque periods and was a key figure in the development of the opera. He focused on techniques that emphasized realistic human emotions and situations.
What form, characterized by loose rhythms with minimal accompaniment, is used in oratorios or operas to describe a story's action to a listener?
Recitative Reason: Correct. This is a structural form used in operas and oratorios to advance a story's plot.
The Florentine camerata tried to recreate Greek drama by doing what?
The actors sang their lines rather than spoke them.
Suite
The suite developed when baroque composers grouped several aristocratic dances into a multimovement instrumental work. Each movement was based on a dance style such as the saraband, bourrée, gigue, and gavotte. It is mostly in a binary (two-part) form.
Antonio Vivaldi was highly regarded in his lifetime as a composer of ______.
concertos Reason: Correct. Vivaldi focused on solo concertos as his main musical genre and contributed a great deal to the structure and features.
The transitional portion of a fugue in which musical material provides a bridge between statements is called a(n) ______.
episode Reason: Correct. Episodes are transitional sections in fugues.
How many movements are typical in a concerto grosso?
Three Reason: Correct. A concerto grosso generally has three movements in fast-slow-fast form.
Harmonic movement away from a central tonic and then back toward it is known as ______ harmony.
functional Reason: Correct. Functional harmony recognizes the relative strength and weakness of harmonies in a sort of hierarchical organization.
Antonio Vivaldi was highly regarded in his lifetime as a virtuoso ______.
violinist Reason: Correct. Vivaldi was a virtuoso violinist.
Listen to the audio clip. Who is the composer of this piece?
"duuuuu se. my pew" ... Claudio Monteverdi
Concerto Grosso
A concerto grosso is a multimovement instrumental work emphasizing dramatic contrast by juxtaposing a small solo group (concertino) with a full orchestra (ripieno), soft and loud sounds, and fast and slow tempos.
Fugue
A fugue is a polyphonic, imitative contrapuntal form that starts with an exposition introducing the subject, followed by transitional sections called episodes, and then a restatement of the subject.
Opera
An opera is a dramatic work that fuses theater and vocal music with acting, staging (set design), libretto (text), and costumes. The two main elements are the aria and recitative. The aria, which can stand as a complete song, expresses the emotions of the moment, while the recitative, which is speechlike, is used to move the plot forward.
From what circumstances did suites emerge during the baroque era?
Aristocratic parties Reason: Correct. Suites were composed for and played at aristocratic parties during the baroque era.
Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre is known for what distinction?
Being the first woman to compose an opera in France Reason: Correct. Although not a success in its time, Jacquet de la Guerre's Céphale et Procris was the first French opera written by a woman.
For a piece that is a nonsolo sonata (genre), what is the primary accompanying group?
Continuo Reason: Correct. The basso continuo provides harmonic support for the solo instrument(s) in a sonata.
For a work in the sonata genre, what is a characteristic of its contrasting parts?
Dance forms
What is the plot of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas?
Dido is in love with the Trojan hero Aeneas, but he abandons her to sail to Italy. Reason: Correct. Dido dies in sorrow when Aeneas leaves her to sail to Italy.
What did the term "baroque" refer to in music?
Elaborate ornamentation Reason: Correct. Ornamentation was a key ingredient in baroque art, contributing to the style's emphasis on flamboyance.
Select all the artistic aspects that baroque culture emphasized.
Emotion Technical virtuosity
What aspect of Monteverdi's music reveals the new perspectives of the baroque style?
Emphasis on monodic texture Reason: Correct. Monteverdi focused on one clear melody with harmonic accompaniment (monody), especially in his operas.
Baroque era overview
Important events: Louis XIV of France constructed the palace at Versailles. The King James Bible was published, which translated the Bible into vernacular English. Francis Bacon defined the scientific method, in which empirical observations are synthesized inductively into objective conclusions. In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton published Principia, which established the field of physics. BAroque Characteristics: Tonality, the hierarchical organization of tones around a central pitch (called the tonic), emerged. Functional harmony, a way of organizing harmonies into a hierarchical relationship, was developed. Harmonic progressions were written in figured bass, which notated the bass note and the harmonic intervals above it but left the exact voicing to the performer. A high degree of ornamentation was either notated or, as was more often the case, added and improvised by performers. Technical skills and instrumental virtuosity were highly prized. Baroque Vocal Music Opera, an innovation of the late Renaissance period, was further developed in the baroque era with recitative and aria sections, da capo aria form, and opera seria (serious opera) and opera buffa (comedic opera) types. Chorales are simple sacred songs, based on hymns, that typically use a homophonic texture. Cantatas are a type of multimovement sacred work featuring choruses, solo voices, orchestras, and drama, but without costume or acting like in an opera. Oratorios, larger versions of a cantata, are religious but performed in concert halls.
Elizabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre
One of the few female composers to have received recognition in her time, Jacquet de la Guerre was a virtuoso harpsichordist, known for her exceptional improvisational abilities. She enjoyed the patronage of Louis XIV and the French nobility.
In what genre did Handel achieve his first successes?
Operas Reason: Correct. Early on in his career, Handel created successful operas before turning to sacred genres later in life.
What genre did Purcell succeed in popularizing in England?
Operas Reason: Correct. Purcell wrote the first English opera, which was slow to gain popularity in the country.
On what instrument was Bach a virtuoso?
Organ
Although best remembered today as a composer, for which of the following role was Johann Sebastian Bach known during his lifetime?
Organist Reason: Correct. Bach was best known as an organist during his lifetime.
Select all the instruments that could play a fugue solo.
Piano Harpsichord Organ
Listen to the audio clip. What texture is dominant in this excerpt from Bach's Cantata No. 140?
Polyphony Reason: Correct. Like much of baroque music, Bach is famous for handling multiple melodic lines in polyphonic texture.
Henry Purcell
Purcell had a mastery of canon and of ground bass, as exhibited in his compositions. He excelled in the creation of vocal dramatic works, including his opera, Dido and Aeneas, which helped popularize opera in England.
In which two eras does the oeuvre of Claudio Monteverdi span?
Renaissance and baroque Reason: Correct. His career spanned across these two eras, and he helped developed the opera genre.
In a concerto grosso, what is the orchestra section called?
Ripieno Reason: Correct. The ripieno is the larger orchestra.
Select all the typical instrumentation for the sonata genre.
Solo piano Piano and violin Solo cello
Select all the features or parts of a fugue.
Subject Exposition Episode
What important movement occurred during the baroque period?
The Scientific Revolution Reason: Correct. The Scientific Revolution occurred during the seventeenth century, and set the stage for modern society.
Listen to the audio clip. What sound does the solo violin evoke in this excerpt?
The call of a bird Reason: Correct. The trills evoke the sounds of a bird, supporting the spring season of this work by Vivaldi.
What occurs in a concerto grosso?
The concerto grosso contrasts and alternates between a small group of soloists and a large group. Reason: Correct. The concerto grosso reflects the baroque style of stark contrasts. In the genre, a small group of soloists alternates passages with a larger orchestral group.
Listen to the audio clip. What technique can be heard constantly in this excerpt? Very quiet music of ooo
The ground bass Reason: Correct. Purcell excelled at this popular baroque technique, and incorporated it into his operas.
Listen to the audio clip. What technique can be heard constantly in this excerpt? quiet lowering steps to high to low
The ground bass Reason: Correct. Purcell excelled at this popular baroque technique, and incorporated it into his operas.
To what does libretto refer?
The words to an opera Reason: Correct. The libretto is the text on which the opera is based.
As Louis XIV focused on cultural innovation, where was the epicenter of late baroque culture?
Versailles
Antonia Vivaldi
Vivaldi wrote in many genres, including opera and sacred vocal works, but is best known for his almost 500 concertos. He emphasized melody over dense counterpoint.
Listen to the audio clip. This large-scale sacred work, written by Bach for chorus, orchestra, and soloists is a ______.
cantata Reason: Correct. A cantata is a large-scale work written for chorus, ensemble, and soloists. Bach wrote many cantatas.
