Baroque

 

History General Characteristics Performance Media ! Instruments: Rhythm ! Melody Texture Strucure/Form Composers Johann Sebastian Bach Antonio Vivaldi Alessandro Scarlatti George Frideric Handel ! Claudio Monteverdi Johann Joseph Fux ! ! ! Francesco GerminianiConcertos, Op.2 and 3   Giovanni Battista Bononcini Georg Philipp Telemann** ! Jean Baptiste Lully !

History

General Characteristics

Performance Media

English HarpsichordBassoonContrabassoon

 

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Instruments:

by Mike, Arturo and Sidney

Oboe: The oboe is a part of the woodwind family. It is played using a double reed and has a nasally sound. Many pieces use it as a solo instrument. Its range is about 2 ½ octaves, starting on Bb, which is one whole step down from middle C.

Bassoon: The bassoon is apart of the woodwinds. It is played with a double reed. It has a range of about 3 ½ octaves, stating at Bb. It is pitched in C.

Contrabassoon: The contrabassoon is an octave lower than the bassoon. The notation, however, is written an octave above the actual notes played. It is considered the lowest-pitched instrument of the orchestra.

Rhythm

- Sachin and Edd

• Two Diametrically opposed rhythmic patterns
• In Vocal Recitatives: Rhythm is free and dictated by the text itself
• In Accompaniements: Strong and relentless beat, accented by harmonies and repeated notes
• Many works are based on one rhythmic pattern
• Unchanging tempo
   
  ~Two different types of rhythm common of the time were regular and flexible;
  Regular- used for dance music and became more pursuasive
   

Types of Dance:

• Jig
• Carrenta
• Sarabande-shown in the video below is a slow dance in triple meter with the distictive feature that beats two and three of the measure are often tied, giving a destinctive rythm of quarter and half notes in alteration...note in the video a dragging step on half steps

Flexible - Used for Vocal Recitatives and improv solos like toccatas and preludes

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Melody

by Roxanne and Becky

Melodies are continuous, flowing, and obvious.

Polyphony was still popular, but less complicated than Renaissance.

“Text-painting” is used; the accompanying music evokes and reflects the emotion of the text.

Melismas occur often in baroque music, as a form of ornamentation.

Plenty of ornamentation

Motives are commonly repeated in these pieces, often modified and developed throughout the piece.

Chromaticism was, in a sense developed, with the experimentation with breaking away from Renaissance tradition.

Though previously frowned upon, dissonance became more accepted and welcomed in Baroque music, giving each piece a tonal direction.

Baroque music had a lot of borrowed melodies, in the sense that composers would take a phrase from another piece of music and put it in their own works.

Counterpoint during this time was now driven by harmony rather than by the various individual melodies.

 

Texture

by Katherine and Hanna

• Polyphonic:
  ~ multiple melodic lines
  ~ soprano and bass lines were most important
  ~ imitation between lines was common
  ~ forms of polyphony – cannons, fugues
• Homophonic:
  ~ one melodic line
  ~ Early Baroque period
  ~ occurred in Bach and Handel’s pieces

Basso Continuo

Strucure/Form

Composers

 

 

 

 

Johann Sebastian Bach

 

 

By: Laura

1. Dates of life: 1685-1750

2. Where born/died:

-Born in Eisenach, Germany

-Died in Leipzig, Germany

3. Life:

J.S. Bach was born into a family of musicians. His father played violin, and other relatives were music copyists, town pipers, fiddlers, and played the oboe or organ. His father taught him to play the harpsichord and violin and was introduced to the organ by his uncle who was famous organist. Bach lived with his oldest brother, Cristoph, after his parents died when he was 10. His brother taught him to play the harpsichord and organ. As a boy, he was admired for his soprano voice as he sang in the Mettenchor (Mattins Choir) in Lüneburg. After his voice changed, he studied violin, but then became interested in the organ and decided to pursue church music. He became an organist at the church of Arnstadt and began composing when he was 18. At the age of 22, Bach moved to Mühlhausen and married Maria Barbara Bach. He had seven children. He was known as an outstanding church musician and excellent organist and was appointed to the Duke of Weimar. During his nine years in Weimar, Bach composed some of his greatest organ music, including Toccata and Fugue in D minor as well as church cantatas and keyboard suites. In 1717, when he was 32, Bach accepted the post of master of music to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, where he composed much of his orchestral music, including his six popular Brandenburg Concertos and works for the clavichord and harpsichord. After his wife, Maria, died in 1720, he remarried in 1721 to Anna Magdalena Wülken, who was also a musician. He had 13 more children with her and taught most of his children to play a musical instrument. Several of Bach’s sons grew up to be respected composers and performers as well. In 1723, Bach accepted the post of music director of St. Thomas’s School in Leipzig, where he composed many of his most famous choral works, including Christmas Oratorio and the St. Matthew Passion. Bach was very religious and a devoted family man. He signed his music with “S.D.G” (Sol Deo Gloria), which means “to the glory of God.” He boasted that he could form a vocal and instrumental ensemble just from his family alone. In 1749, Bach became blind and died in Leipzig in 1750.

4. Mentors: Dieterich Buxtehude, who inspired Bach with his improvisatory preludes and use of counterpoint

5. Main influences:

In Lüneburg, Bach was influenced in his musical composition and performance by the French style. In Weimar, he came into contact with Italian instrumental music. Since Bach also stayed in Germany is entire life, he obviously was influenced by German music as well. These French and Italian influences were mainly brought out through texture and rhythm. He often made arrangements of other composers’ works. For example, he could take an Italian ensemble composition, such as a violin concerto, and turn it into a single piece for harpsichord.

6. Types of compositions known for:

-Preludes and Fugues (Well-Tempered Clavier- a prelude and fugue in each of the 24 major and minor keys)

-Inventions and Sinfonias (Two- and three-part contrapuntal works)

-Cantatas

-Canons

-Concertos (Brandenburg Concertos)

-Fantasias

-Masses

-Toccatas

Bach wrote music in a wide variety of other “forms” as well, including sonatas, dance suites, oratorios, etc.

7. Great works:

Harpsichord: Little Book for the Keyboard, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2

Organ: Toccata and Fugue in D minor

Orchestra: Brandenburg Concertos

Choral: Christmas Oratorio, St. Matthew Passion

8. Compositional Techniques:

Bach is seen as the supreme master of counterpoint, but also embodies the entire Baroque era in his music.

9. Interesting facts:

-Bach is considered the father of Baroque. Bach had 20 children and composed the Little Book for the Keyboard for his nine-year-old son, Wilhelm Friedemann.

- Georg Philipp Telemann was the first choice to be cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, but turned down the position, forcing the administration to choose a "mediocre" second choice, J.S. Bach.

    -The Beatles were influenced by Bach in their music.

 

 

 

Antonio Vivaldi

 

 

By: Laura

1. Dates of life: 1678-1741

2. Where born/died:

-Born in Venice, Italy

-Died in Vienna, Austria

3. Life:

Antonio Vivaldi’s father was a violinist, who taught Vivaldi how to play the instrument. He became a priest in 1703, but did not celebrate mass after a year due to pain in his chest. Vivaldi was employed for the majority of his working life by the Ospedale della Pietá, an orphanage, where he was the maestro di violino (master of violin). He also worked for the Teatro Sant’ Angelo, an opera theater, where he staged and produced operas. His first opera was Ottone in villain 1713. He moved to Mantua at the end of 1713 where he composed operas and cantatas as Chamber Capellmeister. Between 1725 and 1728, eight operas were premiered in Venice and Florence. His concertos, such as the Four Seasons, became extremely popular during this time as well. Vivaldi traveled to Prague in 1730, and after he returned he concentrated mainly on operas. He wrote instrumental music only for the Ospedale della Pietá. In 1738, Vivaldi traveled to Amsterdam, where he conducted a festive opening concert for the 100^th Anniversary of the Schouwburg Theater. He moved to Vienna in 1741, but died shortly after he moved there.

4. Mentors: Vivaldi’s father

5. Main influences:

6. Types of compositions known for:

-Concertos (The Four Seasons, composed over 500 concertos primarily for solo violin and group ensembles)

-Operas (46 operas)

Vivaldi also composed sonatas, sinfonias, chamber and sacred music.

7. Great works:

The Four Seasons is by far Vivaldi’s most famous work.

8. Compositional Techniques:

Vivaldi had a more playful energy in his music compared to the serious tone set by Baroque music. His concerti had a fast, slow, fast form with a ritornello form.

 

 

Alessandro Scarlatti

 

 

By: Laura

1. Dates of life: 1660-1725

2. Where born/died:

-Born in Trapani or Palermo, Sicily (Italian)

-Died in Naples, Italy

3. Life:

Alessandro Scarlatti trained in Rome. In 1678, he got married and was later appointed Maestro di Cappella of San Giacomo degli Incurabili. Here at only 19 years old, he performed his first large-scale oratorio-operatic work. In 1684, Scarlatti moved to Naples, and was appointed Maestro di Cappella at the vice-regal court of Naples. In Naples, Scarlatti produced over 40 operas, which were first performed in Viceregal Palazzo Reale and then at S. Bartolomeo, a public theater. Here he was employed as a director. In 1703, Scarlatti moved back to Rome after staying in Florence for a year. Here he was Maestro di Cappella at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he was required to compose motets and Masses in strict concertato and Papal styles. As another source of income, Scarlatti also started to compose oratorios, cantatas, and celebratory serenatas. Later on, Scarlatti experimented with orchestral writing, where he expanded the Sinfonia concept with his twelve Sinfonie di concerto grosso. Scarlatti’s final years were spent in Naples, teaching, composing cantatas, a Serenata, and a set of Sonatas for Flute and Strings. He died in Naples in 1725.

4. Mentors: None found

5. Main influences: Early Baroque Italian voice styles, which mainly rooted from Florence, Venice, and Rome

6. Types of compositions known for:

-Operas

-Cantatas (over 600, mostly for soprano and continuo)

-Oratorios

-Concertos

-Sinfonias

7. Great works:

Opera: La Griselda

8. Compositional Techniques:

From 1695, Scarlatti’s operas and “musical dramas” had three movement (fast, slow, fast) sinfonias (opera overtures), which eventually became the standard for all Italian operas. He also differentiated the singing styles of aria and recitative. In his later operas and overtures, he experimented with a more modern style of instrumentation.

 

 

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Some examples of his works are :

• Orchestral music, including over 239 violin concerti, including Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons, Op.8, Nos.1-4, c.1725), other solo concerti (bassoon, cello, oboe, flute, recorder), double concerti, ensemble concerti, sinfonias
• Chamber music, including sonatas for violin, cello and flute, trio sonatas
• Vocal music, including oratorios (Juditha triumphans, 1716), Mass movements (Gloria), Magnificat, psalms, hymns and motets
• Secular vocal music, including solo cantatas and operas

 

 

Hirtenfeld in Eastern Styria, Austria (Austrian)

student at Graz University

became the organist of the famous Scottish Church in Vienna

then appointed Court Composer by the Emperor

1701 Fux became Capellmeister at St. Stephen's Cathedral

1711 became Music Director at the Imperial Court itself, the highest musical position in Europe Gradus ad Parnassum, a textbook from which most of the composers of the next generation learnt their counterpoint , even Bach himself had a copy in his library

Published

"the greatest master of the Austrian Baroque"

Lucca, in Tuscany, (Italian)

played the violin in the Town Orchestra for three years

moved to Naples in 1711 to take up the position as Leader of the Opera Orchestra

Music historian Dr. Burney put it, "his unexpected accelerations and relaxations of measure".

Moved to England and became a brilliant violin player

invited to play the violin before George I

Published "The Art of Playing the Violin" (1731) along with Rules for Playing in a True Taste ''A Treatise of Good Taste in the Art of Musick, a Guida harmonica with supplement (c.l754), The Art of Accompaniment (c.l754) compositions and his theoretical treatisesSigismundus, on a text by Postel)Collegium Musicum with which he gave public concerts (and which Bach was later to direct)Il trionfo di CamillaAstarto opened the second season at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket late in 1720, outshining Handel's own operasL'odio e l'amore followed a month later at the Haymarket TheatreAlmira (1705), Rinaldo (1711), Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar, 1724) and Orlando (1733) Esther (1718), Alexander's Feast (1736), Israel in Egypt (1739), Messiah (1742), Sampson (1743), Belshazzar (1745), Judas Maccabaeus (1747), Solomon (1749) and Jephtha (1752); other sacred vocal music, including Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (c.1713), Acis and Galatea (masque, 1718), Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1739), Utrech Te Deum (1713), anthems and Latin church music Water Music (1717) and Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749); concerti for oboe, organ, horn Costanza e Fortezza, Il trionfo di CamillaAstarto opened the second season at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket late in 1720, outshining Handel's own operas

Geminiani based his earliest published Concertos on Corelli's Sonatas for Violin and Continuo, Op.5

Magdeburg (German)

As a child he showed considerable musical talent, mastering the violin, flute, zither and keyboard by the age of ten and composing an opera (

Attended Leipzig University in 1701

within a year of his arrival he founded the student

Telemann wrote operatic works for the Leipzig Theater, and in 1703 became musical director of the Leipzig Opera and was appointed organist at the Neue Kirche in 1704

1705 he accepted an appointment as Kapellmeister to the cosmopolitan court of Count Erdmann II of Promnitz at Sorau

His association with the Sorau Kantor and theorist Wolfgang Caspar Printz and the reformist poet Erdmann Neumeister as well as the proximity to Berlin and contact with Polish folk music all proved stimulating

invasion by the Swedish army, causing the Court to be hurriedly disbanded

he went to the free imperial city of Frankfurt-am-Main to take up duties as Director of Municipal Music and also as Kapellmeister of the Barfüßerkirche

He composed occasional music for civic ceremonies, five year-long cycles of church cantatas, oratorios, orchestral music and a wealth of chamber music, much of which was published; only the opportunity to produce opera was lacking

in 1721, the coveted post of Kantor of the Hamburg Johanneum, a post that traditionally carried with it teaching responsibilities and the directorship of Hamburg's five principal churches, became vacant, and Telemann was invited to succeed Joachim Gerstenbüttel

was required to compose two cantatas a week, annually to produce a new Passion, and to provide occasional works for church and civil ceremonies

Modena, Italy (Italian)

trained as a cellist in Bologna

member of the Accademia Filarmonica

a musician at San Petronio (for which he composed two Lenten oratorios, 1687-8)

maestro di cappella at San Giovanni in Monte until 1689

Bononcini collaborated with the poet Silvio Stampiglia on six serenatas, an oratorio and five operas, of which the last,

recruited in 1698 to the court of Leopold I in Vienna

After the death of Emperor Joseph I in 1711, Bononcini left the Viennese court for Rome

1719 he was invited to London by the Earl of Burlington to become a composer for the Royal Academy of Music under Handel's direction

Bononcini was warmly received in London where .

Muzio Scevola

Bononcini returned to London, accepting a position as director of the private concerts of the Duchess of Marlborough

George Frideric Handel

 

• English composer, but German by birth and was most famous for his Operas and Oratorios.
• He composed for the general public.
• At a young age, he composed with an Italian style. His first Opera, Almira, was a big success.
• While he was in England, he maintained an Italian style in his Operas. But, he later developed into a light and ballad opera.
• Around 1728, the Italian style had faded so he started writing Oratorios. His most famous was Messiah in 1742.
• He was an amazing organist.

 

His Works Include:

• Over 40 operas, including
• Oratorios, including
• Secular vocal music, including solo and duo cantatas; arias
• Orchestral music, including
• Chamber music, including solo and trio sonatas
• Keyboard music, including harpsichord suites, fugues, preludes, airs and dances

 

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Claudio Monteverdi

Dates of Life: 1567-1643Place of Birth: Cremona Place of Death: Venice :

 

 

 

NationalityItalian :

LifeBegan his career as a chorister at the cathedral in Cremona. At the age of 16 he had already published his volume of three-part motets and a book of sacred madrigals. In 1601 he became maestro di cappela at the Mantuan court. In 1607 he wrote his first opera L’Orfeo. The tragic death of his wife and close friend made him suffer a complete collapse. During this time he wrote Vespro della beata vergine (Vespers of the Blessed Virgin 1610). He wrote many ballets and operas for the Mantuan court, but many of his scores were destroyed when Austrian troops sacked the palace in 1630 in Venice. His madrigal collections show his moving with the times, from typically Renaissance polyphony pieces to highly expressive dramatic works for solo voices with instrumental accompaniment. :

MentorsNone found :

InfluencesThe death of his wife and his close friend were influences when he composed the Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, which date from this unhappy period. :

CompositionsOperas, Madrigals, Motets

Great Works:Vespro Della beata vegine, Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, (1610) a glorious setting for voices and instruments, L’Orfeo (1607) an opera. :

Unique StyleHe was a master of producing precisely styled motets that extended forms of Marenzio and Giaces de Wert. He used idiomatic writing, virtuoso flourishes and a thorough going use of new techniques. :

Other FactsHe bridged the worlds of the High Renaissance and the Baroque Era. He could re-invent and adapt his musical styles according to changing tastes. All of his music, early or late, is characterized by qualities of emotional intensity, depth of expression and understanding of human nature comparable with those that inform the works of Shakespeare.

 

 

 

Johann Joseph Fux

• 1660-1741

Famous Pieces:

Secular/Sacred composer

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Francesco GerminianiConcertos, Op.2 and 3

 

 

Giovanni Battista Bononcini

• 1670-1747
• Modena, Italy (Italian)
• trained as a cellist in Bologna
• member of the Accademia Filarmonica
• a musician at San Petronio (for which he composed two Lenten oratorios, 1687-8)
• maestro di cappella at San Giovanni in Monte until 1689
• Bononcini collaborated with the poet Silvio Stampiglia on six serenatas, an oratorio and five operas, of which the last,
• recruited in 1698 to the court of Leopold I in Vienna
• After the death of Emperor Joseph I in 1711, Bononcini left the Viennese court for Rome
• 1719 he was invited to London by the Earl of Burlington to become a composer for the Royal Academy of Music under Handel's direction
• Bononcini was warmly received in London where
• Muzio Scevola . L'odio e l'amore followed a month later at the Haymarket TheatreIl trionfo di Camilla, Muzio Scevola. L'odio e l'amore, Astarto, Astianatte, Laudate pueri, Concert Spirituel, and Te Deum.''
• Bononcini returned to London, accepting a position as director of the private concerts of the Duchess of Marlborough

Famous Operas:

 

Georg Philipp Telemann**

• 1681-1767 ****

Famous Operas:

 

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Jean Baptiste Lully

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**

Glossary

 

• 1687-1762

Famous Pieces:

Concertos as Op.7 (1746)

The Enchanted Forest, a staged pantomime scored for two violins and cello with an orchestra of two trumpets, two flutes, two horns, strings and timpani.

Violin Sonatas Op.1 and 4

Ornaments for both slow and fast movements as well as cadenzas; he advocated the use of vibrato 'as often as possible'.

Concerto Grosso versions of Op.4 (1743)

Op.5 Cello Sonatas

'modernized' versions of the Op.2 and 3 Concertos

in 1757 a final arrangement of Op.1 in trio format