MU47G – The History of Western Music

Unit VII: If it Ain’t Baroque…

The Baroque Era(1600-1750 CE)

Review!• A Capella-style

– Vocal performance without instrumental accompaniment• Continuous Imitation

– Exchanging motives through musical parts• Growth in solo instrumental music

– Esp. lute and keyboard– As polyphony is getting more prominent, polychordal

instruments (more than one note at a time) gained more prominence.

• Word Painting– Making the lyrics fit the music

• Ascending melodies, ending with the word “stars” on the highest note.

• Harsh dissonance on the word, “Death.”• Instrumental Music… Yes, instruments can play music too.

Monteverdi!

• Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643 CE)• 1601 CE - Court musician for the Duke of Mantua.• 1613 CE – Becomes Choirmaster at St. Mark’s until

his death in 1643.• He wrote much dramatic music (including the first

opera’s in the Baroque Era), but most importantly, he published 8 books of madrigals that show the transition out of the Renaissance Era and into the Baroque (1587-1643).

“The end of all good music is to affect the soul…”

- Claudio Monteverdi

The West During the Baroque

• The continued conquest of the “New World…”– … but the wars of Empires in both worlds.

• Middle-class rises up against aristocracy.• Opposite extremes:

– Extravagant wealth and terrifying poverty.– Hopeful idealism and furious oppression.

• “I am the state.” – King Louis XIV– “Age of Reason” / Enlightenment vs. Pious Zealotry

• Copernicus• Galileo• Isaac Newton

Musically Speaking…

• Clearest transitions from Renaissance to Baroque was the move from texture to melody.– From several independent moving parts to single,

clearly-distinguished melody.– Monody – “one song”– One vocalist with instrumental accompaniment.

• That’s a pretty big change… how did that happen?

The Florentine Camerata

• Writers, artists and musicians in Florence, Italy.• “Aristocratic Humanists”

– (people with a lot of money caring about humanity)• Resurrection of Ancient Greek musical/dramatic

ideals.– Music supports the emotional content of the text.– Stile Rappresentativo (“representative style”)– Melody flowing over a progression of chords.

• Singing over top of chords, you say… we could do this over a poem… or a whole drama.

Let’s Go to the Opera

• Le Nuove Musiche – “The New Music”• By removing the complexities of counterpoint

(note-against-note) and moving them into a more chordal context, there was room for vocal solo – not a big texture of them, just one person.

• By applying to this to a poem…then a whole drama… the “Opera” was born

Thinking in Chords

• Less about counterpoint, more about chords.• Figured Bass

– Because musicians knew basic harmony, the whole chords didn’t need to be written out.

– Numbers above the bass note, indicating the inversion.

– But what if there’s no polychordal instrument? (i.e. keyboard instrument or stringed-one)

Basso Continuo

• There is ALWAYS an accompanying instrument… all the time.

• Basso Continuo– Someone plays the bass, someone plays the

harmony.• So, a Baroque Chamber TRIO has THREE

players – TWO SOLOISTS and SOMEONE PLAYING THE CONTINUO.

• Let’s listen to some.

Major/Minor Tonality• If someone plays the chords and harmony… the harmony still

has to make sense (resolution).• Gradual move towards the concept of “resolving to the I

chord,” (tonic)• Furthermore, gradual move towards the concept of “resolving

to the I chord via the V chord,” (dominant)

• Tonic/Dominant relations = Major/Minor Tonality• Not only in the key of the tonic, but doing tonic/dominant

with different keys– Modulation

• But, wait… I thought that with “just tuning” or “Pythagorean tuning,” only certain intervals sounded in tune… it’s going to sound terrible if you modulate.

Equal Temperament

• As music advanced into the Baroque, playing in different keys became a big deal.

• Instead of tuning to smaller intervals (and not tuning others), the standard tuning was to the octave, then the twelve semitones were equally divided.– (show tuning systems in Logic)

• Allowed composers to write in every key.• Well-Tempered Clavier (Bach).

– (play example)

Baroque Musical Style

• “Vigorous Rhythm.”• Constant and Continuous Melody• Free Use of Dissonance

– Though, in fairness, resolution was still a big deal.

• Terraced Dynamics– Passages of soft, followed by passages of loud– (But no intermediaries, i.e. cresc./decresc.)

Technique and the Virtuoso!

• As stated in the Renaissance Era, both instruments and players began to improve…

• Dramatic rise in both during the Baroque.– As technique improved (and Equal Temperament became

more integrated into writing), musical works got harder.– As work got harder, players got better.– Virtuosos (or, “Virtuosi,” to be grammatically-correct.– Harpsichord sonatas by Scarlatti; Violin works by Vivaldi.

• Vocal works got pretty wild too, but there needed to be a special kind of man to sing them…

Castrati… ouch.

• As Opera became more technically challenging, the male vocal parts became more “range-heavy,”

• Castrato– A male castrated during boyhood to preserve his

soprano/alto range.• Associated with “heroic roles,” … I know,

I know…• Speaking of vocal music.

This “Opera” Thing…

• “A drama, that is sung, combining vocals, soloists, choruses, ensembles and/or orchestras.”

• Recitative:– “Talk-singing”– Follows the inflection/rhythm of speech.– (“What is Recitative?” video) http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpHhDBm0lNY

This “Opera” Thing…

• Aria– Italian for “Air”– Releases the tension from the Recit.– A highly-emotional song… song, not recit.

• Overture– The instrumental piece that opens the opera and

sets its mood.• The text = libretto• The writer of the text = librettist

Some Opera to Check Out…• “L’Orfeo” (1607)

– Claudio Monteverdi– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCtACwEnjOo

• “L’Incoronzione di Poppea” (“The Coronation of Poppea”) (1642)– Claudio Monteverdi– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-BGZ4NipLM

• “Dido and Aeneas” (1689)– Henry Purcell– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOSNacCcj6c

Getting a “Handel” on Opera

• Dominated the English Opera scene near the end of the Baroque.

• Opera Seria (“serious opera”)– About heroic/tragic themes, not about hilarious situation

comedies like “Opera Buffa”– Julius Caesar (1724)

• German, 1685-1759.• Most famous work is, most probably, Messiah, an

oratorio.– Oratorio – sacred musical drama.

Messiah• Premiered in Dublin, Ireland – 1742.• Transcribed in 24 days.• After finishing the “Hallelujah” Chorus, Handel exclaims to his

servant: “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the Great God Himself!”

• Compilation of biblical verses from Old/New Testament.• Oratorio in three parts:

– First – “Christmas” section, the prophecy of Christ and his birth.– Second – “Easter” section, the suffering of Christ, his death and the

spread of his ideals.– Third – “Redemption” section, redeeming of the world through faith.

Messiah – No. 18, Aria, “Rejoice Greatly

• G. F. Handel• 1742• From Messiah, which is an oratorio in three parts.• Part I• A-B-A’ form.

– Da capo aria – so, first section; second section, then take the “da capo” back to the beginning.

• Disjunct rising line (a melisma on “rejoice”)• Melody trades between voice and violins

Messiah – No. 44, Chorus, “Hallelujah”

• G. F. Handel• 1742• From Messiah, which is an oratorio in three

parts.• The climax of the oratorio, the end of the

“Easter” Section.• Alternating sections of homophony and

textured writing.

Johann Sebastian Bach• (1685-1750)• Born in Eisenach, Germany to a religious and musical family…• … But orphaned when he was 10-years old.• He raised by his older brother, also an organist.• Super-musical; super-religious.

– “The aim of and final reason of music should be nothing else but the glory of God and the refreshment of the spirit.”

• Three eras of Bach– Weimar– Cöthen– Leipzig

Johann Sebastian Bach• Weimar

– (1708-1717… so he was 23 when he started)– Appointed court organist to the Duke of Weimar… his first big gig.– He became famous as an “organ virtuoso”– First six children born in this period… do the math.

After not being promoted and pushed during this period, he left the Court of Weimar and accepted an offer from the Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen.

• Cöthen– (1717-1723, only five years)– Wrote concertos, suites, and/or sonatas for many instruments – including his

famous Brandenburg Concertos.– Bach’s wife died… *tear*

• … don’t worry, he married a young singer named Anna Magdalena Wilcke, the daughter of the town-trumpeter… scandalous!

• Leipzig– Appointed to St. Thomas’s church in Leipzig – super important post.– He oversaw music making in the other four churches in Leipzig and also

trained their choristers AND wrote music for them.– Problems with his eyes – two cataracts and surgery…– Died of a stroke in 1750

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desirings

• J. S. Bach• Written in 1716, first performed in July of

1723.• From Cantata 147.• Originally written for trumpet, oboe, strings

and organ.

Cello Suite, No. 1

Antonio Vivaldi

• (1678-1741)• The son of a violinist.• “The Red Priest”

– Ordained to the church while in his 20s.– (“red” for the colour of his hair)

• “Music Master” (maestro de’ concerti) at the Conservatorio del’Ospedale della Pieta,” a school for orphaned girls..– Many of his works are written for his school orchestra.

Antonio Vivaldi• One visitor wrote of Vivaldi’s school…

– “The girls are educated at the expense of the state, and they are trained exclusively with the purpose of excelling in music. Thus they sing like angels and play violin, flute, organ, oboe, cello and bassoon; in short, no instrument, regardless of its size, frightens them. They live like nuns in a convent. All they do is perform concerts, generally in groups of about forty girls. I swear that there is nothing as pleasant as seeing a young and pretty nun, dressed all is white, with a flower over her ear, conducting the orchestra with all the gracefulness and precision imaginable.”

– (The Enjoyment of Music, 170-171)

Vivaldi’s Style

• Quick scalar passages• Extended arpeggios• Contrasting registers.• Emphasis on technique aided in developing

violin style and technique; the concerto.

The Four Seasons, Mvt 1: “Spring”

• Antonio Vivaldi• 1725• Concerto for solo violin• Programmatic

– “The Contrast Between Harmony and Inspiration”• Four movements,

– I – Spring (La primavera)– II – Summer (L’estate)– III – Autumn (L’autunno)– IV – Winter (L’inverno)

The Four Seasons, Mvt 1: “Spring”

• Each movement is associated with a poem.– Word painting

• “Evokes the birds’ joyous welcome to spring and the gentle murmur or streams, followed by thunder and lightning.”

• (p. 174 – Enjoyment)