General Music Cycle 7

Mr. Hamilton

Period 3A

The Baroque Period (1600 – 1750)

Royalty, wealthy families, and large churches hired composers of the baroque period to provide

music for special occasions or for entertainment. Operas, ballets, and instrumental compositions

were written for the world at large. Large religious choral works – Masses and cantatas – were

written for use in churches. For contrasts in tone color composers used a wide variety of instruments

such as the organ, violin, flute, oboe, trumpet, and harpsichord.

Most baroque music has steady, rhythmic patterns. Each section of a larger composition conveys a

single mood or emotion. Improvements in instruments made more complex music possible. Two of

the most famous composers of all time, Johann Sebastian Back and George Frederick Handel lived

during this period and produced some of the finest examples of baroque music.

Characteristics of Baroque Music

Steady rhythms

Single mood in each section of a musical composition

Wide variety of instruments used for contrasts in tone color

Sacred Secular

Instrumentation

Any Instrumentation

Any Instrumentation

Texture

Mostly Homophonic

Mostly Homophonic

Song Forms

Mass Cantata Oratorio

Opera Ballet

Concerto

Baroque Period Composers

Johann Sebastian Bach

George Frederick Handel

Antonio Vivaldi

Baroque Concerto

“Spring” (First Movement) from The Four Seasons,

by Antonio Vivaldi

The CONCERTO was one of the most important instrumental forms used in the baroque period. In a

concerto, one instrument or group of instruments is set against the orchestra.

The Four Seasons is a group of violin concertos written around 1725 by the Italian composer Antonio

Vivaldi (1675-1741). Each concerto is accompanied by a poem, also written by Vivaldi, describing

that season. This is a very clear example of PROGRAM MUSIC, music that tells a story or describes

a scene.

One of the musical characteristics emphasized in the baroque concerto was contrast. In a style

typical of the baroque, Vivaldi used two contrasting groups of instruments, contrasting melodies, and

abrupt contrasts of loud and soft.

“Spring” begins with the main theme played by everyone. This section is called the RITORNELLO.

The ritornello is when everyone plays the main theme of the music. The contrasting sections, called

EPISODES, are played by the solo or small ensembles. The music played suggests musical

descriptions of spring, such as birds, murmuring waters, lightning and thunder.

Listening Map of “Spring” (First Movement)

from The Four Seasons

1.

Ritornello in Major Tutti

2.

Solo and Concertino Bird Calls

3.

Ritornello in Major Tutti

4.

Murmuring Stream Tutti

5.

Ritornello in Major Tutti

6.

Solo/Tutti Lightning and Thunder

7.

Ritornello in Minor Tutti

8.

Solo and Concertino Birds Return

9.

Solo, Concertino and Tutti Ritornello in Major