Wright "Listening" Toward Late Baroque Instrumental Music by Elizabeth Austin

2. • Renaissance
instruments fell out of
favor
• Orchestra: An ensemble
of music, organized
around a core of strings,
with added woodwinds
and brasses, playing
with the assistance of a
leader

3.  Instrumental music became
prominent in the 17th
-century with
the rising popularity of the violin
 Harpsichord used for basso
continuo
 Gradually added:
◦ Pairs of woodwinds
◦ Occasionally trumpets and tympani
◦ Sometimes French horns

4.  France, King Louis XIV
◦ The “Sun King” – styled himself after god Apollo
◦ Absolutism, “I AM the state.”
◦ Versailles – largest court in history

5.  King Louis XIV reigned for 72 years! After his death, his
grandson Louis XV became king.
◦ Louis XV employed a composer named Jean-Joseph Mouret
◦ We have selected a typical piece by him, among thousands of
similar works. Lots of instrumental music was churned out for
activities of royals at this time.
◦ Mouret, Rondeau from Suite de symphonies, features the
trumpet in a bright and distinct fanfare/melody

6.  Copy and paste this link to watch a version of this
piece.
◦ Organist – Peter Solomn
◦ Trumpet – Marcus Wursch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZukLuZQeNHo

7.  Born in Southern
Germany and began his
music studies there
 Moved to Vienna in 1671
where he was a student
and deputy organist at the
Imperial chapel

8.  Known in his day as a prolific composer for
harpsichord and organ
 Pachelbel was organ teacher for Johann Christoph
Bach, the older brother and only known teacher of
Johann Sebastian Bach. Influenced young JS Bach.
 Idiomatic Writing: Musical composition that exploits
the strengths of a particular voice or instrument
 All of these late Baroque composers we are studying
were masters of Idiomatic Writing.

9.  Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major - intro cd #10
Listening Guide p. 112
◦ Canon is played by 3 violins, all in the same range
◦ Low strings and harpsichord play plodding basso
continuo
◦ Basso continuo has pleasing
intervallic pattern: fourths
alternating with steps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvNQLJ1_HQ0

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM

11.  Originated in Italy
 Baroque Sonata: A collection of instrumental movements,
each with its own mood and tempo, but all in the same key
◦ Chamber Sonata (sonata da camera): featured dance
movements, such as “allemande,” “sarabande,” “gavotte,”
or “gigue;” four movements: slow-fast-slow-fast
 Solo Sonata: Written either for solo keyboard instrument or
solo melody instrument (such as violin)
 Trio Sonata: Soloist and two basso continuo performers
◦ Sometimes a fourth instrument, harpsichord, is added to
bass

12.  Italian, born near Bologna
 Spent his career in Rome
 Violin virtuoso/composer, teacher,
one of the 1st
violin superstars
 His Baroque and trio sonatas
became internationally popular
 First composer to utilize harmonic
schemes that sound “modern” to our
ears
 Only musician buried in Rome’s
Pantheon, a hall of fame of Italian
culture and former temple

13.  Chamber sonata for two violins and basso continuo
(harpsichord and cello)
 Four movements: Preludio, Corrente, Adagio,
Allemanda
 Use of a walking bass: moves stepwise, up or down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4HtXlO5_o8
This is a different sonata than one in book, similar…

14.  Concerto: An instrumental genre in which one or more
soloists play with and against a larger orchestra
◦ Solo concerto: one soloist
◦ Concerto grosso: small group of soloists (concertino)
◦ Tutti: full orchestra
 Three movements: fast-slow-fast
 Ritornello form: Main theme (ritornello) returns again
and again; alternates with solo, virtuosic sections
 Popularity peaked about 1730
 Solo concerto continued to be cultivated during the
Classical and Romantic period
◦ Became a showcase for a single soloist

15. Section Ritornello Solo Rit. Solo Rit. Solo Final
Rit.
Group Tutti Concertino Tutti Concertino Tutti Concertino Tutti
number of alternations determined by composer
All or part of a main theme returnsAll or part of a main theme returns
Tutti plays ritornello theme(s)Tutti plays ritornello theme(s)
Concertino alternates with virtuosicConcertino alternates with virtuosic
passagespassages
Free number of alternationsFree number of alternations

16. Movement = self-contained
section of a larger work
1. Fast first movement
 Serious in tone
 Ritornello form
1. Slow second movement:
free form
2. Fast third movement
 Often a rustic, dance-like
character
 Ritornello form

17.  Italian, virtuoso violinist
 Was known as the “Red Priest.” He had red hair and began
career as a priest, suffered from asthma his entire career
 Ospedale della Pietà (Hospital of Mercy) 1703-1740
◦ Taught lessons and conducted the orchestra
◦ Became music director
◦ Composed concertos for his students
◦ The all-female orchestra gave weekly concerts with
orchestra seated behind a screen to shield the young
ladies from prying eyes
 Wrote more than 450 concertos
 Was banished from from all Catholic countries late in his life due
to unmarried liaison with a soprano
 Died while visiting Vienna looking for work

18.  Became famous as a music school for girls, some
nobles pretended their daughters were orphans to
gain entry for them – this was discouraged
 The ladies of the Pietà were always known by their
instrument or voice. By far the most famous was
Anna Maria dal Violin, who was born in 1696 and
trained by Vivaldi. She later became maestra of the
orchestra and took over Vivaldi’s position

19.  The first of four concertos entitled
“The Seasons”
 Published in 1725
 Vivaldi wrote illustrative sonnets
(poems) for each one
 Each concerto evokes the
feelings, sounds, and sights of the
season it is named after ie: in
“Autumn” he specifies the violas
are to sound like barking dogs
 Vivaldi’s best-known composition Antonio Vivaldi

20.  Meter: duple
 Texture: mostly
homophonic
 Form: ritornello
 Bright, optimistic sounds
of spring
 Songbirds/violins chirp
 Stream/running 1/16
notes
 Thunderstorm/tremolo
with shooting scales
 Listening Guide, page
117-118
 Cd #1/ track 25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFHPRi0ZeXE

21. Now you can “get” this comic strip…