Baroque Era1600 – 1750

Historical Background…

During the Renaissance, the focus on the Catholic Church changed drastically. The Protestant Reformation was a movement in the 16th century to reform

the Catholic Church in Western Europe. Several religious institutions were established through this Reformation,

which lead to a Catholic counter Reformation. A variety of new spiritual movements, reformations of religious

communities and the clarification of Catholic theology all stemmed from the Catholic Reformation.

During the Baroque Era the situation between the Catholics and the Protestants was settling down.

The baroque musical style was also shaped by the needs of churches, which used the emotional and theatrical qualities to make worship more attractive.

Historical Background…

There was a new merchant class, which was wealthy enough to afford education and art, and therefore employed craftsmen, artists and musicians.

This merchant class also influenced the baroque style. Prosperous merchants and doctors commission the realistic depiction of land and every day life.

Mathematics was becoming especially important with men like Rene Descartes and Isaac Newton. These men were decoding the world through reason and math with God

as the supreme mathematician. They discovered the fact of mathematical laws governing bodies in

motion. These led to new inventions and gradual improvement in medicinal field. Baroque style was also set against the background of great scientific

discovery.

Historical Context…

In France, Louis XIV held court in the palace of Versailles, a magnificent setting that is fused with Baroque painting, sculpture and architecture into a symbol of royal wealth and power.

Baroque art is a complex mixture of rationalism, spirituality, sensuality and materialism.

A comparison…When compared with both the Medieval and

Renaissance periods, Baroque music is considered to be highly elaborate, lavishly texturized, and intense.

Baroque music has a number of defining characteristics including the continued use of basso continuo and the belief in the doctrine of the affections.

Baroque composers continued to develop and placed great emphasis on the contrast of volume, texture, and pace in the music.

Secular types of music were now in abundance and used as widely as those of the liturgical (sacred) musical styles.

Musical DevelopmentsThe beginnings of Opera…

Florentine CamerataGroup of writers and composers who felt that

polyphony obscured the words.

Words should be more important than music and music should portray the AFFECTION (feeling/mood) of the words.

Monody – simpler style with a single voice-line with chordal accompaniment

Florentine Camerata cont’d…The voice-line followed closely the meaning of the text

and speech-rhythm of words. This style was called Recitative. They are sung quickly like they are being spoken.

The section of an opera that gave more music interest than the recitative are called Arias. These are the places where the singer would sing a song which expressed his or her feelings.

Accompaniment was in the basso continuo style, which consisted of a bass line (bass viol or cello) with symbols to tell a keyboard or lute player what chords to play with it – figured bass – chords were improvised so they were never the same.

The reason for the creation…While the 16th century was drawing to a close, the

Florentine Camerata and other musicians in Florence, Italy experimented with a new method of composing dramatic vocal music, modeling their ideas after the precepts of ancient Greek theater.

Their inspiration behind this was to create music which would be more direct and communicative to an audience.

The Florentine Camerata called this new form of musical-dramatic entertainment opera.

The first operas were private affairs, composed for the Italian courts. But when in 1637 the first public opera house opened in Venice, Italy, opera became a commercial industry.

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

English composerBest known for his dramatic

works, including approximately 40 plays (instrumental and songs).

He wrote more than 50 anthems and many other sacred pieces and songs.

Dido and Aeneas is one of the most monumental Baroque operas and one of Purcell’s foremost operatic works.

He is known for his beautiful, sorrowful songs.

Dido and Aeneas ~ Act III, Scene 2“Thy hand Belinda/ When I am laid to rest”

The story: Queen Dido and a

Trojan refugee called Aeneas fall in love. ♥

Aeneas and his crew are shipwrecked in Carthage. However, Aeneas must soon leave to go to Rome – Dido cannot live without him and awaits death.

The piece is for voice, violin, cello and harpsichord.

Musical developmentsInstrumental music

During the Baroque period, as a side-kick to opera and other vocal music, the orchestra evolved.

Composers were experimenting with ranges of the instrument’s ranges and abilities. Because of this there were huge changes in instruments and how they were played.

The harpsichord and the organ were the prominent keyboard instruments. The trumpet was also a popular solo instrument, along with oboe, flute and bassoon.

Instrumental Music cont’d…

The Baroque Era saw an expansion in size, range and complexity of performance: Courts/public Church

There was a hierarchy of performers as well, The most important being hired as the

Kappellmeister at court The church musicians The singers and instrumentalists

The Fugue

From the word “fuga” – Latin for “flight” or “chase”.

Contrapuntal (note against note – polyphony) based on the idea of imitation from the Renaissance.

Fugues are written for 3 or 4 voices – Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass

Bach wrote a set of 48 preludes and fugues in each major and minor key.

Placed in books called the “Well-tempered Clavier” 2 books with 24 fugues in each

The Fugue continued…

The basic idea:Subject:

Brief time – strong characterFirst stated in one voice then another then the next is stated

throughout the fugue at different pitches in different keys – the episode*.

ExpositionBeginning section of the fugue in which each voice takes a

turn stating the subject

EpisodesSections of music that do not have a subject to state

Johann Sebastien Bach(1685-1750)

Listening: Praeludium et Fuga in A minor, BWV 543 (Prelude and Fugue)Piece for 4 “voices” – hands and feet playing

different partsInstrument – organFugue: 4 parts – Subject, Answer, Counter

Subject, EpisodeThe melodies are played simultaneously – all

the parts are based on a subject-all stated in succession.

The Baroque Concerto Italian for “get together”Latin for “dispute”

2 types of Baroque concertosConcerto grosso – a small group of soloists with orchestraSolo concerto – a single soloist with orchestra

The various sections of the concerto would alternate between fast and slow tempos, or movements.

Composers of the period such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi transformed the concerto grosso into the solo concerto, in which the solo instrument is of equal importance as the string orchestra.

Sonata

Means “sounded” and is a form of chamber music for a soloist or small group of 2-4

Instrumentation for a trio sonata was 2 violins and basso continuo

2 main types:Sonata da Chiesa, “church sonata”, in 4

movements (slow-fast-slow-fast)Sonata da Camera, “chamber sonata”, including

several binary dance movements

Basso Continuo

Instruments included a bass string instrument and a harpsichord or organ to fill in the chords

The keyboard player improvised chords over a figured bass

Was used in orchestra music, sonatas and accompaniments to songs

A real tell-tale sign that a piece of music is Baroque