Baroque Solo Concerto & Opera Influence

Flashcards covering the influence of opera on Baroque sacred and instrumental music, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, Ritornello form, and Vivaldi’s use of melody and key in a Baroque concerto.

Which two Renaissance sacred genres continued to be written during the Baroque period?

The Mass and the Motet.

What two new sacred vocal genres arose under the influence of opera in the Baroque era?

The Cantata and the Oratorio.

How does an oratorio differ from a cantata?

The oratorio is on a larger scale and is even closer to opera in style and structure.

What vocal super-stars of Baroque opera preserved their high voices through castration?

The castrati.

List two main similarities shared by opera, cantata, and oratorio.

A multi-movement structure, and contrasts between recitatives, arias/duets, and choruses.

Name the earliest opera still regularly performed today, its composer, and its year.

L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, written in 1607.

Give two musical characteristics of the Toccata that opens Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo.

It is loud and attention-grabbing, built on a single tonic chord with repetitive scale motifs, semiquavers, and dotted rhythms.

Which three orchestral groupings are successively showcased in the L’Orfeo Toccata?

1) Brass and drum, 2) Strings, winds, continuo, 3) Full tutti.

What is the basic phrase structure of the bass line in the Prologue of L’Orfeo?

A repeating 2-bar sequential pattern.

What harmonic device decorates the perfect cadence on the down-beat of every even-numbered bar in the L’Orfeo Prologue?

A suspension.

Through which four key areas does the L’Orfeo Prologue bass progression move?

D minor (tonic) – A minor (dominant) – F major (relative major) – back to D minor (tonic).

Define Ritornello Form.

A form in which a main theme (ritornello) stated at the beginning returns, usually shortened and in various keys, alternating with contrasting solo episodes.

From which genre did Ritornello Form originate before being adopted in concerto movements?

Opera.

In Vivaldi’s Concerto in A minor, Op. 3 No. 6 (1st movement), how are melodies typically treated in the solo sections?

They sometimes reference ritornello motifs but quickly develop into long semiquaver runs with frequent sequential patterns.

How are melodies treated in the tutti sections of the same Vivaldi movement?

The orchestra recalls motifs from the opening ritornello; motifs a & b reappear near the start, c & d near the end, but all four are never heard together again.

What is the key plan for the solo sections in Vivaldi’s A-minor concerto movement?

Frequent modulations to closely related keys, including D minor (subdominant), C major (relative major), and E minor (dominant).

What keys are used in the tutti (ritornello) sections of Vivaldi’s A-minor concerto movement?

Each stays in a single key, either the tonic A minor or the dominant E minor, with the dominant appearing in the middle of the movement.