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1600-1750
What years comprised the Baroque Era?
Baroque
A stylistic period from 1600 to 1750 that can be divided into three phrases.
Handel and Bach
2 big composers during the Baroque era.
Early Baroque
1600-1640
Middle Baroque
1640-1690
Late Baroque
1690-1750
Unity of mood, repeated rhythm, continuous melody, continuous or sudden shifts of dynamics, predominantly polyphonic texture.
What are the characteristics of Baroque Music?
Terraced dynamics
abrupt alternation between loud and soft dynamic levels
Organ and the harpsichord
What were the main instruments of the baroque period?
Clavichord
Baroque keyboard instrument in which sound is produced by means of brass blades striking strings, capable of making gradual dynamic changes, but within a narrow volume range.
Basso Continuo
Baroque accompaniment made up of a bass part usually played by two instruments: a keyboard plus a low melodic instrument.
Figured bass
Bass part of a baroque accompaniment with figures (numbers) above it indicating the chords to be played.
Movement
Piece that sounds fairly complete and independent but is part of a larger composition.
Concerto Grosso
Composition for several instrumental soloists and small orchestra; common in late baroque music.
Tutti
All; the full orchestra, or a large group of musicians contrasted with a smaller group; often heard in baroque music.
Ritornello form
Compositional form usually employed in the baroque concerto gross, in which the tutti plays a ritornello, or refrain, alternating with one or more soloists playing new material.
Ritornello
Refrain; a repeated section of music usually played by the full orchestra, or tutti, in baroque compositions.
Fugue
Polyphonic composition based on one main theme, or subject.
Subject
Theme of a fugue.
Answer
Second presentation of the subject in a fugue, usually the dominant scale.
Countersubject
In a fugue, a melodic idea that accompanies that subject fairly constantly.
Episodes
Transitional section in a fugue between presentations of the subject, which offers either new material or fragments of the subject or countersubject.
Stretto
Compositional procedure used in fugues, in which a subject is imitated before it is completed; one voice tries to catch the other.
Pedal point (organ point)
Single tone, usually in the bass, that is held while the other voices produce a series of changing harmonies against it; often found in fugues.
Prelude
Short piece usually serving to introduce a fugue or another composition; a short piece for piano.
Opera
Drama that is sung to orchestral accompaniment, usually a large-scale composition employing soloists, chorus, orchestra, costumes, and scenery.
Libretto
Text of an opera.
Librettist
Dramatists who writes the libretto, or text, of an opera.
Voice categories of Opera
Voice ranges that include coloratura soprano, lyric soprano, dramatic soprano, lyric tenor, dramatic tenor, basso buffo, and basso profundo, among others.
Aria
Song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment, usually expressing an emotional state through its outpouring of melody; found in operas, oratorios, and cantatas.
Recitative
Vocal line in an opera, oratorio, or cantata that imitates the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech, often serving to lead an aria.
Ensemble
In opera, a piece performed by three or more solo singers.
Chorus
A group of singers performing together, generally with more than one to a part.
Prompter
Person who gives cues and reminds singers of their words or pitches during an opera performance.
Overture
Short musical composition, purely orchestral, that opens an opera and sets the overall dramatic mood.
Camerata
Fellowship or society; a group of nobles, poets, and composers who began to meet regularly in Florence around 1575 and whose musical discussion prepared the way for the beginning of opera.
Countertenor
Male who sings in a female pitch range using a special kind of voice production.
Claudio Monteverdi
Who wrote Tu se’ Morta? From Orfeo?
Henry Purcell
Who wrote Dido?
Basso ostinato (Ground Bass)
Variation form in which a musical idea in the bass is repeated over and over while the melodies above it continually change.
Cantata
A work for one or more voices with instrumental accompaniment.
Barbara Strozzi
Who wrote Che si puo fare?
Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre
Who wrote The Sleep of Odysseus?
Sonata
An instrumental composition in several movements for one to eight players.
trio sonatas
baroque compositions that has 3 melodic lines: two high ones, and a basso continuo.
Arcangelo Corelli
Who wrote Trio Sonata in A Minor?
Antonio Vivaldi
Who wrote The Spring from the Four Seasons?
Solo concerto
A piece for a single soloist and an orchestra.
Trill
Musical ornament consisting of the rapid alternation of two tones that are a whole or half step apart.
J.S. Bach
Who wrote the Organ Fugue in G minor, Brandenburg Concertos, Suite No. 3 in D Major, Cantata No. 140: Wachet auf
Improvisation
Creation of music at the same time as it is performed.
Suite
A set of dance-inspired movements.
French Overture
Common opening piece in baroque suites, ratios, and operas: usually in two parts: the first slow and the second quick and lighter in mood.
Chorale
Hymn tune
Chorale prelude
A short composition based on the hymn tune that reminded the congregation of the melody.
Oratorio
Large-scale composition for chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra, usually set to a narrative text, but without acting, scenery, or costumes; often based on biblical stories.
G.F. Handel
Who wrote Every Valley Shall Be Exalted, For Unto Us a Child is Born, and Hallelujah.
Da capo aria
Aria in ABA form; after the B section—this means from the beginning and indicates a repetition of the opening A section.
Da capo
From the beginning; an indication usually meaning that the opening section of a piece is to be repeated after the middle section.
