prelude

• religious differences continued to echo in 17th century music

• new genres were created and spread

vocal chamber music

• chamber music for mixed voices and instruments remained the standard fare for private musicmaking

• italians used basso continuo for thousands of pieces

• concertato medium (the use of competing or contrasting forces)

• concertato medium, whether monody or other textures with basso continuo, permeated all genres of chamber and church music

• strophic variations

• concertato medium - can trace the change from the unaccompanied polyphonic madrigal to the concerted madrigal instrumental in monteverdi’s fifth through eighth

• blended genres

• basso ostinato - the change from the unaccompanied polyphonic madrigal to the concerted madrigal with instrumental accompaniment

• patterns or musical gestures became associated with particular affections

• strozzi's lagrimie mie demonstrates the three sections of a solo chamber cantata - recitative, arioso, aria

• distinct music from different regions also being produced

catholic sacred music

• catholic composers adopted a more theatrical style

• goal was to convey the Church's message in the most dramatically effective and, thus, persuasive way

• polyphony wasn't fully abandoned

• antiphony started becoming a thing - gabrieli, st. mark's church

• similar, more familiar sound used for small common gatherings

• grand concerto was sometimes combined with the concerto

• grandi composed many solo motets that used the new styles of monophony

• roman sacred dialogues combined elements of narrative, dialogue and commentary - began to be called oratorios

  • used recitatives, arias, duets, and instrumental preludes and ritornellos

  • religious subject matter

  • never staged

  • action described rather than mimed

  • narrator

  • leading composer of latin oratorios was giacomo carissimi

• jephte

  • story lends itself to a heart-wrenching audience moment

  • can have the drama while still having it come from the bible