1. Baroque Instrumental Music
Higher

2. What is Baroque Music?
The word Baroque was first used to describe the highly decorative and often grand style of architecture and art of the 17th century.
Musicians borrowed the word, and used it to describe the music written between
The fashion was for ornamentation everywhere – even on buildings and especially in music.
Baroque music started in Italy, and worked its way north to Germany, France and England.
Many new styles and forms of music were developed in the Baroque period.

3. Henry Purcell George Handel J.S. Bach Antonio Vivaldi
Baroque Composers
Henry Purcell
George Handel
J.S. Bach
Antonio Vivaldi

4. Musical Features: The String family replaced the family of viols
The harpsichord became a prominent instrument
Modes were replaced with major and minor keys
Composers added contrasts e.g. contrasting dynamics, speed and textures
Use of both polyphony and homophony

5. Interesting Information
Queen Elizabeth I died (1603)
Guy Fawkes gunpowder plot fails (1605)
William Shakespeare died (1616)
Work started on building the Taj Mahal in 1632
English Civil War (1642 – 1651)
The great plague in London killed 75,000 (1665)
Rembrandt died (1669)

6. Baroque Orchestra
The Baroque orchestra was much smaller than the orchestras today
The string section formed the basis of the orchestra – they were the new instruments of the time, so composers tended to write for them.
The brass and woodwind section usually only had one player per instrument
There was very little percussion used. When it was used, it was usually only timpani to reinforce the bass notes.

7. Woodwind recorders, oboes, bassoon
Baroque Orchestra
The story of the Baroque Orchestra
Strings
violins, violas, cellos,
double basses
Brass
Trumpets,
horns
(without valves)
Woodwind recorders, oboes, bassoon
Percussion
timpani)

8. Keyboard Instruments Harpsichord
Played a key role throughout the baroque period.
It played in both ensemble music and solo pieces.

9. Keyboard Instruments Organ Another prominent instrument in this era.
Played using one or more manuals and a pedal board.
It uses wind moving through metal or wood pipes to create sound

10. Basso Continuo Most Distinguishing features:
Continually played throughout music
Bass line – Cello, or bassoon
Chord playing instrument – harpsichord, organ or lute
Improvised chords
Filling out Harmonies

11. Ornaments

12. Trill
Rapid and repeated movement between two adjacent notes

13. You may know this as a Grace note – used in lots of Scottish Music!
Acciaccatura
A crushed dissonant note of the shortest possible duration played before or after the main note or chord and immediately released.
You may know this as a Grace note – used in lots of Scottish Music!

14. Appoggiatura
A musical ornament (chiefly from the 18 century) of an auxiliary note falling or rising to a harmonised note. There are two possible ways of writing this as you can see from the examples below.
Think of the Jaws theme!

15. Turn
Four notes which turn round the main note with the note itself, the note above the note itself, the note below.

16. Think of the Final Countdown!
Mordent
An ornament or grace note consisting of a single rapid alternation of the principal note, a note a semitone lower and the note itself.
There is also an inverted mordent. The principal note, a note a semitone higher and the note itself.
Think of the Final Countdown!

17. Italian for big concert Musical material is passed between 2 sections
This contrast of small group to large group and one thematic group against another is very characteristic of Baroque ideology — similar to terraced dynamics where the idea is significant contrast
Concerto Grosso
Italian for big concert
Musical material is passed between 2 sections
Concertino (soloist group)
Ripieno (full orchestra)

18. Concerto Grosso Strings Continuo Ripieno Concertino Trumpet Recorder
Violin
Oboe

19. Ritornello A recurring passage Always played by tutti (full orchestra)
Often heard in different keys
Most common in solo concerto
Tutti
Solo

20. LISTEN TO….
Pastorale’ from The Christmas Concerto By Corelli ( )
And answer the questions on your sheet.

21. LISTEN TO…. Brandenburg Concerto’ No. 2 (Mov 1) By Bach (1685-1750)
And answer the questions on your sheet.

22. REMINDER… ANTHEM Sung during Protestant services.
Sung in English NOT Latin
Performed by a full choir

23. Listen To… Zadok the Priest - by Handel (1685 – 1759)
And answer the questions on your sheet.

24. Passacaglia Based on variations over a ground bass 3/4 time
Usually in a minor key

25. To fully understand Fugue we will need to do more work on this.
ADV HIGHER
To fully understand Fugue we will need to do more work on this.
Contrapuntal piece
Based on a theme (Subject)
Subject is imitated throughout piece
Exposition exposes Subject
Subject is played in Dominant (Answer)
Episode is music between playings of Subject

26. Baroque Vocal Music

27. Voices
Soprano Mezzo Soprano Alto
Tenor Baritone Bass

28. Syllabic or Melismatic
Where each syllable has a new note
Where each syllable has many notes

29. Recitative
In Renaissance Venice a group of humanists, musicians, poets and intellectuals named ‘The Florentine Camereta’ began composing short vocal pieces called monodies.
These were a vocal melodic line with a simple keyboard accompaniment over a bass line.
Because of the small number of performers involved it meant that the singer was allowed to sing the rhythms with freedom according to the text, as if reciting a poem.
This style of singing became known as Recitativo.
With some development this then was introduced into the Secular vocal works which were popular in the Baroque period.

30. Recitative
Recitative Secco (dry recitative) accompanied only by the continuo instruments. Because of the sparseness of texture long sections of dialogue could proceed quickly and the singer could take more liberties with the rhythm.
Recitative Accompagnato – More instruments were involved and this meant the singer had less freedom with the rhythm but gave the composer more dramatic opportunities.

31. ‘There Were Shepherds’ from Handel’s ‘Messiah’
Recitative
Sung speech
Often before an aria
Chordal accompaniment
Basso Continuo
Used to move the story along
‘There Were Shepherds’ from Handel’s ‘Messiah’

32. Opera – a little history
The Italian word opera means "work", both in the sense of the labour done and the result produced.
‘Dafne’ by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today. It was written around 1597, largely under the inspiration of the elite circle - Camerata de' Bardi.

33. Opera
Opera emerged in the Baroque period and is a dramatic form of choral writing.
It involves costumes, drama and scenery.
Within an opera (as in oratorio) you will find examples of recitative, aria and chorus.

34. Opera
A secular drama set to music which is performed on a stage in a theatre
No spoken dialogue
Singers have trained voices.
Costumes and Scenery
Music includes
Recitative
Aria
Duet
Chorus

35. Aria A song for solo voice Accompanied by orchestra Basso Continuo
Beautiful melody
‘Ave Maria’ arranged
by Gounod

36. Chorus
A chorus is usually when a group of singers would act as one. They will give the history of an event so that the Opera doesn’t have to show it.
A group of singers
Each part has several singers
SATB Choir
Often accompanied by orchestra
Basso Continuo

37. Listen TO… The Hallelujah Chorus’ from The Messiah By Handel
And answer the questions on your sheet.

38. Da Capo Aria It had a clear form – known as the Da Capo Aria.
Da Capo – the head of the Music
Sometimes the accompaniment for this had a solo instrument line that acted as a foil to the voice.
This line became known as the Obbligato – one is obliged to have the instrumental line playing with the singer.

39. Da Capo Aria
Depending upon the style and mood of the aria, the singer, when repeating the first section, would add their own vocal decoration to the printed melody.
It became customary to improvise a Cadenza – a florid passage displaying the brilliance of the singers technique – just before the final cadence of either section B or A2.

40. Da Capo Aria An aria in ternary form (ABA).
Sometimes A is repeated with ornaments.
Handel: ‘Lascia ch’io pianga’

41. Listen to…. Da Capo Aria from St Matthew Passion by Bach.
And answer the questions on your sheet.

42. Oratorio
Born at the same time as the Opera, Oratorio took it’s name from St. Philip Neri’s Oratory in Rome where the first oratorios were performed.
At first they were similar to opera – made up of recitative, aria, chorus and acted out.
The main difference was that the text was based on a sacred story usually from the Bible.
In time Oratorios ceased to be acted out, and were performed in Churches and concert halls rather than in the theatre.

43. ‘He Shall Feed His Flock’ from
Oratorio
Story from the Bible set to music
No costumes or scenery
In English
Accompanied by an orchestra
Can include
Recitative
Aria
Duet
Chorus
‘He Shall Feed His Flock’ from
Handel’s ‘Messiah’

44. Obbligato A prominent solo instrument in a piece of vocal music.
Listen to the following excerpt from ‘Jesu Joy’ from Cantata 147 by Bach: and complete the blank spaces.