The Baroque BGSU Study Guide

libretto

"little book" that consists of a text for an opera

Bach's chamber music

- 15 sonatas for solo instruments including violin, flute, viola da gamba with harpsichord - most have 4 movements in the slow-fast-slow-fast order - 6 sonatas & partitas for violin alone - six suites for cello alone partita for solo flute

Rameau operas

- Hippolyte et Aricie was his first opera and this won him admiration and established him - other success include: The Gallant Indies and Castor et Pollux which is considered his masterpiece, Platee and Zoroastre - they all stirred up a storm of critical controversy: he had half supporters, while other attached him as one who was undermining French opera tradition of Lully -as the quarrel raged his increasing popularity sparked many parodies of his operas; by the 1750s during the battle between critics on the relative merits of French and Italian music known as the War of the Buffoons; Rameau had become the most eminent living French composer.

Bach's orchestral music

- best known orchestral works are the 6 Brandenburg Concertos - he was one of the first to write or arrange concertos for one or more harpsichords and orchestra - wrote 4 orchestral suites

Handel's operas

- blending of styles is evident in his first opera Almira (1705) written for Hambug (he kept to the local fashion so the audience could follow the plot by setting it in German) but patterned the overture and dance music after the French and the arias after the Italian - Rinaldo was the first Italian opera composed for London and helped establish his reputation in England - a Handel opera was staged almost every season - was engaged as the music director of the Royal Academy of Music (a joint stock company for producing Italian operas) - he wrote for specific singers seeking to show off their abilities to the best advantage - his scores are remarkable for the wide variety of aria types with brilliant displays of florid ornamentation known as coloratura

Handel's patrons

- chief patron = Marquis Francesco Ruspoli - hired by the elector of Hanover in Germany - most important = the British monarchs

Giulio Caccini

Born in Tivoli or Rome itself, the singer, lutenist and composer studied with Giovanni Animuccia and in the 1560s was taken to Florence by Cosimo I de Medici, who encouraged the further development of his abilities. He won a reputation as a singer and was associated with the early discussions of the Florentine Camerata that led to his use of the so-called stile recitativo, the style of singing that followed, as far as possible, the intonations of speech. Italian monody, accompanied by basso continuo, a chordal instrument and a bass instrument, was an important element in the newly developing form of opera. His opera Euridice, the result of a collaboration in which Jacopo Peri wrote the greater part of the music, a setting of libretto by Rinuccini, was staged in Florence in 1600. He worked with other composers on Il rapimento di Cefalo, performed at the same celebrations for the marriage of Henri IV of France and Maria de Medici. In 1602 he published his Le nuove musiche, a collection of madrigals and songs, preceded by an essay on the new style of singing.

The Florentine Camerata

Count Bardi in Florentine hosted an academy from the early 1570s where shcolars discussed literature, science, and the arts and musicians performed new music. Galilei, Giulio Caccini and perhaps also Jacopo Peri were part of this group which Caccini later called this. It meant circle or association.

Henry Purcell

England's leading composer remembered for his dramatic music. This English composer's entire career was supported by royal patronage (he was part of the Royal Chapel and many other prestigious positions, including keeper of the king's keyboard and wind instruments, composer-in-ordinary for the violins which was one of the more progressive positions in Britain's musical hierarchy, and organist of Westminster Abbey and of the Chapel Royal.) He was celebrated after his death as "the British Orpheus" although his life was brief he wrote enormous amounts of music in almost all genres: composed songs for home performance, choral music for Anglican services and royal ceremonies, and music for the theater. *His greatest gift was in setting English words movingly yet with natural declamation. * His Did and Aeneas from 1689 was a masterpiece of opera in miniature and he combines elements of the English masque and of French and Italian opera. one of the most moving parts is When I Am Laid in the Earth, Dido's lament; he creates tension by re-articulating suspended notes on strong beats, intensifying the dissonance. He uses the style of the English air. * For public theaters he wrote incidental music for almost 50 plays. He also wrote the music for 5 works in the mixed genre called dramatic opera or semi-opera which is a spoken play with an overture and four or more masques or substantial musical episodes including: The Fairy Queen which is based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

allemande

French for "German," a moderately fast 4/4 beginning with an upbeat, highly stylized

courante

French for running or flowing, begins with an upbeat, is in moderate triple or compound meter (3/2 or 6/4), steps were dignified with a bend of the knees on the upbeat and a rise on the beat often followed by a glide or step

Le nuove musiche (The New Music)

Giulio Caccini published this in 1602 a collection of madrigals and songs, preceded by an essay on the new style of singing. He wrote numerous songs for solo voice with continuo; some were arias and some were solo madrigals. He set each line of poetry as a separate phrase ending in a cadence, shaping his melody to the natural accentuation of the text. He wrote into the music the kind of embellishments that singers would usually have added in performance. Faithful to the goals of the Camerata, he placed ornaments to enhance the message of the text not just to display vocal virtuosity. His forward includes descriptions of the vocal ornaments then in use, providing a valuable resource for singers and scholars.

opera

Italian for "work" consisting of a text or libretto (Little book), a play usually in rhymed or unrhymed verse, combined with continuous or nearly continuous music, and is staged with scenery, costumes, and action. Its origins are around 1600 and it became the leading genre of the 17th and 18th centuries and has remained important ever since. in one sense it was a new invention, an attempt to recreate in modern terms the experience of ancient Greek tragedy: a drama sung throughout in which music conveys the emotional effect. In another sense it was a blending of existing genres, including plays, theatrical spectacles, dance, madrigals, and solos song. This genre drew on ideas about ancient tragedy and on the content of modern genres.

arias

Italian for airs; fell under monody but they were ones with strophic texts which could mean any setting of strophic poetry. This was named by Caccini.

basso continuo aka thorough bass

Italian for continuous bass, in this system the composer wrote out the melody or melodies and the bass line but left it to the performers to fill in the appropriate chords or inner parts. the bass and chords were played on one or more continuo instruments typically the harpsichord, organ, lute or theorbo (chitarrone, a large lute with extra bass strings.) By later 17th c. the bass line was frequently reinforced by a melody instrument such as viola da gamba, cello, or bassoon.

basso ostinato or ground bass

Italian for persistent bass, also known as ground bass. A pattern in the bass that repeats while the melody above it changes. Most of these were in triple or compound meter, usually 2, 4, or 8 measures long. There was a well-established tradition in Spain and Italy of popular songs, composed or extemporized that were sung to familiar of these patterns such as Guardame las vacas. These underlay many songs and instrumental works of the early 17th c.

Jean-Baptiste Lully

Louis XIV's favorite musician for over 3 decades. He wrote music for ballets and religious services at court but earned his greatest success with dramatic music. He created a distinctive French kind of opera in the 1670s with Louis's support: he purchased a royal privilege granting him the exclusive right to produce sung drama in France and established the Academie Royale de Musique. with his librettist Quinault he reconciled the demands of drama, music and ballet in a new French form of opera, trageide en musique later named tragedie lyrique. This composer's music projected the formal splendor of Louis's court. Each opera began with an ouverture (French for opening) or overture, marking the entry of the king and welcoming him. They were grand and followed a format now known as a French overture. * He adapted Italian recitative to French language in poetry; the bass is often more rhythmic and the melody more songful than in Italian recitative.He used irregular metric groupings, traditions that date back to musique mesuree and the air de cour to reflect the rhythms of the text. *The air was the leading genre of vocal chamber music in France. * His grandest grand motet (large motet, comparable to a large-scale concerto) was Te Deum and this was part of the church music; had soloists, choruses, full string orchestra, trumpets, timpani and had as many as 150 musicians.

Bach's major works

St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Massin B minor, 200 church cantatas, 30 secular cantatas, 200 organ chorales, Brandenburg Concertos, Well-Tempered Claiver, The Art of Fugue, the violin works and the list goes on

Jacopo Peri

a descendent of a noble Florentine family, he was born in Rome but was soon in Florence, where he had early experience as a singer and lessons with Malvezzi, maestro di cappella at the Cathedral. From 1579 to 1605 he served as organist at the Badia Fiorentina and from 1586 as a singer at S Giovanni Battista. His association with the Medici court dates from the 1580s, and he also won recognition from the Gonzagas in Mantua. Peri is particularly remembered for his development of Italian dramatic monody and for his contribution to the beginning of Western opera. His Euridice (with a libretto by Rinuccini, librettist of Monteverdi's lost opera Arianna and of the same composer's Mascherata delle ingrate) is the first surviving opera—the result of various attempts, particularly in Florence, to recreate the drama of ancient Greece.

French overture

a format of Lully's that were grand and welcomed the king. there are 2 sections each played twice. The first is homophonic and majestic, marked by dotted rhythms and figures rushing toward the downbeats. The second section is faster and begins with a semblance of fugal imitation, sometimes returning at the end to the tempo and figuration of the first section. Lully's opera Armide exemplifies the genre.

sacred oratorios

a genre of religious dramatic music formed in 17th c. Rome combining narrative, dialogue, and commentary. The name actually means prayer hall. Like operas it used recitatives, arias, duets, and instrumental preludes and ritornellos. They differed from operas in that: their subject matter was religious, they were seldom if ever staged, action was described or suggested rather than played out, there was often a narrator, and chorus could take various roles. They were in Latin or Italian. The leading composer of these was Giacomo Carissimi, his Jephte exemplifies the mid century of this genre. The libretto is based on Judges 11:29-40 with some paraphrasing and added material. There is some stile concitato used.

suite (and dances associated with it)

a grouping of stylized dances in a series, with the tempo and rhythm contributing to the character of each dance, most occurring in binary form (two roughly equal sections.) This was popular in both French and German music. The prelude, allemand, courante, sarabande, gigue, rondeau, gavotte, and minuet are all dances that can be part of this definition. In Germany, this definition assumed a standard order as follows: allemande courante (or corrente, an Italian dance in 3/4 time) sarabande gigue *often preceded by a prelude and augmented with optional dances * The four standard dances had different meter, tempo, characteristic rhythm, and national origin, giving strong contrasts between movements.

prelude

a keyboard or lute piece that is in improvisatory style

tragedie en musique (later named tragedie lyrique)

a new French form of opera crafted by Lully and his librettist/playwright Jean-Phillippe Quinault. indicates the French operas of serious subject developed by Lully and continued by Rameau. The second term, although accurate, was not generally used in the period of either composer. The form flourished in parallel with the French classical theatre, although the need for spectacle involved the abandonment of the Aristotelian dramatic unities of place and time. The genre had certain formal requirements that were generally followed with some care, each scene bringing an element of dance and spectacle suited to the plot, the whole decidedly influenced by the very strong French traditions of spoken drama. Gluck introduced changes in the direction of a simpler realism. The form, as described, came to an end with the Revolution.

secular cantata

a new genre of vocal chamber music that emerged in Italy during the 17th c, meaning a piece "to be sung" the term was originally applied before 1620 to a published collection of arias in strophic variation form. By midcentury it meant a secular composition with continuo, usually for solo voice on a lyrical or quasi-dramatic text consisiting of several sections that included both recitatives and arias. Most were composed for private performances in the homes of aristocratic patrons and are preserved only in manuscripts. The leading composers of this genre in the mid 17th c were Luigi Rossi, Antonio Cesti, Giacomo Carissimi (remembered for his oratorios) and Barbara Strozzi. Strozzi's Lagrime mie published in her Diporti di Euterpe (Pleasures of Euterpe) is representative of the solo part of this genre in presenting successive sections of recitative, arioso, and aria. Strozzi changes the style and figuration frequently to capture moods and images of the text. The overall effect of combining contrasting musical elements and emotions is typical of the concerted style at midcentury.

passacaglia

a piece that varies a bass line, deriving from the Spanish passacalle, a ritornello improvised over a simple cadential progression and played before and between strophes of a song. the earliest known keyboard variations on these forms are Frescobaldi's partite sopra passacagli, they were like variations over a ground bass.

chaconne

a vivacious dance song imported from Latin American into Spain and then into Italy. It was one of the first types of music to be brought from the New World to Europe, where it became widely influential. The refrain followed a simple repeating pattern of chords played on the guitar which had become the most popular plucked or strummed instrument in Spain and the Spanish colonies. the earliest known keyboard variations on these forms are Frescobaldi's Partite sopra ciaccona, they were like variations over a ground bass.

minuet

an elegant couple dance in moderate triple meter, used various patterns of four steps within each two-measure unit.

ritornello

an instrumental refrain, Italian for "small return" and usually follows each stanza

castrato (pl. castrati)

because women were prohibited from the stage in Rome, female roles were sung by these, males who were castrated before puberty to preserve their high vocal range. They were already singing church music in Rome (women were not allowed to sing in Catholic churches) and these males sang the high parts in some church choirs in Italy including the papal choir. in the later 17th and 18th centuries they also sang in operas outside of Rome, but almost always in male rather than female roles.

George Frideric Handel

best known for his English Oratorios which he invented, England provided the choral tradition that made this composer's oratorios possible, he won international renown during his lifetime and his music has been performed ever since, making him the first composer whose music has never ceased to be performed. - his music was enormously popular, because for the first time a composer was working for the public and not just for a church or court- he served the public well because of his cosmopolitan and eclectic style drawing on German, Italian, French and English music. - * he never married

Girolamo Frescobaldi

best known for his keyboard music, one of the first composers of international status to focus primarily on instrumental music (he helped raise it to a par with vocal music)the most important composers of toccatas (keyboard (harpsichord/organ) or lute pieces in improvisatory style) and as an organist at St. Peter's in Rome. Born in Ferrara, he was trained in organ and composition. His keyboard music was a model for composers from his time through JS and CPE Bach particularly his toccatas and ricercares (his ricercare after the Credo from his Mass for the Madonna in Fiori musicali is remarkable for the skillful handling of chromatic lines and the subtle use of shifting harmonies and dissonances, revealing a quite intensity that characterizes much of his organ music) other of imitative works because of their learned counterpoint. His most famous student was Johann Jacob Froberger. His Fiori musicali (Musical Flowers) which is a set of three organ masses (music an organist would play at Mass) showed the role of the toccata as service music.

sacred cantatas

cantatas on religious subjects and for the churches, a composition with continuo, usually for solo voice on a lyrical or quasi-dramatic text consisiting of several sections that included both recitatives and arias.

Handel's oratorios

devised this new genre (English) and brought his greatest popularity. - he still continued aspects of the Italian tradition but he added the use of a chorus!! - Esther was his first of this genre and Saul followed - ** The Messiah of this genre became his most famous work

gavotte

duple time dance with a half measure upbeat and a characteristic rhythm of short-short-long

affections

emotions such as sadness, joy, anger, love , fear, excitement, and wonder that the composers of the Baroque sought musical means to express. they were thought of as relatively stable state of the soul, each caused by a certain combination of spirits, or "humors" in the body. According to Descartes, once these spirits were set in motion by external stimuli through the senses they conveyed their motions to the soul, thus bringing about specific emotions. His treatise The Passions of the Soul, attempt to analyze and catalogue these with simple mechanical theory to explain their cause, for every motion stimulating the senses there is a specific emotion evoked in the soul. **It was the goal of all the arts in the Baroque to move the emotions and the conjure the passions in the soul. *It was widely believe that experiencing a range of affections through music could bring the humors into better balance, promoting physical and psychological health so that both vocal and instrumental works typically offered a succession of contrasting moods. Composers did not try to portray their own personal feelings, rather they sought to portray the affections in a generic sense.

choral prelude

essentially an organ piece based on a chorale, aka organ chorales, include organ verses on Gregorian chant and other chorales.

secular oratorios

has the same characteristics of sacred ones but the subject matter is drawn from themes on Greek and Roman mythology. Sometimes presented in the palaces of princes, in academies and other institutions.

Vivaldi's concertos

he achieved remarkable range of colors/sonorities through different groupings of solo and orchestral instruments in this genre. his used special coloristic effects like pizzicato and muted strings. he followed the 3 movement plan by Albinoni (opening fast, slow in the same or closely related key, final fast movement in the tonic, often shorter and sprightlier) since he used this form so consistently he helped to establish it as the standard for concertos over the next 3 centuries. * in this genre this composer expanded on the Torelli pattern and produced ritornello form. * the first composer in this genre to make the slow movement as important as the fast ones. His are typically a long expressive melody. * they were known for his clear formal structures, assured harmonies, varied textures and forceful rhythms, he established a dramatic tension between tutti and soloist. *** his most famous are his first 4 concertos: The Four Seasons, each is accompanied by a sonnet that describes the season and the concertos cleverly depict the images in the poetry. * his 16 sinfonias established him as a founder of the Classic symphony.

Francois Couperin

he was among the most active proponents of blending French and Italian tastes. his career reflects the growing diffusion of patronage in France; he was organist to the king but earned much of his money teaching harpsichord and publishing his own music. -His harpsichord ordres (or suites) were loose aggregations wholes of miniature pieces most in dance rhythms and in binary form but highly stylized and refined, intended as recreation for amateur performers. most had descriptive and powerful names ex. La visionaire (The Dreamer.) - in his chamber music he syntheseized French with Italian styles. he thought that the perfect music would be a union of the two national styles. he admired both Lully and Corelli and celebrated them in suites for 2 violins and harpsichord: The Apotheosis of Corelli and The Apotheosis of Lully. - he was the first and most important French composer of trio sonatas, his collection Les nations contains four ordres (suites) each consisting of a church sonata in several movements followed by a suite of dances, combining the most characteristic genres of France and Italy in a single set. - he wrote 12 suites he called concerts for harpsichord and various combinations of instruments each consisting of a prelude and several dance movements; the first four of which he titled Concerts royaux (Royal Concerts) because they were played before Louis XIV.

Jean-Philippe Rameau

he won recognition as a music theorist at the age of 40 and as a composer in his 50s, in other points in his life he was also seen as a radical and as a reactionary - attained his greatest fame in composing from stage works - he approached music as a source of empirical data that could be explained on rational principles; this was described in his Traite de l'harmonie (Treatise on Harmony) one of the most INFLUENTIAL theoretical works ever written (influenced by Descartes and Newman) - he considered the triad and 7th chord the primal elements of music and derived both from the natural consonances of the perfect 5th, major 3rd, and minor third. - he felt that each chord has a fundamental tone (root today) the succession of these fundamental tones is the fundamental bass - he coined the terms tonic (the main note and chord in a key), dominant (the note and chord a perfect fifth above the tonic) and subdominant (the note and chord a fifth below the tonic) - he recognized that a piece could change key ** the first to bring the elements of earlier theorists together under a unified system--> his approach became essential to teaching musicians - his writings founded the theory of tonal music - his operas established him as Lully's most important successor -born in Burgundy in Dijon (moved to Paris) - he made a living teaching harmony and playing continuo, he was also an organist - Hippolyte et Aricie was his first opera - he eventually won patronage and the king of France even granted him an annual pension

Claudio Monteverdi

helped opera become known, the most innovative and imaginative composer of his day, wrote only vocal works, including sacred pieces, madrigals, and operas. his music is perfectly suited to the text. very inventive in creating expressive devices, combining styles and genres to capture feelings and personalities. he was born in Cremona, an accomplished viol and viola player, in the service of the duke of mantua vincenzo gonzaga. he was unhappy at mantua after his wife claudia died but he went on to become maestro di cappella at St. mark's in venice, the most prestigious musical post in italy. His first opera was L'orfeo. His later dramatic works such as L'arianna followed since he had such success but only a fragment of it survives. * Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda a short work blending music and mime with a text from Tasso's epic Jerusalem Delivered; to convey warlike actions, this composer devised concitato genere or stile concitato (excited style) which is a rapid reiteration on a single note, other composers imitated this device later on. **Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea) opera is often considered his masterpieces; as it surpasses depiction of human character and passions. it does lack the varied instrumentation but that's because it was written for a commercial theater and not a wealthy court. he used some of the recitativo arioso, or arioso style.

Bach's Mass in B minor

his only complete setting of the Catholic Mass Ordinary, he drew most of if from music he had composed earlier, throughout the work he juxtaposed contrasting styles, he may have intended it as an anthology of movements each a model of its type that could be performed separately since it was never performed as a while during his own lifetime and it is too long to function well as service music

L'Euridice

in 1600 Peri set to music Ottavio Rinuccini's pastoral drama. the subject demonstrates music's power to move the emotions: through his singing Orefo (Orpheus) makes even those in the underworld weep and persuades them to restore his wife (the name of this opera) to life. It was performed in Florence for the wedding of Maria de'Medici, nice of the grand duke to King Henry IV of France. Peri actually sang the role of Orfeo. Although it looms large in history as the first performance of the earliest surviving opera, the work was only a small part of the wedding entertainment. Since Cavalieri directed and then incorporated sections of another setting of the libretto and he would not allow his singers to perform music composed by others both versions were soon published and they remain the earliest surviving complete operas. Caccini's is more melodious and lyrical resembling the arias and madrigals of Le nuove musiche. For this Peri, invented a new idiom soon known as recitative style.

recitative

invented by Peri, a kind of speech song that was similar to the style scholars thought the Greek used for reciting heroic poems. By holding steady the notes of the basso continuo while the voice moved freely through both consonances and dissonances, he liberated the voice from the harmony enough so that it simulated free, pitchless declamation of poetry. when a syllable arrived that would be stressed in speaking he formed a consonance with the bass (intoned.)

Heinrich Schutz

known mainly in Lutheran areas of Germany, known for his synthesis of German and Italian elements (helped lay the foundation for later composer from Bach to Brahms,) a master at applying the new Italian styles to church music, studied in Venice with Gabrieli and Monteverdi and brought their approaches back to Germany where he was chapel master at the Saxon court in Dresden. He studied law at first but was persuaded to go study composition in Venice. *He used musical figures to convey the meaning of the words. His major works include: -Psalmen Davids (German polychoral psalms) -Cantiones sacrae (Latin motets, sacred songs) -Symhponiae sacrae (Sacred symphonies, 3 volumes)*His largest scale concerto was Saul, was verfolgst du mich and combines styles of both Gabrieli and Monteverdi -Musikalische Exequien (funeral music) -Kleine geistliche Konzerte (small sacred concertos, 2 volumes: ** motets for one to 5 solo voices with continuo that were smaller scale because of the reduced number of musicians due to the Thirty Years' War -The Seven Last Words of Christ (uses historia, a musical setting based on a biblical narrative) -Christmas History: features recitatives for the narrative interspersed with scenes in the concertato medium including arias/choruses with instrumental accompaniment - THREE Passions: in 1666 following the accounts of Matthew, Luke, and John. He used the older German tradition of treating the narrative in plainsong and the words of the disciples, crowd and other groups in polyphonic motet style.

recitativo secco

means dry recitative; emerged in Italian opera in the early 18th c. and was accompanied only by basso continuo and set stretches of dialogue or monologue in as speechlike fashion as possible it was also known as simple recitative. These interjections reinforced the rapid change of emotion in the dialogue and punctuated the singer's phrases.

Handel's instrumental works

much of it was published by John Walsh in London - two collections of harpsichord suites, twenty solo sonatas, and trio sonatas for various instruments - * most popular of these were his Water Music (3 suites for winds and strings, played from a boat during a royal procession on the River Thames for the king and his Music for the Royal Fireworks (for winds, although strings were originally included and was composed to accompany fireworks set off in a London park to celebrate the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle - his concertos mix tradition and innovation but tend toward a retrospective style - he invented the concerto for organ and orchestra - * most significant concertos are the Twelve Grand Concertos

Dieterich Buxtehude

one of the best known lutheran composers of the late 17th c. (known for his setting of Wachet auf, a concertato chorale) he was renowned as an organist as well as a composer of organ music and sacred vocal works. his works has a powerful influence on JS Bach & others. his main employment was at st. mary's church in Lubeck. ** he was famed for his Abendmusiken (public concerts of sacred vocal music at St. Mary's on 5 Sunday afternoons each year before Christmas, admission was free (payed for by local merchants) these concerts attracted musicians from all over Germany and JS Bach attended in 1705 saying he walked more than 200 miles to hear them) * His works are catalogued in Georg Karstadt's Buxtehude-Werke-Verzeichnis. * He wrote toaccatas, as well as harpsichord suites and CHORALE PRELUDES, ex. Nun kimm, der Heiden Heiland.

Alessandro Scarlatti

one of the leading composers of Italian opera in late 17th c. Italy & was Naples' leading composer, composed more than 600 cantatas (his Clori vezzosa cantata is typical of the solo cantata at the time.) - The most common form in his operas and cantatas was the aria da capo (his last opera La Griselda is a wonderful example.) * One of the first composers to write serenatas: a semi dramatic piece for several singers and small orchestra, usually written for a special occasion.

sonata da camera

one of the main types of sonatas that had emerged by about 1660, aka chamber sonata featured a series of stylized dances, often beginning with a prelude. They were also played for entertainment in private concerts.

sonata da chiesa

one of the main types of sonatas that had emerged by about 1660, aka church sonata, contained mostly abstract movements, often including one or more that used dance rhythms or binary form but were not usually titled as dances. Church sonatas could be used in church services, substituting for certain items of the Mass Proper or for antiphons for the Magnificat at Vespers and could were also played for entertainment in private concerts.

sarabande

originally a quick type of dance-song from Central America accompanied by guitar and percussion, very popular in Spain. It was transformed into a slow dignified triple meter with emphasis on the second beat.

gigue

originated in the British Isles as a fast solo dance with rapid footwork, in France it became stylized as a movement in fast compound meter such as 6/4 or 12/8 with wide melodic leaps and continuous lively triplets

prima practica

part of the 16th c. style of vocal polyphony codified by Zarlino meaning first practice. in the first practice the music had to follow its own rules and thus dominated the verbal text

seconda practica

part of the 16th c. style of vocal polyphony codified by Zarlino meaning second practice. in the second practice the music serves to heighten the effect and rhetorical power of the words, and voice-leading rules may be broken and dissonances may be used freely to express the feelings evoked in the text. This did not displace the other but each was used where appropriate.

Johann Sebastian Bach

regarded as the pinnacle of composers of all time, however during his own time little of his music was published or circulated. - known as an organ virtuoso, a skilled violinist and writer of learned contrapuntal works - he embraced all major styles, forms, genres (except opera) and blended them in new ways and developed them further - notes of his life remind us that musicians were not free agents, but were subjects to the wishes of their employers, the duke of Weimar would not let him leave at first and imprisoned him before letting him go to Cothen (where he was kapellmeister (music director) before going on to become the cantor of the St. Thomas School and civic music director (one of the most prestigious positions in Germany - he often clashed with his employers and defied authority - he married twice and had many children although a great number died during infancy - his last years were marked by disease and vision problems, died of a stroke - his works are identified by their number in Schmeider's catalogue of his works abbreviaated BWV - he learned composition by compying or arranging the music of other composers

Georg Philipp Telemann

regarded by his contemporaries as one of the best composers of his era as well as the most prolific with over 3000 works to his credit, he wrote in every genre: over 30 operas, over a thousand church cantatas, 46 Passions, etc. - he helped to establish the characteristic German style of his time - almost every current style can be found in his music - his music had wide appeal because he wrote for the abilities of good amateur or middle level professional players - he was published in paris as well as germany and it was bought from italy to england to spain and scandinavia

opera seria

serious opera, which treated serious subjects without comic scenes or characters. - it received standard form from the Italian poet Pietro Metastasio - the action provides opportunities for introducing varied scenes (pastoral, martial, solemn, etc.) - the resolution of the drama, which rarely has a tragic ending often turns on a deed of heroism or sublime renunciation by one of the principal characters - its 3 acts consist almost without exception of alternating recitatives and arias - each aria is a virtual dramatic soliloquy in which a principal character expresses feelings or reacts to the preceding scene - the orchestra serves mainly to accompany the singers

concerto grosso

set a small ensemble (concertino) of solo instruments against a large ensemble The concertino normally comprised of 2 violins accompanied by cello and continuo. This genre resembled an ensemble sonata in which some passages are reinforced with multiple platers on each part. The full orchestra was designated tutti (all) or ripieno (full.)

Bach's Harpsichord music

show the influence of French, Italian, and German models - composed the English Suites, the French Suites and the Partitas - each suite contains the 4 dance movements - * his best known keyboard works were the Well Tempered Clavier (two books) and consisted of 24 prelude and fugue pairs one in each of the major and minor keys - composed the Goldberg Variations which raised the genre of keyboard variations to a new level of artfulness with the last variation being a quodlibet (combining two popular song melodies in counterpoint above the bass of the theme) - Composed: A Musical Offering and the Art of Fugue

solo madrigal vs. concertato madrigal

solo madrigal is a type of monody and was through composed for one voice in settings of nonstrophic poems for one's own entertainment or for an audience while the concertato madrigal was for several voices sometimes with melody instruments and continuo.

librettist

someone who writes/composes the libretto ("little book" that consists of a text for an opera

monody

term used by modern historians to embrace all the styles of accompanied solo singing practiced in the late 16th and early 17th centuries (distinct from monophony which is unaccompanied melody.) Soloists sang epics and other strophic poems to standard formulas with light accompaniment, composers wrote songs for voice and lute and it was common to sing one part of a polyphonic madrigal while instruments played the other parts. *Two type of monody are: arias and solo madrigals.

Jean-Phillipe Rameau

the first theorist to describe the tonal system, he used Corelli's musical language as the basis for his rules of functional tonality.

aria da capo (form and characteristics)

the most common form of aria in Scarlatti's operas and cantatas, the form takes its name from the words da cap or from the head placed at the close of the second section, instructing the performers to return to the beginning of the aria and repeat the first section, producing an ABA form. Typically the A section includes two different settings of the same text framed by instrumental ritornellos. * It was the perfect vehicle for sustaining a lyrical moment through a musical design that expressed a single sentiment. *This form became the standard aria form in the 18th c for opera and cantata because it offered great flexibility in expression. * In voler cio che tu brami from Scarlatti's last opera La Griselda is a wonderful example.

trio sonata

the most common instrumentation after 1670 for both church and chamber sonatas was two treble instruments, usually violins with basso continuo. It was given this name because of its three-part texture but a performance can feature 4 or more players if one is used for the basso continuo such as a cello performing the bass line and a harpsichord, organ, or lute doubling the bass and filling in the chords. Arcangelo Corelli was a composer of trio sonatas and one of his traits was walking bass!

solo concerto

the most common type of concerto; it contrasted one or more solo instruments with the large ensemble. the large group was almost always a string orchestra, usually divided into first and second violins, violas, and cellos with basso continuo and bass viol either doubling the cellos or separate. The full orchestra was designated tutti (all) or ripieno (full.)

Passion

the most common type of historia, a musical setting of the story of Jesus' crucification

intermedio (pl. intermedi)

the most direct source for opera was a musical interlude on a pastoral, allegorical, or mythological subject performed between acts of a play. the genre arose from a practical need: something was needed to mark division and suggest the passage of time because the theaters lacked curtains. Usually there were six of them, performed before, between and after a play's standard give acts and often linked by a common theme. Ones that were for important occasions were elaborate productions that combined dialogue with choral, solo, and instrumental music, dances, costumes, scenery, and stage effects: almost all the ingredients of opera except a plot and the new style of dramatic singing. *The most spectacular were those for the comic play La pellegrin (the Pilgrim Woman) at the 1589 wedding in Florence of Grand Duke Ferdinand de'Medici of Tuscany and Christine of Lorraine. Emilio de'Cavalieri (producer, composer and choreographer) Ottavio Rinuccini (poet) Jacopo Peri (singer-composer) and Giulio Caccini (singer-composer.) The unifying theme was conceived by Florentine count Giovanni de'Bardi and it was the power of ancient Greek music, a consuming interest of his circle.

Johann Jacob Froberger

the most famous student of Frescobaldi, an organist at the imperial court in Vienna. His toccatas tend to alternate improvisatory passages with sections in imitative counterpoint. His piece were the model for the later merging of toccata and fugue, as in the works of Buxtehude or their coupling as in Bach's toccatas or preludes and fugues. He also helped to carry the French harpsichord style to Germany as well as helping to establish the allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue as standard components of dance suites.

fugue

they have subjects, answers, and episodes (periods of free counterpoint between statements of the subject.) formerly used for the technique of imitation itself, as the name of the genre of serious pieces that treat one theme in continuous imitation; this genre became increasingly important in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. from the Italian word, fuga for flight.

solo madrigal

this also fell under monody but used through composed settings of nonstrophic poems, sung for one's own entertainment or for an audience. Thus was also named by Caccini.

Arcangelo Corelli

this composer helped to establish standards of form, style, and playing technique that influenced several generations. born in Fusignano a small town in northern Italy, he studied violin and composition in Bologna. he went on to live in Rome where he became a leading violinist and composer, he helped to raise performance standards to a new level. * He organized and led among the first orchestras in Italy, which became a model for others. * His teaching was the foundation of most 18th c. schools of violin playing. - he published a series of collections of trio sonatas, violin sonatas, and concerti grossi that were spread through Europe, bring him international fame. He wrote both church sonatas and chamber sonatas. * His music is tonal, marked with the sense of direction or progression that, more than any other wuality distinguishes tonal music from modal music. The theorist Jean-Philippe Rameau used this composer's musical language as the basis for his rules of functional tonality. His sonatas served as the model for composers for the next half a century. * His concerto grosso were essentially trio sonatas, divided between soli and tutti. his approach was widely imitated by later composers in Italy, England, and Germany.

Antonio Vivaldi

this composer used Torelli's approach and developed it into ritornello form, the standard pattern for 18th c. concertos. one of the most original and prolific composers of his time, and influenced later composers PROFOUNDLY the best known composer of the early 18th c. was born and spent most of his career in Venice. he was a virtuoso violinist, master teacher, and popular composer of opera, cantatas, sacred music and today is primarily known for his concertos (wrote about 500) He was a teacher/composer/conductor/superintendent at the Pio Ospedale della Pieta, a children's home.

Bach's organ music

used pedals extensively,he was often called upon to test new or rebuilt organs - prefaced his fugues with separate preludes (well known Toccata in D minor) - from Vivaldi he learned to write concise themes, clarify harmonic schemes and develop subjects into grandly proportioned formal structures based on the ritornello idea. - wrote over 200 chorale settings (Little Organ Book)

recitativo accompagnato

used stirring and impressive orchestral outbursts to dramatize tense situations, it was also known as recitativo obbligato and accompanied recitative. These interjections reinforced the rapid change of emotion in the dialogue and punctuated the singer's phrases.

figured bass

when the chords to be played were other than common triads in root position, or if nonchord tones (such as suspensions) or accidentals were needed, the composer usually assed these; numbers or flat or sharp signs above or below the bass notes, to indicated the precise notes required. The REALIZATION, the actual playing of this varied according to the type of piece and the skill and taste of the player who had considerable room for improvisation. *It's purpose was accompaniment.