DE Music Appreciation / Musicianship/ "Listen" - Sixth Edition (Chapter 7-Early Baroque)

Define opera. Explain why it is referred to as the most characteristic art form of the Baroque era.

"Drama presented in music, with the character singing instead of speaking" Opera solved the overall want for individual emotionalism in the Early Baroque Era. Opera also combined all the arts which made it very popular.

For which festive day in the Church year was "O magnum mysterium" composed? Summarize the text.

"O Magnum Mysterium" was written for the Christmas Season. The text marvels that lowly animals- the ox and the donkey- were the first to see the newborn.

Define fugue in terms of texture and themes. Explain what sort of musician would be most likely to write and improvise fugues.

A fugue is manly one single point of imitation, and it is mainly written and improvised by keyboardists.

Name the two important composers who worked at St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice around 1600. Describe their acoustical innovations.

Andrea and his nephew Giovanni were the two most important composer. They used St. Mark's Basilica and placed choirs and instrumentalists in different places so the sound would echo.

Define, compare, and contrast basso continuo and ground bass.

Basso continuo-the bass line is performed by bass voices or low instruments (cellos or bassoons, organ, harpsichord, or other chord instruments); reinforces the bass line, adds chords continuously, has a double effect or clarifying the harmony + making the text bind. Ground bass-constructed bottom up; bass instruments play a single short figure many times-same set of repeated harmonies (played by the continuo chord instruments); upper instruments/voices play different melodies or virtuoso passages above ground bass, adjusting to harmonies from the bass.

What distinguishes the canzona, and what later genre does it influence?

Canzonas are distinguished by two different repetitive themes played against each other until they join together in a cadence. It would go on to influence later Baroque music.

Name the Baroque composer who is known as the first master of opera. Where did he work? How was his music regarded during his lifetime?

Claudio Monteverdi was one of the most significant composers at around 1600. He was so far ahead of his time he was even attacked for it. He first worked in the court of Mantua, where he wrote Orpheus, widely considered to be the first great opera. He then was appointed the choirmaster at St. Stephens.

What three basic tendencies in instrumental music are present in the keyboard music of Frescobaldi? Give an example of each.

Dance, Virtuosity, and Vocal music were the basic tendency of instrumental music. Dance was heavily inspired from ballet and opera and evolved into the style of the suite so that music that was played in dances and operas could be enjoyed without having to have a reason to dance. Virtuosity is kind of already explained, it's introducing virtuosos into pieces of music to enhance the piece. These Virtuoso were basically jazz improv artists before there was jazz because they would mostly just improvise. Vocal music used many ideas of vocal music established in the Renaissance such as polyphony and imitation were applied to musical instruments resulting in the fugue. A piece of music with one theme throughout. This would also lead to the development of variations on that theme.

Describe the style of the madrigal at the end of the sixteenth century and reactions against this style.

Extreme, weird word painting-reaction was set against the madrigal; word painting-artificial + childish many voices can't express emotion.

What instrument did Frescobaldi play and whom did he influence?

Frescobaldi played the organ and was the foremost organ virtuoso of the early seventeenth century. He influenced beyond his pupils and even influenced Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach studied Frescobaldi's music.

Summarize the career and types of compositions of Henry Purcell.

He was an english composer and he was a composer at Westminster Abbey. He wrote sacred, instrumental, theatre music as well as twenty-nine "Welcome Songs" for his royal masters.

Dido And Aeneas background, plot, and literary source.

It was based on the poem Aeneid. Aeneas the trojan prince escapes the trojan war. He is sent on a journey by Jove, the king of gods, when he meets dido the queen of carthage and they fall in love. Jove makes him leave to head back on his journey, but after he leaves dido kills herself.

Which country was the musical leader in the early Baroque period? What was the state of the art of music in this country at the time?

Italy, Opera

Explain why opera provided the perfect opportunity for individual emotional expression.

Opera provided the perfect opportunity to express individual emotions because the singers were provided with a stage and a single individual could step out and express them. This was a powerful fashion because opera was greatly performed.

Discuss the Baroque dualism of freedom of expression and extravagance versus formal control and balance.

People were able to express themselves more and explored more complex ideas in music outside of traditional forms styles and genres while at the same time, many compositions were becoming more rigorous and organized. "Listeners could not be allowed to lose track of what was happening.

Summarize the plot of The Coronation of Poppea. What is the specific plot situation of the portion of this opera in your listening selection?

Poppea and Nero are talking about how Nero is leaving Poppea, but she wants him to stay.

Define and contrast recitative and aria; address their musical and dramatic differences.

Recitative is the technique of declaiming words musically in a heightened, theatrical manner, while an aria is an extended piece for a solo singer that has more musical elaboration and coherence that a passage of recitative. The accompaniment of an Aria usually includes the entire orchestra, but the accompaniment of a Recitative is kept to a minimum so the words can be heard clearly.

Briefly describe how Baroque music differs from Renaissance music in terms of rhythm, meter, mode, and harmony.

Rhythms become more definite, regular, and insistent in the Baroque music; a single rhythm or similar rhythms can be heard throughout a piece or a major segment of a piece. Bar lines were used in the Baroque era, opposed to being downplayed in the Renaissance era. In the Baroque era, they developed the Major and Minor system. Chords were also played to sound more coherent. Chords were predictable in the Baroque era. Functional Harmony was a better way of organizing large-scale pieces of music.

Explain how 17th century Venetian composers expanded on the echoing semichoir technique of 16th century composers.

Sixteenth-century composers divided their choirs into low and high choirs that included three to four voice parts each. The different parts of the choirs were alternating and echoing. The Venetian composers expanded this by alternating the two, three or more choirs as well as the parts.

Characterize the nature and purpose of early Florentine operas.

The early florentine operas purpose was to contrive moments of relaxation and having times where the characters would stop and reflect. The styles of opera came to be because of the emotions and actions of the characters. Recitative is used to show the characters emotions by adding notes and dynamics to a conversation to heighten the words they are speaking. Where as the aria was used to convey the characters feelings less through the words and more through the music itself.

Describe the passacaglia and how it may differ from the ground bass found in "Dido's Lament" by Henry Purcell.

The passacaglia is a set of variations on a brief series of chords and the bass line. The bass line is repeated less strictly than in Dido's Lament.

Describe the roles played by dance, virtuosity, and vocal music in the rise of Baroque instrumental music.

The role of dance in the Baroque Era was mostly ballet through the opera. At this point composers started to write harpsichord music for these dancers. This was called stylized dances, but it was still meant for listening rather than dancing. Virtuosity was when people would show off and improv most of their music. This would make the composers not really write the full part in the score, which makes modern performers have to play more than what is written. Vocal music gave the instrumentalists the ability to have variations. This developed the genre of the Baroque Era, fugue.

Name and explain the new musical style emerging in Florence around 1600.

The style of music was Recitative. It was a style of solo singing that was half music and half recitation. This led to opera.

Describe the "Serene Republic" of Venice around 1600. Refer to the arts, the socioeconomic climate of the city, and the city's appearance in your answer.

Venice had style and every type of art as well as wealthy physical appearance to the entire city. As for it's economy they mainly focused on selling and distributing goods which allowed artists to make a sustainable profit off of their work. Their goal was to be extravagant in both personality and physical appearance of their city and people.