Part IV: The Baroque Period

baroque

relating to or denoting a style of European architecture, music, and art of the 17th and 18th centuries that followed mannerism and is characterized by ornate detail. In architecture the period is exemplified by the palace of Versailles and by the work of Bernini in Italy. Major composers include Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel; Caravaggio and Rubens are important artists of this time.

Affections

Emotional states such as joy, grief, and agitation represented in baroque music through specific musical languages

Terraced dynamics

Abrupt alternation between loud and soft dynamic levels; characteristic of baroque music.

Clavichord

Baroque keyboard instrument in which sound is produced by means of brass blades striking strings, capable of making gradual dynamic changes, but within a narrow volume range.

Basso continuo

Baroque accompaniment made up of a bass part usually played by two instruments: a keyboard plus a low melodic instrument. (See also figured bass.)

Figured bass

Bass part of a baroque accompaniment with figures (numbers) above it indicating the chords to be played. (See also basso continuo.)

Movement

Piece that sounds fairly complete and independent but is part of a larger composition.

Tutti

In Italian, all; the full orchestra, or a large group of musicians contrasted with a smaller group; often heard in baroque music.

Ritornello form

Compositional form usually employed in the baroque concerto grosso, in which the tutti plays a ritornello, or refrain, alternating with one or more soloists playing new material.

Ritornello

In Italian, refrain; a repeated section of music usually played by the full orchestra, or tutti, in baroque compositions.

Subject

Theme of a fugue.

Answer

Second presentation of the subject in a fugue, usually in the dominant scale.

Countersubject

In a fugue, a melodic idea that accompanies the subject fairly constantly.

Episode

Transitional section in a fugue between presentations of the subject, which offers either new material or fragments of the subject or countersubject.

Stretto

Compositional procedure used in fugues, in which a subject is imitated before it is completed; one voice tries to catch the other.

Pedal point (organ point)

Single tone, usually in the bass, that is held while the other voices produce a series of changing harmonies against it; often found in fugues.

Prelude

(1) Short piece usually serving to introduce a fugue or another composition; a short piece for piano. (2) See overture.

Libretto

Text of an opera.

Librettist

Dramatist who writes the libretto, or text, of an opera.

Voice categories of opera

Voice ranges that include coloratura soprano, lyric soprano, dramatic soprano, lyric tenor, dramatic tenor, basso buffo, and basso profundo, among others.

Aria

Song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment, usually expressing an emotional state through its outpouring of melody; found in operas, oratorios, and cantatas.

Recitative

Vocal line in an opera, oratorio, or cantata that imitates the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech, often serving to lead into an aria.

Ensemble

In opera, a piece performed by three or more solo singers.

Chorus

(1) A group of singers performing together, generally with more than one to a part. (2) In jazz, a statement of the basic harmonic pattern or melody.

Prompter

Person who gives cues and reminds singers of their words or pitches during an opera performance. The prompter is located in a box just over the edge of center stage, which conceals him or her from the audience.

Overture (prelude)

Short musical composition, purely orchestral, that opens an opera and sets the overall dramatic mood. Orchestral introductions to later acts of an opera are called preludes.

Camerata

In Italian, fellowship or society; a group of nobles, poets, and composers who began to meet regularly in Florence around 1575 and whose musical discussions prepared the way for the beginning of opera.

Castrato

Male singer castrated before puberty to retain a high voice range; the most important category of vocal soloists in opera during the baroque period.

Countertenor

Male who sings in a female pitch range using a special kind of voice production.

Ground bass (basso ostinato)

Variation form in which a musical idea in the bass is repeated over and over while the melodies above it continually change; common in baroque music.

Trill

Musical ornament consisting of the rapid alternation of two tones that are a whole or half step apart.

Suite

In baroque music, a set of dance-inspired movements all written in the same key but differing in tempo, meter, and character.

French overture

Common opening piece in baroque suites, oratorios, and operas; usually in two parts: the first slow, with characteristic dotted rhythms, full of dignity and grandeur; the second quick and lighter in mood, often starting like a fugue.

Chorale

Hymn tune sung to a German religious text.

Chorale prelude

Short composition for organ, based on a hymn tune and often used to remind the congregation of the melody before the hymn is sung.

Da capo aria

Aria in A B A form; after the B section, the term da capo is written; this means from the beginning and indicates a repetition of the opening A section.

Da capo

From the beginning; an indication usually meaning that the opening section of a piece is to be repeated after the middle section.

Arioso

Vocal solo more lyrical than a recitative and less elaborate than an aria.