RCM Level 10 History Baroque Era

What does the term "Baroque" come from

Portuguese *barroco*, meaning "irregularly shaped pearl."

When was "Baroque" first used to refer to a musical style

Mid-18th century.

Why did mid-18th-century critics use "Baroque" to describe music

To describe the baffling complexity of works by J.S. Bach and Jean-Philippe Rameau.

How did 19th-century critics come to view 17th- and 18th-century music

They increasingly appreciated its complex textures.

What period does "Baroque" generally refer to today

The art and music period from approximately 1600 to 1750.

What characterized the historical period of the Baroque era

Monarchy, religious conflict, and major developments in math, science, and medicine.

How did monarchy and religious conflict affect Baroque culture

They were reflected in the arts and culture.

What mathematical, scientific, and medical developments occurred during the Baroque era

Significant advances in mathematics, science, and medicine.

What are the major musical terms to define from the Baroque introduction

Baroque, figured bass, basso continuo, the Affections, terraced dynamics, binary form, rounded binary form, and ternary form.

What is the two-part musical form in which both sections are normally repeated

Binary form.

What treatises are especially important to Baroque music

Rameau's *Treatise on Harmony* and C.P.E. Bach's *Essay*.

What is the significance of Rameau's *Treatise on Harmony*

It established chord-based harmony and treated inversions as variations of the same chord.

What is the significance of C.P.E. Bach's *Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments*

It became a comprehensive guide to keyboard performance and musicianship.

Who was Charles LeBrun

A French Baroque painter who explored how to represent human emotions through outward signs.

What did LeBrun call human emotions

The "affects" or "affections."

What did LeBrun's work convey about emotions

That emotions could be represented and recognized through outward physical signs.

How did LeBrun represent affects

Through visual cues of emotional signs.

What auditory idea can be compared with LeBrun's visual representation of affects

Using musical cues so listeners experience specific emotions.

What did Baroque composers generally seek to accomplish with the Affections

Project a single clear emotional state through an entire piece or movement.

What is the Doctrine of the Affections

A Baroque philosophy projecting one clear emotional state through an entire work.

What inspired the Baroque Doctrine of the Affections

Ancient Greek and Roman writers and orators.

What does "affect" mean in Baroque music

A specific emotional state of the soul.

How did vocal music use the Affections

To depict the emotions of the text or dramatic situation.

What was *The Expression of the Passions*

A 1688 work associated with LeBrun's emotional representations.

Why did the harpsichord become important during the Baroque era

It gained popularity as a primary keyboard instrument.

Why can't a harpsichord produce gradual dynamic changes

Its mechanism does not allow volume variation.

What type of dynamic changes can performers make on a harpsichord

Abrupt volume shifts.

What are "terraced dynamics"

Sudden, abrupt changes in volume.

How can terraced dynamics be produced on a single-manual harpsichord

Using a "buffer" stop.

How can terraced dynamics be produced on a double-manual harpsichord

By coupling and uncoupling the keyboards.

What other Baroque keyboard instrument allowed abrupt dynamic changes

The organ.

What did many Baroque composers write specifically for the organ

Elaborate works.

What is figured bass

A musical shorthand indicating chords above a notated bass line.

What is another name for figured bass

Basso continuo notation.

What instruments are required for a typical basso continuo texture

A lower-register instrument and a chord-playing instrument.

What does the lower-register instrument do in basso continuo

Plays the notated bass line.

What instruments could play the notated bass line

Cello or bassoon.

What does the chord-playing instrument do in basso continuo

Realizes the harmony.

What instruments could realize the harmony in basso continuo

Harpsichord, organ, or lute.

What aspects of a figured-bass realization are left to the performer

Arrangement, voicing, and texture.

Why does figured-bass realization involve improvisation

The performer must create the accompaniment from the bass and figures.

What does figured-bass notation contain

A bass line plus Arabic numerals indicating intervals.

What do figured-bass figures normally refer to

Notes within the specified key.

What does the absence of a figured-bass numeral indicate

A root-position triad.

What does an accidental without a numeral indicate in figured bass

The third of the chord.

How skilled did Baroque musicians become at figured-bass realization

Highly skilled at improvising accompaniments.

What were performers expected to use when realizing figured bass

Musical judgment.

Until when was figured bass the primary way musicians understood harmonic relationships

The mid-18th century.

What tends to form the basis of harmonic musical thought today

Chords and chord progressions.

Who developed an influential new concept of harmony in 1722

Jean-Philippe Rameau.

What did Rameau's 1722 *Treatise on Harmony* propose about triad positions

Root, first-inversion, and second-inversion positions are versions of the same triad.

What is Rameau's concept of the "fundamental bass"

The underlying root of the chord.

What is the fundamental bass of a C triad when E or G is the lowest note

C.

What was innovative about Rameau's harmonic concept

Treating inverted chords as the same sonority.

How did Rameau's concept affect voice-leading rules

It reduced the total number of rules needed.

What harmonic system became the backbone of Baroque music

The major-minor tonal system.

What happened to the number of major and minor keys available to Baroque composers

It increased.

Why was the increased availability of major and minor keys novel

It opened new possibilities for composers and listeners.

Which modes became preferred during the Baroque era

Ionian and Aeolian.

What did the Ionian and Aeolian modes form the basis for

The major-minor tonal language.

What does *Fortspinnung* mean

"Spinning out."

Who introduced the term *Fortspinnung*

20th-century music historians.

What does *Fortspinnung* describe

Developing a musical idea through simple compositional techniques.

Which composers are especially associated with *Fortspinnung*

J.S. Bach and his contemporaries.

What is repetition as a *Fortspinnung* technique

Repeating a musical idea without modification.

What is sequential treatment as a *Fortspinnung* technique

Transposing a musical pattern to a different pitch level.

What is variation as a *Fortspinnung* technique

Modifying a musical idea's rhythm or intervals.

What type of melodic construction does *Fortspinnung* contrast with

Periodic melodic construction of the Classical era.

What do unedited Baroque scores usually contain about tempo

Few tempo directions.

What did Baroque composers often expect performers to determine themselves

A suitable tempo based on meter and character.

What might a thin texture with fewer contrapuntal voices suggest about tempo

A relatively quick tempo.

What might complex counterpoint suggest about tempo

A slower tempo.

What were Baroque treatises

Instructional books on musical performance.

Why did the need for instructional materials increase during the Baroque era

Domestic music-making expanded.

Which important harmony treatise was written by Rameau

*Treatise on Harmony*.

Who wrote *Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments*

C.P.E. Bach.

When did C.P.E. Bach live

1714-1788.

Who was C.P.E. Bach in relation to J.S. Bach

His second eldest son.

Where did C.P.E. Bach work

At King Frederick the Great's court in Berlin.

What was C.P.E. Bach's treatise primarily designed to be

A practical keyboard guide.

What performance topics does C.P.E. Bach's treatise address

Figured bass, improvisation, ornamentation, and fingering.

What broader topics does C.P.E. Bach's treatise address

General performance and musicianship.

What physical-performance information does C.P.E. Bach's treatise provide

Descriptions of physical performance gestures.

What else does C.P.E. Bach's treatise contain

Musical examples demonstrating his ideas.

Who wrote *A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing*

Leopold Mozart.

When did Leopold Mozart live

1719-1787.

Who was Leopold Mozart

W.A. Mozart's father and teacher.

Where was Leopold Mozart a court musician

Salzburg.

What is Leopold Mozart's treatise primarily about

Violin technique and phrasing.

What broader insights does Leopold Mozart's treatise provide

Music theory and Baroque national styles.

Who wrote *On Playing the Flute*

Johann Joachim Quantz.

When did Quantz live

1697-1773.

What was Quantz's relationship to C.P.E. Bach

A colleague at Frederick the Great's court.

What does Quantz's treatise contain besides flute playing

Ornamentation, variation, form, and accompaniment.

How much information does Quantz's treatise provide about flute construction and playing

Limited information.

What happened to instrumental music during the Baroque era

It gained independent importance alongside vocal music.

What major genre emerged from the increased importance of instrumental music

The concerto.

What contrast does the Baroque concerto exploit

Between a large ensemble and a solo group or soloist.

What did many Baroque composers do with stylized dances

Combined them into suites for listening.

What inspired the rhythms of Baroque stylized dances

Popular court dances.