1. Baroque Vocal Music

2. Opera Recitative Aria Orchestra Chorus Subjects / Plots Elaborate spectacles Public demand Castrati Increased expressivism, hence chromaticism Monteverdi

3. Oratorio Recitative, aria, and orchestra Increased role of chorus Plots, subjects Highly “Italian” Handel & the evolution of oratorio Mature Baroque oratorio –Bach most famous besides Handel Word painting

4. George Frideric Handel 1685 – 1759 Born in Germany, trained in Italy, mature works produced in England “King George I” Royal Academy of Music Italian opera The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay Turned to oratorio

5. Examples from “Messiah” There Were Shepherds…. – recititive; both types People’s response = Glory to God = chorus Every Valley – tenor aria “exalted” – example of both sequence and melisma “mountain and hill made low” “crooked straight” “rough places plain” Much use of sequence

6. Passion Much like an oratorio Specifically deals with the last week Christ was on earth Very long Very dramatic Not necessarily a “church piece” – more of a performance piece with a sacred topic Bach, Schutz

7. Cantata Highly Lutheran church form Championed by Bach “mini-oratorio” New important addition = Chorale Part of a longer Sunday service Huge legacy left behind Not many composed in other periods

8. Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750 Excelled in every form except opera While alive, noted as church musician and organist Fugue = zenith Mendelssohn’s role in Bach’s posthumous reputation Leipzig years