Baroque Solo and Chamber Music Chapter 9 Baroque Solo and Chamber Music

Baroque Solo and Chamber Music The Baroque period saw the gradual development of a significant body of instrumental music. Stringed Instruments The age of the great violin makers (the Stradivari family) Wind & Brass Instruments Improvements were made in construction of virtually all instruments Keyboard Instruments The organ and harpsichord became the basic keyboard instruments

The Fugue Keyboard Music Toccata Fantasia Prelude A large body of works was written for the harpsichord and organ. Single-movement keyboard pieces appeared as… Toccata Scale passages, runs, and trills Fantasia Displays of virtuosity Prelude Free form and improvisatory These pieces were used as introductions to The Fugue

The Fugue Johann Sebastian Bach wrote The Art of the Fugue A fugue is based on the polyphonic (two or more independent melodies heard simultaneously) development of a melody Melodies may be sung or played by instruments The terms soprano, alto, tenor, and bass are used for instrumental high to low ranges as with voices The initial section of virtually every fugue follows a plan that is more or less standard Johann Sebastian Bach wrote The Art of the Fugue This section is called the exposition…

The Exposition Subject Countersubject episodes Each voice imitates entrance until all voices have stated the subject Piece continues with sections that function either as new statements of the subject or as transitions between statements of the subject Subject Introduction of a polyphonic melody by one voice Countersubject Contrasting melody that counters, or is played along with, the subject These transitions are called episodes

Featured Listening: The Little Fugue in G Minor by JS Bach Organ fugue Polyphonic texture Solo organ performance Composed while Bach was court organist at Weimar (1709) Listen to the opening of the fugue: Notice all voices state the subject and the excerpt ends with an episode. Listening Guide Excerpt from CD 1, track 9, pp. 95-96

Baroque Organ Literature Baroque organ literature included works intended for performance in conjunction with religious ceremonies. Chorale A German hymn, often used as a unifying theme for a cantata Chorale Prelude A work based on a particular chorale, performed as an introduction to a religious service. “The Live Experience: Playing the Organ” (p. 97) explains how organists achieve rich and varied sounds on this instrument.

Multi-movement work; each movement based on a dance The Suite Multi-movement work; each movement based on a dance Allemande (German) Courante (French) Sarabande (Spanish) Bourée (French) Gigue (English or Irish) Gavotte (French)

Listening Guide Example Listening Guide: “Bourree I” from Cello Suite no. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 by JS Bach Solo cello AABB form Monophonic texture Quadruple meter Fifth movement of six movement work Composed for cellist at Anhalt-Cöthen and probably first performed as entertainment for prince Listen to the entire bouree: Listening Guide Example from CD 3, track 17, pp. 96, 98

Baroque Sonata Sonata da camera Sonata da chiesa The term sonata was applied to instrumental pieces that varied greatly in structure , character, and the number and type of instruments Sonata da chiesa Sonata for church Sonata da camera Sonata for chamber in a home or palace Later, three types of sonatas were predominant: Sonata unaccompanied instrument Solo Sonata solo instrument and continuo Trio Sonata often two violins, cello, and keyboard continuo

Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre A talented female composer Father was a musician in Paris A child prodigy Performed on the harpsichord at age 5 King Louis XIV supported her music education and hired her to perform regularly 1665 –1729 She dedicated many compositions to Louis XIV Her works include songs, cantatas, operas, and sonatas for chamber groups

Listening Guide Excerpt Listening Guide: “Aria” from Sonata in D Minor for Violin and Basso Continuo, by Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre Sonata Solo violin with harpsichord and viola da gamba continuo Rondeau form with repeating theme Homphonic texture Triple meter Performed for and later dedicated to King Louis XIV Listen to the first 6 statements of the theme Notice the theme is set in three keys, beginning and ending in D minor Listening Guide Excerpt from CD 3, track 18, pp. 99-100