German Composers of the Late Baroque

Aristocrats

pursued music avidly as performers and as

composers

Musicians in Britain

underpaid because of the monarchy’s

decrease in power, so the king allowed them to earn extra outside.

This led to the growth of the public concert.

No one could earn a living through composing alone

because the

system of paying royalties have not been developed; composing

was not a career it was one of the many skills a musician has

GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN

• Mixed Taste: german musicians wre often trained in more than one style

• paragon of stylistic eclecticism or mixed taste

• Learned polish style then french, church, chamber, operatic, and italian.

• pleasing ppl with varied taste and write for the abilities of good amateur or middle level professional players

• Paris Quartets

Paris Quartets

twelve works of primary

examples of his "mixed style"

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

• Protestant Germany as an organ virtuoso, keyboard composer, and writed

• working musician who composed primarily to fulfill the positions he held

a. Church organist

b. Court organist

c. Concertmaster

d. Court music director

Musicians were not free agents

subject to the wishes of their employers

When Bach tried to resign for a new job in

Cöthen,

Duke of Weimar refused to

release him and threw him in jail for a

month before finally letting him quit

1. Organ Music - BACH

Bach arranged Vivaldi’s violin concertos for

organ.

2. Harpsichord Music - BACH

The Well-Tempered Clavier: Two books of

24 preludes and fugues, one in every major

and minor key. It proved that "Equal

Temperament" (a new way of tuning)

allowed musicians to play in all keys without

sounding out of tune. (ex. Prelude in Eb

Minor and Fugue in D# Minor)

3. Instrumental & Orchestral Music - BACH

a. Brandenburg Concertos: Six concertos

dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg.

They feature unusual combinations of

instruments and expand the Italian

concerto form.

b. Collegium Musicum: A secular performance

ensemble in Leipzig where Bach performed

his instrumental concertos for the public.

Brandenburg Concertos:

Six concertos

dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg.

They feature unusual combinations of

instruments and expand the Italian

concerto form.

Collegium Musicum

A secular performance

ensemble in Leipzig where Bach performed

his instrumental concertos for the public.

4. Chorale Settings - BACH

He wrote hundreds of

"Chorale Preludes" (short organ pieces based on

traditional Lutheran hymns) to introduce the

congregation to the hymn they were about to

sing.

a. Orgelbuchlein (Little Organ Book)

b. Word painting

5. The Mass in B Minor - BACH

his only complete

setting of the Catholic Mass Ordinary

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL

1. Master of all types of vocal and instrumental music

2. Father wanted him to study law but studied music secretly

3. Traveled to German, Italian, and English speaking cities

4. Associated with the leading patrons and musicians - supposrt from the british monarchy

5. won intertional renown during his lifeteime

6. Impresario

7. Never married and lived with various patrons, people who hired handel belonged to social circles where ssr was common

8. gay

Impresario

keen business sense and was supremely adaptable able to measure and serve the taste of the public

Operas - HANDEL

His first opera was ALMIRA (1705)

he incorporated the “international

style” of dance music after French, arias in the Italian and German in

counterpoint

Operas - HANDEL
Rinaldo

first Italian opera composed for london based on an english translattion of an italian libretto

Operas - HANDEL

Almira (first)

Rinaldo

Cleopatras Aria from Giulio Cesare

Oratorios

Handel decised a new genre that would reward him richly

most important innovation in

the oratorios was his use of the chorus.
Esther - first

Messiah - most famous

Esther

was his first oratorio, he committed himself

fully to the new genre only after remarkable success

Messiah

most famous work; It doesn't tell a story;

instead, it uses Bible passages to make you think

about the Christian idea of redemption. It starts with

Old Testament predictions and moves through the

life of Christ to his resurrection

Handel vs Bach

Handel wrote for the public

Bach wrote for the Church and School