1. THE BAROQUE ERA 1600-1750 Journal Entry #8
Given what you know about the Renaissance, what new innovations and styles you do THINK are coming up in the Baroque era? How will music progress from here?

2. Composer Research Paper Assignments
Chris Pearson – Johann Sebastian Bach
Nick Caban – Louis Armstrong
Bilal Aziz – Ludwig van Beethoven
Claire Chandler – Frederic Chopin
Andrew Drake – Scott Joplin
Blake Noud – Andrew Lloyd Webber
Jacob Burns – Claude Debussy
Kalyn Moore – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Dominique Flyte – Felix Mendelssohn
Julian Harvey – Carl Orff
Emma Brown – Sergei Rachmaninoff
Kieryn Beyerl – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Phil Kosydor – Franz Schubert
Aaron Brunnworth – Antonio Vivaldi
Taimoor Aziz – Henry Purcell
Alec Camp – Richard Wagner
Sami Greytak – Leonard Bernstein
Nate Novak – John Williams
Ryan Kaminsky – Aaron Copland
Anna Stamer – Igor Stravinsky

3. THE BAROQUE WORLD History Literature 1607 – Jamestown founded
– Louis XIV reigns in France
1692 – Salem Witch Trials, Salem, MA
– Louis XV reigns in France
Literature
1600 – Hamlet (Shakespeare)
1605 – Don Quixote (Cervantes)
1611 – King James Bible
1667 – Paradise Lost (Milton)
1719 – Robinson Crusoe (Defoe)
1726 – Gulliver’s Travels (Swift)

4. THE BAROQUE WORLD, cont…
Science
1610 – Galileo confirms that Earth revolves around the sun
1687 – Newton’s Principia Mathematica
New approach to science based on mathematics + experiment
Discovered mathematical laws governing bodies in motion
New inventions, improvements of medicine, mining, navigation, industry

5. THE BAROQUE WORLD, cont…
Art
Effort to completely fill space
Emphasis on motion and drama
Potential of color, depth, contrasts of light and dark
Artists wanted to create totally structured worlds

6. THE BAROQUE WORLD, cont…
Judith Slaying
Holofernes (1612)
Artemisia Gentileshi

7. THE BAROQUE WORLD, cont…
1623 – Bernini:
David Slaying
Goliath

8. THE BAROQUE WORLD, cont…
1653 – Rembrandt:
Aristotle with a
Bust of Homer

9. THE BAROQUE WORLD, cont…
“Age of Absolutism”
Aristocracy very rich, powerful, lived in luxury
(Rest of population barely survived)
Splendid palaces, magnificent balls, events
Absolute power – Duke of Weimar and Bach

10. THE BAROQUE WORLD, cont…
Religious institutions also shaped style
Churches used the emotional and theatrical style of the day to make worship more attractive/appealing
Competing views: Europe divided into Catholic and Protestant
Catholic: France, Spain, Italy, Austrian Empire
Protestant: England, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Germany

11. BAROQUE STYLE
Baroque = “barroco” = irregularly shaped pearl, term of criticism
Highly decorated, elaborately ornamented
Emphasis on motion and drama

12. MAJOR COMPOSERS
Two giants: George Frederic Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach’s death: 1750
Other important composers: Monteverdi, Purcell, Corelli, Vivaldi

13. GENERAL BAROQUE MUSIC Divided into 3 phases Early: 1600-1640
Middle:
Late:

14. GENERAL BAROQUE MUSIC, cont…
Music composed for texts conveying extreme emotion, text ruled music
Stress on drama and text led to opera – drama sung to orchestra accompaniment
Melodies imitated the rhythms/inflections of speech

15. GENERAL BAROQUE MUSIC, cont…

16. GENERAL BAROQUE MUSIC, cont…
Early Baroque: Homophonic over polyphonic texture
Words were clearer with one melody over chordal accompaniment
Dissonance and contrasts of sounds were used to depict extreme emotions
Contrasts of sound examples:
one solo singer against an entire chorus
Singers against instruments

17. GENERAL BAROQUE MUSIC, cont…
Middle Baroque:
New style spread from Italy all over
Church modes officially gave way to major and minor scales
Instrumental music important
Violin family most popular

18. GENERAL BAROQUE MUSIC, cont…
Late Baroque:
Most music heard today is from late Baroque
Dominant to tonic chords
Instrumental as important as vocal
Polyphonic texture returns

19. BAROQUE MUSIC (SHMRFT)
Sound
Unity of Mood
Usually expresses one basic mood throughout (but not in vocal music)
Emotional states represented – joy, grief, agitation, called affections
Specific rhythm/melodic patterns became associated with specific moods

20. (SHMRFT) cont… Harmony Chords increasingly important
Chords gave prominence to the bass, which is the foundation of a chord
Basso continuo – accompaniment made up of a bass part usually played by two instruments
a keyboard plus a low melodic instrument like cello or bassoon

21. Harmony, cont…
Basso continuo played in left hand, while right hand creates chords based on numbers written in the music, called figured bass
Example: pg. 129

22. (SHMRFT) cont…
Filling in chords according to figured bass is called realization
Figured bass only specifies basic chords
Performer has great freedom
Also saved time for busy Baroque composers
Also saved paper, which was very expensive

23. (SHMRFT) cont…
Figured bass is the shorthand system that leads to song lead sheets and jazz improvisation of today

24. (SHMRFT) cont… Rhythm Patterns repeat throughout piece
Created forward momentum
Forward motion rarely interrupted
Beat emphasized more than Renaissance

25. (SHMRFT) cont…
Melody
Repeated throughout piece, melodies heard again and again throughout
Character of the melody remains constant
Continuous expanding, unfolding, and unwinding of melody
Sequences used
Ornamentation
Hard to sing and remember

26. LISTENING FOR ORNMENTATION
Sonata da chiesa, Op. 5, No. 1
Arcangelo Corelli
Also listen for harpsichord

27. (SHMRFT) cont… Dynamics Volume level stays constant for long time
Terraced dynamics – sudden shifts in dynamics
Organ, harpsichord, clavichord: narrow dynamic changes
Organ and harpsichord – incapable of gradual dynamic changes
Clavichord – very small piano-like instrument
Capable of gradual dynamic changes, but only within small range (ppp-mp)

28. LISTENING FOR TERRACED DYNAMICS
Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah
George Frederic Handel
Listen for trumpet and timpani

29. (SHMRFT) cont… Texture Early Baroque: homophonic
Late Baroque: usually polyphonic
Soprano and Bass: most important
Imitation
Some vocal pieces may switch texture for change of mood

30. SHMRFT, cont… Texture, cont…
Music depicts specific meanings (word painting)
“heaven” – high, “hell” – low, “grief” – descending chromatic scale
Words emphasized by writing many rapid notes for a single syllable of text - mellismas
Technique also demonstrated singer’s virtuosity

31. LISTENING TO MELLISMAS
Ev’ry Valley Shall Be Exalted from Messiah
George Frederic Handel

32. THE BAROQUE ORCHESTRA 10-40 players
Based on instruments of violin family
Main parts
Basso continuo – harpsichord & cello or bass & bassoon
Upper strings – 1st and 2nd violins & violas

33. Use of woodwind, brass, percussion varied
Other instruments could be added – recorder, flute, oboe, trumpet, horns, trombone, timpani
Trumpet & timpani joined in for festive music

34. LISTENING FOR FESTIVE TRUMPET
Gloria from Gloria in D Major
Antonio Vivaldi

35. Different than modern orchestra: Trumpet was different, no valves
4 groups of instruments
Trumpet was different, no valves
Difficult to play, associated with royalty
Trumpeters were the top of the orchestra ladder
Treated like military officers

36. BAROQUE FORMS
movement – a piece that sounds fairly complete and independent but is part of a larger composition
each movement:
has its own themes
comes to a definite end
is separated from the next movement by a brief pause

37. Always contrast between bodies of sound Examples:
3-Part: ABA
2-Part: AB
Through-composed
Always contrast between bodies of sound
Examples:
alteration between small and large groups of instruments
Voices and instruments

38. VOCABULARY Galileo Newton Baroque Ornamentation Opera Affections
Basso continuo
Figured Bass
Realization
Terraced dynamics
Sequences
Clavichord
Orchestra

39. GROUP PRESENTATIONS Isaac Newton Baroque Dance Famous Baroque Operas
Alec Camp Dominique Flyte Chris Pearson
Aaron Brunnworth Claire Chandler Nate Novak
Taimoor Aziz Emma Brown Ryan Kaminsky
Nick Caban Julian Harvey Blake Noud
Galileo Baroque Royal Courts
Bilal Aziz Phil Kosydor
Jacob Burns Kalyn Moore
Kieryn Beyerl Andrew Drake
Anna Stamer Sami Greytak