Music History Ch. 12

Baroque England and France

Baroque English Interregnum

Baroque English Interregnum

• interregnum: a period when normal government is suspended; a period of time in between monarchies

• King Charles I: tyrant, believed in divine right of kings, executed for treason: going against Parliament

• monarchy shifted to the commonwealth, lead by Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

• essentially the leader of the commonwealth of England

• very strictly Calvinist Protestant

  • had the theatres and concert halls closed: only allowed sacred music

• after death, his son tried to take over but was unsuccessful

• Parliament asked Charles II (Charles I’s son) to come from France to be king

  • music resumed :)

Henry Purcell

• grew up in court of Charles II

• chorister in chapel at age 10, voice broke at 14 so couldn’t sing but Charles II kept him as instrument keeper

• at 18, became court composer of sacred and secular music; at 20, became organist at Westminster Abbey: did both for remainder of career

• wrote for many various genres and audiences, theatre/play music for London

Purcell and monarchies

• served 4 monarchs (3 monarchIES)

  • Charles II (Anglican)

  • James II (brother of Charles, Catholic: problem because state church was Anglican, forced to leave throne)

  • William of Orange (cousin of Charles) and Mary

Z

• cataloging system for Purcell’s music

• Franklin Zimmerman: 20th-century American musicologist who cataloged the music

• sorted by genre: difficult-to-date pieces since Purcell wrote as a child, not everything published (except for theatre pieces) until discovered

Henry Purcell Genres

• incidental music

• Z 1-65: anthems

• Z 626: opera

• Odes

• Funeral Music for Queen Mary

  • Z 860 elogies, Z 58 anthem

incidental music

• Purcell

• orchestral pieces, solos, choruses

• comparable to Broadway musicals: spoken dialogue with songs performed in between

anthem

• Purcell

• choral composition (organ and choir)

• written for Anglican worship (Church of England)

• differences from Latin motet: accompanied and in English

Ode

• Purcell

• multi-movement composition for soloists, choir and orchestra celebrating a person or event

Odes for Queen Mary

• Purcell

• 5 of them written during her reign, 6th written the year of her death: “Come Ye Sons of Art”

  • excluded trumpets in a movement because he was mad at the Shores (father and son)

“Hail Bright Cecilia”

• Purcell ode

• About a saint who was considered patroness to music

• opens with orchestra and chorus, followed by a series of solos and ensembles presenting various instruments

  • one movement highlights organ: “Wonderous Machine”

“I Was Glad”

• Purcell anthem

• written for coronation of James II

• words from Psalm 100

Z 626

• Henry Purcell’s one opera: “Dido and Aeneas”

  • based off of book IV of Virgil’s “Aeneid” about Aenied’s path to being the 1st Roman emperor

    • Virgil: Roman writer

• Purcell’s version: love story of Dido (queen of Carthage) and hero Aeneas, who betrays her, and she dies of heartbreak

• written for girls’ school in London, so mostly female roles

• prologue and 3 acts

“Dido’s Lament”

• from Purcell’s opera

• song Dido sings as she is dying of heartbreak

• begins with a recitative

lament ground

• repeated bass motif, specifically constructed with descending fourths

Funeral Music for Queen Mary

• Henry Purcell

• Also used for his own funeral as well as monarchs (ex. William)

• March

• 2 Elogies: Z860

• March played again during funeral service, Anthem played during service.

• Anthem Z 58

• Canzona

Purcell’s Funeral March

• played during procession from the palace to Manchester Abbey (outside) and then again during funeral service (inside)

• flatt trumpets (slide trumpets) and muffled drums

Purcell’s Funeral Elogies

• 2 pieces used for processions following the march

• make up Z860

• “Man that is Born of a Woman” and “In the Midst of Life, We are in Death”

Purcell’s Funeral Anthem

• “Thou Knowest, Lord, the Secrets of our Hearts”

• Z58

• played during funeral service (inside)

Purcell’s Funeral Canzona

• played as casket is taken from the church into the crypt below (inside)

• flatt trumpets, NO drums

• repeated imitative polyphony

French Baroque

• VERY different from German, English, Italian

• centered around refinement, structure, and clarity: “music in good taste”

• almost no popular music/folk songs: sacred and secular music were court-centered

Louis XIV

• “The Sun King”

• French

• believed in absolute monarchy/divine right of kings

Versailles

• Louis XIV’s hunting lodge

• refined and carefully designed gardens and rooms, reflecting French values

• Louis spent most of his time there along with his court and musicians

French opera

• French audiences didn’t care for virtuoso singing, so no castrati singers

• also made storyline more important rather than focusing so much on excessive, almost silly songs

• almost always 5 acts with a prologue sung by 1-2 Greek gods/goddesses or virtues (short summary)

• high quality, spoken plays set to music

  • most originating from Ancient Greece: tragedies and pastorale

• arias: lyrical, beautiful melodies set to highlight French language

• dance: ballet was a major part of French opera; King Louis would even perform in the shows

French overture/ouverture

• developed by Lully

• 1 movement, 2 parts

  • 1st part: slow and stately, dotted rhythm patterns played in double dotted pattern

  • 2nd part: fast and imitative

  • ex. overture of “Armide”

• Called sinfonia in Italy

French instrumental compositions

• sonata form: solo or trio sonata

• music for solo lute: mostly suites (similar to sonata da camera: dance movements)

• ordres: suites for solo harpsichord

Francois Couperin/”Couperin le Grand”

• inherited father’s organist position at church of St. Gervais, Paris when he turned 18

• at 25, admitted to court as major keyboard player/composer

  • taught and composed harpsichord

27 Ordres

• Francois Couperin

• suites: collections of usually dance movements or descriptive titles

• multi-movement pieces for solo harpsichord, each carrying their own titles

• extensive ornamentation: runs, trills, mordants (turns)

  • Couperin insisted they be played exactly as written

“L’art de toucher de clavecin”/”The Art of Playing the Harpsichord”

• written by Francois Couperin

• a definitive treatise of Baroque period

• about ornamentation

  • how to touch keys, when to start a turn, etc.

“La Visionaire”

• first movement of Couperin’s 25th Ordre

• depicts a religious fanatic

“Les Barricades Mysterieuses”/”The Mysterious Barricade”

• Francois Couperin

• movement from Ordre 4

Francois Couperin

Who was given permission by the court to publish the masses he wrote for them?

“Trois Lecon de Tenebres”

• Francois Couperin

• NOT a mass

• service of scripture readings and music commemorating the arrest, trial and journey to cross

  • takes from Lamentations of Jeremiah

• given during Holy Week

  • performed in a group of 3 to make up 1st three days

• 1-3 soloists with continuo: cello and organ

  • NO choir

portatif/portative

• small version of an organ

• continuo instrument created during Baroque period

• no pedal, one manual, 2 stops: one flute, one reed-sounding, pipes underneath

“Pieces d’ Organ”

• Francois Couperin

• 2 organ masses: “Mass for the Parishes” and “Mass for the Convents”

• mass ordinary in alternatum style: organ alternates with choir (1st kyrie performed by choir, 2nd by organ, etc.)

• like his ordres, ornamentation and double dotted rhythmic patterns

Louis Claude d’Aquin

• wrote operas, though not as well known

• studied with Lully

• from Aquin, Italy, and came to Paris to work for court

• organist/organ composer for French chapel, studied viol and was great at it

viol

• preferred over other strings in France

• smaller yet richer sound due to sympathetic strings

• fretted fingerboard

Noel

• set of variations on a Christmas melody

• some originated from popular carols or were written by d’Aquin

• ex. “Livres de Noels”: Book of Noels - 12 sets of variations

Marin Marais

• studied with Lully and conducted some of his operas

• studied viol with St. Columbe

• wrote suites called Pieces for viol

  • collections of descriptive pieces

    • “Bells of St. Genevieve”

Jean-Baptiste Lully

• Italian opera composer who worked in French court

• most influential composer in French history

• received musical training at court where his father worked as a miller

• organ and viol player, composer of opera and instrumental composition

• held the copyright on music in France, granted by monarch

  • people had to go through him to publish or perform music in the court

• if not liked by him, could not have music published: political favors and other drama

24 Violins of the King

• made up of viols

  • viola da braccia (soprano violin) → viola da gamba (cello)

    • 6 1st violins

    • 6 2nd violins

    • 6 violas

    • 6 cellos

  • gave concerts for court of King Louis XIV

  • performed primarily inside, entertained during meals (brass and drums typically outdoors for announcing arrival of nobility, etc.)

suites, pieces, ordres

• apply towards collections of music for solo harpsichord and ensembles (orchestra)

• titled dance pieces (given name of dance)

• titled descriptive pieces (one or two words describing a person/place/thing)

Armide

• last of Lully’s operas: tragedie lyrique (lyric tragedies)

• set during the first crusade, based on an epic poem by Torquato Tasso

  • about Armide’s conflicting emotions, giving a psychological breakdown of the character

• staple of French baroque opera, then and now

• lots of ballet, prologue given by two muse-esque characters: glory and wisdom

Philippe Quinault

Set Torquato Tasso’s epic poem “Armide” into opera libretto format for Lully’s opera version