Vocal Music at Home and at Church

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

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