Baroque Period Book Reading Notes

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.