1. Baroque Solo and Chamber Music
Chapter 9
Baroque Solo and Chamber Music

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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…

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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)

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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