4. Prelude 3:
Music as Exploration and Drama
“ These harmonic notes are the language of the soul and
the instruments of the heart.”
—Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677)
5. The Baroque Era: Overview
Time Period (1600-1750)
• The period between the Renaissance and the Classical
Era
• “Baroque” (irregular pearl)--extravagant and bizarre
qualities of the music--harmonies, textures, and forms
more free and unpredictable than those of either the
Renaissance or Classical Eras
• Music had energy and motion, ornamentation and
extremes.
– Expression of feelings (affect) became important; one
feeling per movement = doctrine of affections
– Represented passions through music
• Architecture--very ornate
6. Baroque Art and Culture
The Baroque Era (1600–1750)
• Turbulent change in
politics, science, arts
• Religious wars
• Exploration of the New
World
• Rise of middle-class
culture
• Music making centered in
the home, church, and
universities
8. The Baroque Era: Overview
• National pride was illustrated in cultural, political, and economic
terms. Finest music = highest power
– Rulers/aristocracy proved their value by elaborate festivals, music,
art, architecture.
• King George I of England
• Louis XIV of France
• Churches also illustrated their importance with elaborate music and
architecture.
– Many of the compositions of this period were written for the
churches--both Catholic and Protestant.
– Height of church music-80% is religious
– Music conveyed spiritual teachings, as did sacred architecture.
10. Baroque Music: General
• Whereas in the Renaissance, most church
music was performed without
accompaniment (i.e., a cappella), in the
Baroque, many instruments were used to
accompany liturgical music.
• Gabrieli pioneered the use of different
instruments in various parts of the church--
called “antiphonal” style
11. A Musical Interlude
• By the Dutch
painter Jan
Verkolje (~1674)
• Depicts a
passionate
musician reaching
for his female
companion, who
is holding a viol.
12. Historical Events that Influenced
Baroque Period
• Gutenberg’s movable type (1453) led to
printed music (1501) Ottaviano Petrucci
– Printed music allowed musical compositions to be
performed by many different individuals and
ensembles in a variety of places.
– Printed music allows us to know much more about
music after this time.
13. Characteristics of Baroque Style
Music
• General: heavy, grand, expansive
• Performance Media: chamber orchestra,
chorus plus chamber orchestra, chamber
ensembles (vocal and instrumental), organ,
harpsichord
• Rhythm: steady beats, running bass, regular
meters of 2, 3, 4, and 6 beats, tempo of piece
stays same throughout except for slowing
near end
14. Characteristics of Baroque Style
Music
• Melody: using major and minor scales, ornamentation,
sequences, and imitation, first real use of chromaticism,
continuous, fortspinnung, repetition elaborate and
ornamental, rapidious notes
• Harmony: strong harmonic movement; sequences of
harmony and recurring cadences; major and minor harmonies
used
Dynamic Expression: contrasting (sudden drops and
increases: called “terraced dynamics”); echo imitation used;
no gradual increases or decreases in loudness (crescendo or
diminuendo), lack of detail in scores-composers under
pressure to produce a lot of music in a short amount of time
15. Characteristics of Baroque Style
Music: Overview
• Texture: mainly polyphonic; thick texture with 1 or more
melodies in high parts and contrapuntal melodies in
lower parts; continuous bass line; occasional contrasting
homophonic sections to add interest
• Unity of mood: One piece captures one mood, only
exception is vocal music, (changes of text change the
mood of the music)
• Primary Forms: concerto, concerto grosso, suite,
oratorio, cantata, opera; trio sonata and other sonatas
for instruments; keyboard prelude, fugue, and toccata
16. The Florentine Camarata
• A group of composers who met to
share musical ideas and techniques
– Vincenzo Galilei
– Giulio Caccini
• Wrote treatises on composing
• Jacopo Peri-L’Euridice, first
opera(1600)
– Written for wedding of King Henri
IV & Marie de’Medici
– First to use stile recitative(solo
over simple chords or continuo)
for clarity of text
17. Characteristics of the Baroque Period
• Main instrument-
Harpsichord
• Tuning-based on the
Pythagorean comma
• Equal Temperament-on
keyboard instruments
• System of intervals tuned
off-key to keep distance
between half-steps equal,
still used today
18. Main Currents in Baroque Music
• J. S. Bach’s The Well-
Tempered Clavier
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I,
Prelude and Fugue No. 1
19. Main Currents in Baroque Music
• Figured bass
• Chords created
through
improvisation
• Basso continuo
• Major-minor
tonality
Bach, C.P.E., Trio Sonata in G
21. The Basso Continuo
• Chords and the Basso Continuo
– Chords became more important, by-products of the
motion of melodic lines
– Many composed melody to fit particular chord
progression
– Gave more prominence to bass line-foundation of
harmony
– Result-most characteristic feature-basso continuo
– Played usually by two instruments-harpsichord or
organ and low instrument like cello or bassoon
– Figured bass-bass part written with numbers indicated
chord structure, musical shorthand, saved time &
paper
– Performers needed improvisational skills
– Continuo provided continual flow of notes
23. New Musical Ideas
• Stile antico
• First
Practice(Renaissance
Ideal)
• Music dominates
text
• Stile moderno
• Second practice
• Text dominates
music
• Involves wider
range of emotion
expressed and
greater intensityStyle differ for specific
occasions:
Church, chamber, theater
24. Characteristics of the Baroque Period
• Words & Music
– Word painting still used
– Emphasizing words by
writing rapid notes for
one syllable, also to
display singers’
virtuosity
– Individual words and
phrases repeated
25. Handel: Sampson, “Let the Bright Seraphim”
The Doctrine of Affections
• Union of text and music
• One mood, or affection, per movement or piece
• Devised by the philosophies of several theorists
• A musical means to express generic states of
the soul
• Grief, rage, excitement, grandeur, etc.
• Vocabulary of motives devised which relate to
rhetorical speech
• To excite “the affections”
27. The Rise of the Virtuoso Musician
• Technical improvements in instrument making
• Composers challenging the performers
– Domenico Scarlatti
– Antonio Vivaldi
Scarlatti: Sonata in E, “Capriccio”
Vivaldi: Concerto for Piccolo
28. The Baroque Era: Overview
• Operas were first performed in private theaters in the courts of the
nobility and royalty.
• Public opera houses started in Venice, Italy, in 1637; by 1700 the public
craved opera, and it was big business.
• Oratorios--operas without costumes and staging; created for
performance in church or in an opera house during LENT--a penitential
season.
• This was the beginning of the importance of virtuoso performers--
singers and instrumentalists of extremely high technical and musical
skill.
– Castrati--men who were castrated as boys so that their voices would
not change; they sounded like women with voices that had a great
deal of power.
29. Here and There, Then and Now
The Rise of the Professional Female Singer
Increasingly women were
professional singers:
– Francesca Caccini
– Barbara Strozzi
– Faustina Bordoni
– Francesca Cuzzoni
– Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre
Concerto delle donne (Ensemble of the Ladies)
30. Women Musicians in the Baroque
Era
• Trained primarily as performers/virtuosos, not as composers
• Most women did not have access to training in musical
composition
• No professional prospects for women composers
• Women weren’t really accepted as composers (or
conductors) until the 20th century.
Artwork: Judith Leyster (1609–1660), The Flute Player
Part 3 Table of Contents
“ These harmonic notes are the language of the soul and the instruments of the heart.”
—Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677)
The Baroque Era (1600–1750) was a time characterized by absolute monarchy, bloody religious wars (Protestants vs. Catholics), and the exploration and colonization of the New World (Mayflower, 1620).
The rising middle class, eager to partake in artistic and musical culture, became a viable patron of the arts. Public concert halls and the first opera house (1637) were built so that anyone with the price of admission could attend.
The Baroque era was considered to be an age of discovery. Prominent figures included Galileo, Copernicus, and Sir Isaac Newton. An English physician, William Harvey, explained blood circulation for the first time.
Music making became centered in the home, church and university, rather than in the salons of the aristocracy. Many musical works of this era were functional, being created for specific occasions such as weddings, festivals or religious services.
As a result of the transition to a major-minor tonal system, a new tuning system was established, based on the division of the octave into twelve equal half steps.
This system, known as equal temperament, allowed instruments to perform in any key. It is still in use today.
The well-known composer J. S. Bach was able to demonstrate his ability to write in every one of the twelve keys in his work The Well-Tempered Clavier—a two-volume keyboard collection.
Musical example: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, Prelude and Fugue No. 1 [link to excerpt]. Art: Photo of the grand staircase of the Residenz, home of the prince-bishop of Würzburg, Germany (built 1720–1744). It is exemplary of Baroque interior design.
Melody and chords of Baroque music were very different from the Renaissance style.
This resulted in a system of notation called figured bass. In this system, the keyboard player would improvise the harmony from numerals that the composer would place above or below a bass line.
The term basso continuo is Italian for “continuous bass” and is often used in reference to this figured bass system of notation. The basso continuo performance group often consisted of two instrumentalists—one playing a melodic bass instrument, such as a cello or bassoon, and another playing a chordal instrument, such as a keyboard.
Another important development with regard to harmonic structures was a shift to a harmonic system based on the use of the major and minor scales rather than one based on modes. Conventions of this new system allowed composers to develop longer forms of instrumental music.
Musical Example: C. P. E. Bach, Trio Sonata in G. [link to excerpt]
In the early Baroque era, the practice of word painting continued. Music was expected to arouse the emotions or “affections,” such as joy, anger, love, or fear.
In the height of the Baroque era, the doctrine of the affections was applied—that a movement should aim at only one “affect”; and to attempt more would risk causing confusion and disorder in the listener.
The technical improvements in instrument making led to the rise in the level of virtuosic playing.
Domenico Scarlatti and Antonio Vivaldi were among the master composers of the era who wrote virtuosic works for the keyboard and violin.
Musical example: Scarlatti: Sonata in E, “Capriccio” [link to excerpt]
Vivaldi: Concerto for Piccolo [link to excerpt]
Women were able to study and work as musicians in the Baroque era.
A group of women singers known as the Concerto delle donne (Ensemble of the Ladies) were highly acclaimed in their time, as are similar groups today. They often showcased the work of composer Claudio Monteverdi.
Other outstanding female vocalists of this era include:
Francesca Caccini: Italian composer and singer
Barbara Strozzi: Italian singer and composer
Faustina Bordoni: Italian soprano
Francesca Cuzzoni: Italian soprano