Unit Three

1. MUSIC THROUGH HISTORY

The Baroque Era (ca 1600-ca 1750)
The Baroque was the era of absolute monarchy and religious conflict. There was both
opulent wealth and abject poverty. These divergent characteristics were reflected in the
arts and culture of the period. The great monarchies of the Baroque (France, England,
Austria and Spain) needed great music to highlight the power of the court.

In the Baroque era, many new forms, genres and textures emerged, and new
instruments were developed. For the first time, instrumental music received the same
attention as vocal music.

The creation of the first operas popularized a new texture: monody, emphasizing the
polarity of the outer voices, with a single vocal line replacing the rich vocal polyphony of
the Renaissance. In addition, the relationship between text and music became more
intimate than ever before not only in opera but also in the cantata and oratorio. The
quest to express human emotions through music was realized in both vocal and
instrumental genres.

Characteristics of Baroque music

 The rhythm is mechanical and repetitive, like it has an internal motor.

 The melodies are long and high pitches were preferred over low ones because
they are brighter.
 Harmony is developed in different textures: baroque music contrasts the vertical
homophony with the horizontal lines of the counterpoint.
 The main instruments were bowed string ones and the harpsichord.
 The best luthiers lived in Cremona, Italy (Stradivari, Amati, Guarneri).
 There are abrupt changes in volume.

1. Building a Musical Vocabulary

 figured bass

- numbers are placed below the bass line to show harmonic progression

- it is performed by the basso continuo

- it provides the structure for guided improvisation

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  basso continuo

- it generally involves two performers: one playing the notated bass line, the other
realizing the harmonies as indicated by the figured bass

- the harmonies are usually played on harpsichord or organ

Melody from the opening of Henry Purcell’s “Thy Hand Belinda”, Dido and Aeneas (1689)

 monody

- it is a new style which developed in the late 16th century

- it consists of a single vocal melody with simple instrumental accompaniment

2. Vocal Music
Opera
The dawning of the Baroque period is defined by the birth of a remarkable new genre:
the opera. The first operas were written at the turn of the 17th century in Florence, Italy,
where a group of intellectuals, artists and composers (Florentine Camerata) attempted
to recreate the performance style of ancient Greek drama.

Characteristic Features

 it is a drama presented through music

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  it combines vocal and instrumental music with drama (staging and acting), visual
arts (costumes and scenery), and often dance

 all or most of the text (libretto) is sung

 the components include recitative, aria, ensembles, choruses

o an aria is a lyrical song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment; it

expresses the character’s feelings and emotions

o the recitative is a speech-like, declamatory style of singing; it is used for

dialogues and to advance the plot

o a chorus is a part of the opera sung by a choir (a group of people singing

together)

 the opera began as an elite art form and initially flourished in the palaces of the
Italian nobility

 in 1637 the very first opera house opened in Venice

 Required Listening: The Coronation of Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-

1643)

 Required Listening: Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

The works of George Frideric Händel (1685-1759) represent an important stage in the
development of Baroque opera. Handel’s rise to fame coincided with his arrival in
London. His first opera for the London stage, Rinaldo (1711), captured the public’s
interest and launched a spectacular career for the German-born composer. Over the
next thirty years, Handel dominated the London opera scene. During that time, he
created about forty operas, several of which are still performed today (Giulio Cesare,
Serse, Orlando, and Alcina).

 Required Listening: “V’adoro, pupille” from Giulio Cesare by G. F. Händel

Cantata
The German Lutheran Church played a major role in the growth and development of the
cantata in the Baroque era.

Characteristic Features The chorale is a hymn tune associated with the

German Protestantism. It was intended for
 it is a multi-movement vocal work congregational singing, therefore it moved mostly by
step or narrow leap. The chorales were used as the
 it can be sacred or secular basis for many genres including the cantata.

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  it is written for vocal soloist(s) and chorus with instrumental accompaniment

 it consists of recitatives, arias, ensembles and choruses

 Required Listening: Cantata No. 80 “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” by J. S. Bach

Oratorio
An oratorio is a piece for choir, solo voices and orchestra with a text based on a dramatic
story from the Bible. It was not part of the church service.

Characteristic Features

 it includes the same type of elements found in an opera: recitatives, arias,

choruses and instrumental passages

 there is also a narrator

 it is performed without acting

 Required Listening: Chorus “Hallelujah” from “The Messiah” by G. F. Händel

2. Instrumental Music
Baroque composers developed many new instrumental forms independent of vocal
models. For the first time, music written specifically for instruments attained the same
level of significance as vocal music.

Concerto
Chief among the new instrumental genres in the Baroque period was the concerto.
Thousands of concertos were composed by such leading figures as Tomaso Albinoni,
Johann Sebastian Bach, Arcangelo Corelli, George Frideric Händel, Guiseppe Torelli, and
Antonio Vivaldi. In their works, they explored new formal constructions, innovative
timbres and at times highly virtuosic playing.

Characteristic Features

 the word concerto comes from the Latin concertare, which means to collaborate

 it is a multi-movement work for soloist/soloists and orchestra

 it is generally divided into three movements: fast-slow-fast

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  the outer movements usually used ritornello form: the opening passage
(ritornello) is restated throughout the movement

 there were two types of concertos in the Baroque period: solo concerto (with a
single soloist) and concerto grosso, in which a small group of solo instruments,
known as concertino, is showcased

 the full orchestra in a Baroque concerto is called tutti or ripieno

 Required Listening: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047 by J. S.

Bach

Musical Style and Accomplishments of J. S. Bach

 his music represents the culmination of hundreds of years of polyphonic writing

 he organized large-scale works systematically (example: The Well-Tempered

Clavier is ordered chromatically by key: C major, C minor, C sharp major, C sharp
minor, D major, D minor, etc.)

 he composed many sacred works for the Lutheran Church (chorales, cantatas);
composed a Mass in B Minor, even though he was not Catholic

 a virtuoso organist himself, he wrote many very difficult works for keyboard:
preludes and fugues, suites, partitas, Italian Concerto, Goldberg Variations…

 Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is probably his most famous organ work

 Bach composed orchestral suites, solo concertos, concerti grossi and a wide
range of chamber music

Orchestral Suite
Originally, dance music served a very practical function. Over time it evolved into a
stylized art form. By the Baroque era, dance music was no longer intended just for
dancing. In the Renaissance era dances were often paired to emphasize contrast, as in
the Pavane and Galliard combination. In the Baroque era, the grouping of contrasting
dance pieces was taken a step further with the establishment of the formal dance suite.

Characteristic Features

 a suite is a composition based on several dance pieces, usually with contrasting

tempos

 it is performed by chamber ensembles or full orchestras

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  the dances are normally written in binary form, with two sections that are
repeated

 the most common dances are:

o courante

o gigue

o allemande

o sarabande

 Required Listening: Water Music Suite in D Major, HWV 349 by G. F. Handel

Musical Style and Accomplishments of G. F. Händel

 a cosmopolitan figure, he absorbed the international styles of his time: German,
French and Italian

 in his music there is a frequent alternation of homorhythmic passages

(homophonic) with contrapuntal textures (polyphonic)

 Händel’s music features bold contrasts of dynamics

 he created the English oratorio, emphasizing the role of the chorus

 genres and titles:

o operas: including Rinaldo, Giulio Cesare, Serse and Orlando

o oratorios: including Messiah and Israel in Egypt

o sacred vocal works

o keyboard works for organ and harpsichord

o orchestral works: suites (Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks),
concerti grossi, organ concertos

Keyboard music: Toccata, prelude and fugue

It was during the Baroque era that keyboard instruments -organ, harpsichord and
clavichord- emerged as prominent instruments, each with their own idiomatic
repertoire.

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Characteristic Features

 clavichord

o it is a small rectangular keyboard instrument

o the sound is generated by small metal tangents that strike the strings
inside the instrument

 harpsichord

o it is a plucked string instrument with keyboard

o the sound is generated by small quills inside the instrument that pluck
the strings

o it often has two manuals (sets of keys)

 the toccata and prelude are short musical pieces used as an introduction of a
larger work, normally a fugue; they were composed to show the abilities of the
performer, and they usually have sections in which the musician improvised

 a fugue is a complex polyphonic composition based on the development of two

motives in different voices (3 or 4)

 Required Listening: Fugue in G minor, The Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1 by J. S.

Bach

2. THE BAROQUE VOICE

Castrati
During the Baroque era people sought dramatic, grandiose pieces with emotional
impact; everything had to be spectacular and overblown. They loved high voices, like
those of women, and powerful voices, like those of men.

In order to achieve this, boys were subjected to a surgical procedure before reaching
puberty which prevented their voices from becoming lower due to the effect of male
hormones. These singers were the castrati.

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The castrati became the greatest stars of the Baroque opera. The most famous and
successful castrato was Carlo Broschi, called Farinelli, who worked in Spain at Philip V’s
court for many years.

Today there are countertenors, male singers that use a specific vocal technique to get a
high and powerful voice.

 Required Listening: listen to the great French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky

3. PAST TO PRESENT
Hip hop and Baroque
Hip hop music arose during the 1970s, when it became increasingly popular among the
African-American and Latin American communities of some New York neighbourhoods.

Characteristic Features

 the term hip hop refers to a black cultural movement that includes breakdance
(dance), graffiti, rap…
 it originated in the Bronx (a borough of New York City)
 the most important element in the music is the rhythm
 rapping is a semi-spoken recitation
 rap is often improvised, with performers competing to come up with the best
lyrics

Techniques most used by DJs

 mixing: where records are mixed together

 beat matching: changing the speed at which a record is played so that its tempo
matches that of the song currently playing
 blending: using the equalizer to create a more seamless sounding mix
 scratching: moving a vinyl record back and forth

 Required Listening: Everything’s gonna be alright, by Sweetbox

It uses a well-known Baroque piece as a background: “Air” from Suite in D BWV 1068, J.
S. Bach