1. Chapter 10 Baroque Vocal Music
Oratorio

2. Key Terms
Oratorio
Chorus
Secco recitative
Accompanied recitative

3. Baroque Sacred Music
Baroque sacred music placed special emphasis on the choir
Rooted in Renaissance Mass & motet
Strong tendency to borrow from secular vocal music, especially opera
Used recitative & aria
Featured virtuoso solo singing
Oratorio the most theatrical Baroque religious genre

4. Oratorio Basically an opera on a religious subject
Often on an Old Testament story
Narrative plot presented in several acts
Real characters & implied action
Used recitatives & arias
Differed from opera in some respects
Presented in concert form (no scenery, costumes, staging, or gestures)
Incorporated many more choruses

5. Chorus Similar to Renaissance choral music
Alternation between polyphony & homophony
Some text painting
Incorporates Baroque theatrical features
Chorus used to narrate story, comment on the action, or even participate in the action
Dramatic contrasts & rests used to build tension & excitement
Voices & orchestra provide maximum fullness

6. Handel, Messiah Handel’s most famous work Composed in only 23 days
Unlike other Handel oratorios
Not a real “story” with characters taking roles
Text taken entirely from the Bible
Uses anonymous narrators & commentators
Narrates episodes from Jesus’s life (recitative)
Comments on episodes (recitative, aria, & chorus)

7. Recitative “There were shepherds” (1)
Angels announce Christ’s birth
Short dramatic scene!
Narrator tells the story in recitative style
Recitative in four parts
Alternates between secco recitative & accompanied recitative
Parts 1 & 3 (secco) conversational in style with free rhythm & continuo accompaniment
Parts 2 & 4 (accompanied) very melodic with clear meter & orchestral accompaniment

8. Recitative “There were shepherds” (2)
Accompanied recitative reserved for special, dramatic moments
Part 2 describes the appearance of an angel
Strings provide a kind of musical halo
Part 4 marks the sudden arrival of a multitude of angels
Parts 3 & 4 accelerate the pace
Move from secco recitative to accompanied recitative (arioso!)
They pull us straight into the chorus

9. Chorus “Glory to God” (1)
Recitative & chorus
Instead of operatic recitative & aria formula
Text from Luke 2:8-14
Choir participates in the action
Takes role of the multitude of angels
Vivid contrasts between musical settings of the three phrases—
“Glory to God in the highest!”
“And peace on earth”
“Good will toward men”

10. Chorus “Glory to God” (2)
“Glory to God in the highest!”
High voices singing high pitches
Rhythmic unison gives words unanimity
Trumpets add to energetic, marchlike effect
“And peace on earth”
Low voices singing low pitches
Begins with a nearly monophonic texture
Slow, soft, calm, simple, unadorned

11. Chorus “Glory to God” (3)
“Good will toward men”
Lively passage in fugal style
Imitative entrances–as if all creation echoed the angels’ proclamation
Two-note “good will” motive intensified in ascending sequence toward the end

12. Chorus “Glory to God” (4)
Orchestral ending gets quieter & quieter
Baroque equivalent of fade out
Angels disappear as quickly as they appeared

13. “There were shepherds” & “Glory to God” (1)
Recitative:
There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.
And lo! the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them: Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

14. “There were shepherds” & “Glory to God” (2)
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying:
Chorus:
Glory to God in the highest!
And peace on earth.
Glory to God in the highest!
And peace on earth.
Good will toward men.
Glory to God in the highest.

15. Handel, Hallelujah Chorus (1)
Famous chorus ends Part II of Messiah
At 1st London performance, King George II was so moved that he stood up
Even today, English-speaking audiences often stand for Hallelujah Chorus
As in “Glory to God,” Handel uses a different texture for each phrase
Homophony–“Hallelujah” & “The kingdom of this world”
Monophony–“For the Lord God”
Polyphony–”And he shall reign”

16. Handel, Hallelujah Chorus (2)
Homophony–“Hallelujah”
Polyphony–”And he shall reign”

17. Handel, Hallelujah Chorus (3)
Many dramatic moments—
“The Kingdom of this world is become”
Starts piano on low descending scale
At the words “the kingdom of our Lord” it swells suddenly to forte in higher register
Vividly expresses transformation described by text
“King of Kings”
Intensifying sequence near the end
Sopranos lead, others answer, higher with each repetition

18. Hallelujah Chorus Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah!
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
The Kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.
And He shall reign for ever and ever, and he shall reign for ever and ever.
KING OF KINGS for ever and ever, Hallelujah!
AND LORD OF LORDS for ever and ever, Hallelujah!