  What is going on during this time?  Western Art Music – Europe  At the time, baroque translates to “oddly pear shappen”  Now, just a catch all for a diverse music period focusing on ornamentation

 Contrast in dynamics  Composer now specifies instrumentation, performer does not choose  Single melody line and basso continuo  Simplified complex lines of the Reniassance and had one main musical idea  Basso continuo – bass line with shorthand notation indicating harmonies

 The power of music to communicate  Focus of music still on the individual and emotion, but now the notes are the primary concern not the text  Patronage  Hired by political or religious institution  National Style  Countries play the same kind of music in different ways  Public Concert invented  Middle class musicians can start making more money

 Italy: Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Corelli, Vivaldi, Domenico and Alessandro Scarlatti  France: Couperin, Lully, Charpentier and Rameau  Germany: Praetorius, Schein, Scheidt, Schutz, Telemann, Handel and Bach  England: Purcell

 Vocal  Opera  Oratorio  Cantata  Instrumental  Sonata  Concerto  Suite

 A drama that is primarily sung, accompanied by instruments, and presented on stage.  Earliest opera still performed today is Claudio Monteverdi’s Orfeo (1607).  First public opera houses opened in Venice in 1637  Altered to suit the preferences of the audience  Solo singers took on a sort of celebrity status  18th century - two subgenres of opera  opera seria - serious subject matter  opera buffa - a lighter, even comic tone  Most prominent country/kind of opera: the Italian Opera

 A work in several movements for one or more instruments (most frequently violins) and basso continuo  Church sonatas usually comprised of four movements alternating between slow and fast tempos  Chamber sonata consisted of a series of dances akin to the suite.  The rise to prominence of solo sonatas for keyboard instruments begins late in the baroque period, including those for organ (Bach) and harpsichord (Handel, Scarlatti)

 a multimovement work for instrumental soloist (or group of soloists) and orchestra  concerto grosso alternates a small group of soloists with a larger ensemble  solo concerto featured a single instrument in contrast with an ensemble  The most prolific composer of the solo concerto was Antonio Vivaldi, who wrote approximately 350 and established the concerto’s standard three-movement form (two fast outer movements, one middle movement in a slower tempo).  While most solo concertos were written for violin, trumpet concertos were also popular, and concertos were also composed for cello, oboe, flute and bassoon