1. Brandenburg by Bach

Baroque period

1600-1750

Baroque features

1. ornaments & sequences (melody)

2. major/minor (tonality)

3. sequences, pedals, suspensions (harmony)

4. one mood

5. terraced dynamics

6. baroque orchestra (strings) & basso continuo (harpsichord)

genre

concerto grosso (multiple soloists)

2 groups in concerto grosso

concertino and ripieno

basso continuo

continuous bass (harpsichord & bass viol)

figured bass

musical shorthand for the keyboard player (bass line with numbers to show chords)

ripieno

orchestra

concertino

soloists

5 functions of harpsichordist

1. soloist

2. continuo

3. realising figured bass

4. completing the harmony

5. directing the ensemble

patronage

composers earned money writing music (commissions) for patrons (wealthy individuals)

dialoguing

instruments play one after another (swapping ideas)

form (structure)

fusion of fugue and ternary forms

fugal exposition

Opening statements of the subject and answer

subject

main theme (of a fugue)

answer

subject repeated at a different pitch (normally a 4th/5th higher)

countersubject

melody played after the subject or answer (fits another part playing the subject/answer)

context

6 Brandenburg Concertos dedicated to Margrave of Brandenburg

movement

3rd

movements in a concerto

3 (fast, slow, fast)

affection

one mood (per movement)

mood (affection)

upbeat and uplifting

How the mood is created

1. gigue dance rhythms (2 beats of triplet quavers per bar)

2. fast tempo

3. D major key (major, but also D suits string instruments, allowing more open strings and a brighter feel)

main texture

fugal and contrapuntal (polyphonic)

other textures

1. monophonic

2. homophonic

antiphonal

alternating groups

stretto

overlapping entries of the subject (closer than before) which heightens the tension.

unison

more than one part playing the melody at the same pitch

scalic

music that is based on scales ascending and/or descending in pitch

canon

parts copy each other at exact intervals, often at the 5th or octave, but at different beats of the bar (like in "London's Burning").

variant

phrase whose shape resembles the original

common Baroque musical devices

1. suspensions

2. sequences

3. pedals

Terraced dynamics

1. sudden changes created by changing the number of players (just concertino is soft but with the orchestra/ripieno is loud).

2. not notated

3. no crescendos or diminuendos