Exam III - Short/Long Answer Section

Miscellaneous Topics

Librettists for Operas

• Scarlatti - La Griselda/ Apostolo Zeno

• Handel - Israel in Egypt/ Charles Jennens

• Peri - Euridice/ Ottavio Rinuccini

• Monteverdi - L’Orfeo/ Alessandro Striggio

• Lully - Armide/ Philippe Quinault

• Rameau - Hippolyte et Aricie/ Simon-Joseph Pellegrin

• Handel - Giulio Cesare/ Nicola Francesco Haymn

Dance Forms

• Allemande

  • Medium-slow tempo

  • 4/4 meter

  • Running 8th and 16th texture

  • Always an upbeat

• Courante

  • Medium-fast tempo

  • 3/2 (6/4) meter

  • Dotted rhythm texture

  • Always an upbeat

• Sarabande

  • Slow tempo

  • 3/4 meter

  • Melodic texture

  • Emphasis on beat two

• Gigue

  • Fast tempo

  • Compound meter

  • Imitative texture

  • Constant motion

Opera vs Oratorio

• Opera

  • Secular subjects

  • Dramatic staging

  • Physical action

  • Characters drove narrative

• Oratorio

  • Sacred subjects

  • No staging, performed in church

  • Actions were suggested

  • Narrative told by storyteller

Instrumental Concerto in Baroque

• Concerto Grosso

  • Small group in instruments with full orchestra

  • Ripieno - full group

  • Concertino - small, solo group

• Solo Concerto

  • Single instrument w/ full orchestra

• Orchestral Concerto

  • Full orchestral piece

  • More active voices throughout the full texture

• Three movements (fast-slow-fast)

Short Essay Topics

Career of J.S. Bach

• Weimar (1708-1717)

  • Organist at ducal court

  • Became Kappelmeister in 1714

  • Composed most of his solo organ works

  • Great admirer of Vivaldi

    • Transcribed several of his concerti for harpsichord and organ

    • Inspired Italian-style composition in his organ works

• Kothen (1717-1723)

  • Entirety secular duties

  • Prince Leopold of Kothen

    • Offered large salary and musical freedom

  • Harpsichord music

  • Orchestral suites

  • Sonatas and partitas for solo violin

  • Cello suites

  • Bradenburg Concertos

• Leipzig (1723-1750)

  • Became cantor at Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Church and School) in Leipzig

    • Music directors not hired by church, but the city

  • Responsibility of the city council to hire church musicians

    • Wanted to hire Telemann, who turned down the city

    • City settled for Bach

  • Complex and demanding job

    • Four hours of instruction per day (Latin and music)

    • Provided music for all the Lutheran churches in Leipzig

Opera of Lully vs Opera of Rameau

• Both Lully and Rameau had the same building blocks

  • Recitatives used poetic text and French speech patterns

  • Combined with airs, choruses, instrumental interludes

  • Lengthy divertissements

    • Definition - instrumental interludes that do not really do much for the plot, but provide a quick “dance break” for the ballet-loving crowd

• Rameau characteristics

  • Harmonically-based “melody”

  • Thin line between recitative and air

    • Seems more thoroughly composed; no clear break

  • Use of orchestra as a dramatic device

    • Independent woodwind parts

    • Much more important than Italian opera orchestra

      • Was 4 years old

      • “Controversial” operatic style

      • Rough, dramatic style (very Baroque)

• Lully characteristics

  • Simple and measured recitative

  • Syllabic setting of texts

  • Straightforward melodic lines

    • Died in 1687

    • Invented Tragedie Lyrique

    • Elegant style

Stile antico vs Stile moderno

• Especially prominent in Catholic Sacred Music

• Gabrieli - first sacred choral music that used instruments

• Dramatic, emotional style

  • Stile antico - “old” style (i.e. Palestrina)

    • Refined counterpoint

  • Stile moderno - single melodies with basso continuo, text painting, emotional highs and lows, fast melismas

Long Essay Topics

Italian vs French opera of 17/18th Century

• Italian

  • Recitative

    • Prose

    • More speech-like

  • Aria

    • Vocal elaborations, melismas

  • Structure

    • Scenes: recit/aria/recit/aria, etc.

  • Orchestra

    • Accompanied singers

• French

  • Recitative

    • Poetry

    • More lyrical

  • Aria

    • Set syllabically

  • Structure

    • Melding together

    • Divertissement

  • Orchestra

    • Played a dramatic role

    • French Overture

Instrumental Music of the Baroque Era

• Free Works (Keyboard)

  • Improvisatory

    • Preludes, fantasies, toccatas

  • Continuous

    • Fugues, ricercars, chaconnes

• Sonatas (Ensemble)

  • Trio Sonatas

    • Sonata da Camera (chamber sonata)

    • Sonata da Chiesa (church sonata)

  • Four movements: slow-fast-slow-fast

• Keyboard Suites (Keyboard)

  • Baroque dance forms

  • Binary form

• Concertos (Ensembles)

  • Concerto Grosso

    • Ripieno and concertino

  • Solo Concerto

  • Orchestral Concerto

  • Three movements: fast-slow-fast

National Styles/Trends in Baroque

• Italy

  • Opera

    • Recitative: prose

    • Arioso: recitative measure

    • Aria

• England

  • Italian Opera

    • Recitative; more lyrical than Italian

  • English Oratorio

• Germany

  • Chorale-based music (sacred)

  • Influences from Italy, France, and England

• France

  • Opera

    • Recitative: simple or measure

      • Poetic words that follow a rhyme scheme

    • Aria

    • French Overture

    • Divertissements