The Baroque Era (ca. 1600~1750) pt. 1

Baroque (“misshapen pearl”)

A derogatory term in reference to the overly ornate art of the era, which is now applied to the art, architecture, and music of the 17th to early 18th centuries.

Figured bass

A mystical shorthand developed in the Baroque era that provides structure for guided improvisation, through numbers placed below the bass line which show harmonic progression, and are performed or “realized” by the basso continuo.

basso continuo

A Baroque performance practice used to provide harmonic framework, where (generally) one performer plays the notated bass line, and another realized the harmonies indicated by the figured bass on the harpsichord or organ.

The Affections

A Baroque philosophy inspired by ancient Greek and Roman writers and orators that readers to the emotional state of the soul, realized in music both through the projection of one clear emotion throughout an entire composition or moment, and in vocal music by depicting the emotions of the text or dramatic situation.

Binary form

A two-part form of A || B || where A generally ends with an open cadence in the dominant or relative major key, and where both sections repeat. This is frequently used in Baroque dances and keyboard pieces.

Rounded binary form

A two-part musical form where the opening material from section A returns after section B material.

Ternary form

A 3-part form, often used in Baroque arias, where section A generally ends with a closed cadence in the tonic key, and section B generally creates contrast in key and/or material.

Terraced dynamics

A Baroque practice of changing dynamics abruptly, resulting in stark contrast (rather than there being gradual change).

Developments of the Baroque era

• Major-minor system (harmonic backbone);

• Figured bass (intentionality that still allows performing freedom) and basso continuo;

• Great attention given to instrumental music, as seen in the concerto (large ensemble versus soloist/group of soloists), suite (groups of contrasting stylized dances to create multi-movement works for orchestra or solo keyboard), and opera (a single vocal line replacing polyphonic texture);

• A greater intimacy between text and music (seen in the cantata and oratorio);

• Human emotions expressed in both vocal and instrumental genres.

The Baroque era

A time of turbulence and contrast, of absolute monarchy and of religious conflict, with there being both opulent wealth and abject poverty. These divergent characteristics were reflected in arts and culture through dramatic subject matter, vivid colours, violent images, and intricate ornamentation. At the same time, math, science, and medicine developed significantly, giving rise to new currents in philosophy.

Opera (origins)

In Florence, Italy, around the year 1600, this genre emerged through the efforts of the Florentine Camerata, who were inspired by a renewed interest in Classical antiquity (Greek drama), and became the most important development in the 17th-century music.

The precursors to this genre include:

• Medieval liturgical drama (Hildegard von Bingen);

• madrigal cycles (Claudio Monteverdi); and

• Italian intermedio (musical interludes between acts in a play).

Opera (features)

The features of this genre are:

A drama presented through music, where all or most of the text is sung, combining art, literature, theatre, and dance with music. The musical components include recitative, aria, ensembles, and choruses.

Florentine Camerata

A group who met in Florence, Italy, at the end of the 16th century, who are credited with creating opera through their efforts to recreate Greek dramas, and also for developing monody.

The members include Giulio Caccini (singer and composer), Jacopo Peri (singer and composer), Vincenzo Galilei (composer, theorist, and father of Galileo), and Count Giovanni de’Bardi, the patron of the group and in whose home they met.

L’Euridice

The oldest surviving opera, by Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini, which was performed in 1600.

Le Nuove Musiche (“The New Music”)

A publication by Giulio Caccini containing madrigals and arias (for solo voice and continuo), advice on how to ornament and embellish vocal lines, as well as musical examples and prose descriptions of monody. These all illustrate the newly emerging musical texture, the “expressive style.”

Opera (“work”)

A sung drama originating In Italy around 1600, which combines vocal and instrumental music with drama (staging and acting), visual arts, (costumes and scenery), and often dance. It remains one of the most popular forms of musical entertainment.

The musical components include recitatives, arias, ensembles, and choruses.

Libretto

The text of an opera, oratorio, or cantata, which is usually written by someone other than the composer (known as the “librettist”), and is often based on a play, novel, or episode in history.

stile rappresentativo (“representative style”)

The term used by the Florentine Camarata musicians to describe the monodic style, where a recitative-like melody moves freely over a foundation of simple chords in order to heighten the emotional power of the texts. This came to be known as a “recitative“.

Castrato

A male soprano or alto voice, achieved through a surgical process that prevented the voices of boys from changing during puberty. The castrato lines were prominent in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially for heroic roles.

aria (“air”)

A highly emotional and often virtuosic solo song with an accompaniment, heard in an opera, oratorio, and cantata, which may have lyrical or dramatic qualities, and which often serves to reveal the character’s inmost feelings and emotions.

Ground bass

A Baroque compositional device that often provided the basic structure of a baroque aria, where a short melody continuously repeats and free variations occur over it.

Opera seria (“serious opera”)

An opera based on a historical or mythological subject, which is sung throughout.

da capo aria

The most common type of aria in Baroque opera and oratorio, with a ternary structure, where the A section is ornamented when it returns.

Recitative

A speech-like, declamatory style of singing used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas, that follows the inflections of the text (resulting in rhythmic flexibility), and is usually used for dialogue and to advance the plot, although it is replaced by spoken dialogue in some forms of opera.

Recitativo secco (“dry recitative”)

A speech-like, declamatory style of singing, employed in opera, oratorio, and cantata, which is supported only by continuo.

Chorus

A vocal ensemble, (large or small), which often consists of several voice types. These are employed to add musical variety to operatic works, and the singers may either be participants in the plot (such as in group/crowd scenes), or maybe set apart from the staging where they comment or reflect on an action (like a narrator).

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

The most important composer of early Italian opera, who in his musical style embraced Baroque elements (figured bass, major-minor tonality, monody, and “doctrine of affections“) while still maintaining respect for the traditions of Renaissance polyphony; he used chromaticism as an expressive device; he increased emotional intensity through the use of stile concitato, and he used word painting in madrigals and operas.

His contributions include increasing the role of ensembles; establishing the duet; differentiating between recitative and aria in later opera; and expanding the role of instruments to create moods and define characters, specifying instrumentation in his scores (which contributed to the development of orchestration).

Monody (“one song”)

A new style developed in the late 16th century, where a single vocal line of melody with simple instrumental accompaniment was used to deliver the text with clarity, emotion and expression. This style led to the development of recitative.

stile concitato (“agitated style”)

A style used by Monteverdi to better depict the text with clarity and express the “hidden tremors of the soul,” particularly through the use of tremolo and pizzicato in instrumental writing, and of rapid repeated notes in vocal writing.

L’Orfeo (1607)

An Italian opera written by Alessandro Striggio, and composed by Claudio Monteverdi. It is based on Greek mythology and includes a prologue and 5 acts.

The work demonstrates the new and defining monodic style of early Baroque opera in Tu se’morta, and the use of chorus and word painting in Ahi, caso acerbo.

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

The most significant composer of early English opera, as well as an organist, singer, and prolific composer, who:

• Incorporated many elements of Baroque style in his music (including major- minor tonality, figured bass, ground bass, sequential repetition, and ornamentation);

• Combined elements of various national styles by embracing the influence of lyric arias (Italian), ornamentation and French overture (French), and Renaissance madrigal and choral tradition (English);

• Effectively uses word painting; and

• Wrote virtuoso idiomatic works, as seen in his keyboard suites.

He wrote with compelling lyricism and became known as the “British Orpheus.”

Dido and Aeneas (1689)

A brief English opera consisting of three acts, written by Nahum Tate, and based on the epic poem Aeneid by Virgil. It fuses the dynamic string writing of the Italian tradition with the regal character of the French overture, and the lyricism of the English vocal tradition.

Dido’s lament employs word painting, chromaticism, and is a recitative. When I am laid in earth is an aria with ground bass. With drooping wings is a chorus (4-part texture) softening the dramatic intensity of the movement and providing a contemplative conclusion to the work as a whole.

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

A German-born composer, who lived and worked in Italy before settling in London, who was an important figure in shaping the development of Italian opera in England, championing in particular opera seria (40+ works).

He was a cosmopolitan composer with French, German, and English influence, and had an accessible and appealing style due to his use a very basic musical elements (chordal passages, scale figures). He frequently alternates homorhythmic passages with contrapuntal textures, and conveys a sense of pageantry and dramatic theatrical style through grandiose gestures (example SATB choral sound and bold contrast of dynamics).

In addition to contributing to opera, he created the English oratorio (emphasizing the role of the chorus), invented the organ concerto, and contributed to the development of orchestral and keyboard suites.

Musically, his da capo arias were a showcase for vocal virtuosity; he used both recitativo secco and recitativo accompagnato in operas in oratorio; he used vivid word painting; and he had a virtuosic, idiomatic keyboard style.

Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1724)

An opera seria written by Nicola Francesco Haym and composed by Handel, based on ancient Roman history. This opera is comprised almost entirely of expressive, lyrical arias, to display the virtuoso singers who vied for the parts. V’adoro pupille, a da capo aria for soprano and orchestra, features chromaticism in the contrasting minor section, and a brief recitativo secco interruption before the da capo.