3.11 Baroque Vocal Music

• 3 musical institutions- ^^church, court, opera house^^
  • Only the ^^court^^ was big for ^^instrumental^^ music
  • Everything else had vocal music!
• Checklists of musical devices corresponding to certain “^^affects^^” (emotions)
• ^^Word painting^^! Emotion easily portrayed

Opera

• Principal genre of ^^secular vocal music^^ in the Baroque era, also the most ^^influential^^ genre overall
• ^^Multimedia^^ experience! Addresses the Baroque fascination with theatre
• Special effects of spectacle with ^^elaborate sets^^
• Opera guests gossiped and gambled pre-show- it was a social event
• ^^Coloratura^^: singing technique with “fast, brilliant runs, scales, high notes, vocal cadenzas, all stressing technique” (showed off virtuosos)

Italian Opera Seria

• ^^Opera seria^^: serious opera with plots derived from ancient history

Mainly sung by sopranos and mezzo-sopranos, which were considered superior to lower voices, which played subordinate roles

Recitative

• Technique of theatrically “declaiming words”
• Follows the rhythm of natural emotional speech (^^speech-like song^^)
• Used for plot action, dialogue, etc.
• ^^Secco recitative:^^ “dry” recitative with only continuo accompaniment
• ^^Accompanied recitative:^^ recitative with some type of orchestra accompaniment

The Castrato

• In Baroque Italian opera, men in starring roles were often ^^castrati^^, men with ^^alto or soprano^^ ranges due to ^^young castration^^
• Though it was an odd situation, it was accepted (mostly) at the time because people thought their performances were great
• Most sung in ^^churches^^

Aria

• Set piece for ^^solo singers^^ w/ musical elaboration, melody, and emotion
• ^^Orchestra^^l accompaniment
• Most commonly in ^^da capo form (ABA)^^ for Baroque Italian opera arias
  • Could also be ^^free^^ da capo form, ABA’
  • Composer wrote A and B, and the performer would ornament A for the repeat

Handel, Julius Caesar (1724)

• Handel wrote a few ^^German operas^^ for the Hamburg opera company in youth, and about 40 ^^Italian operas^^ for London later in life, including Julius Caesar
• ^^Opera seria^^
• Draws on ^^Roman history^^ of Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, and Ptolemy
• Aria, "La giustizia": Means justice, Sextus promises revenge on Ptolemy, set up by recitative, anger affect, da capo form

Oratorio

• Most ^^vocal^^ music was for ^^churc^^h services, type depended on which church
• General important factors of Baroque sacred genres
  • Participation of ^^choir^^
  • Borrowing from ^^secular^^ vocal music (opera)
• ^^Oratorio^^ was basically an opera on a religious subject
  • Not part of a church service
  • No scenery, costumes, or acting
  • Uses ^^chorus^^, unlike most Italian opera
  • Substitute for opera during ^^Lent^^

Handel, Messiah (1742)

• Handel’s most ^^famous^^ oratorio (and work in general)
• Sung at Christmas and Easter even today
• ^^No Biblical characters^^ as in most oratorios
• Text taken from Bible
• Recitative
  • Part 1 (secco): Boy soprano narrator and continuo
  • Part 2 (accompanied): Apperarance of an angel, high strings, cadence formula played by continuo
  • Part 3 (secco): Angel speaks
  • Part 4 (accompanied): “beating wings”
• Chorus, “Glory to God”: High voices, orchestral accompaniment, concise
• “Hallelujah” Chorus: Monophony, homophony, and polyphony, very famous
• George II of England stood at the first London performance, everyone else did too

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

• Born Georg Friedrich Händel, anglicized after settling in England
• ^^Not from a family of musicians^^
• Studied law before joining the orchestra at Germany’s Hamburg
• Liven in Venice, Florence, and Rome before London
• Wrote many ^^Italian operas^^ and was a “opera impresario” (promoter)
• “Made and lost several fortunes”
• After opera, he ^^popularized oratorios^^
• Quite a character
• Blind later in life

The Church Cantata

• A ^^cantata^^ is a piece of moderate length for voices and instruments
• Many Baroque ones are ^^secular^^
• In Germany, written to be performed during ^^Lutheran church^^ services
• Bach made cantatas for the entire year as a ^^cantor^^
  • Made over 200, plus some seculars

The Lutheran Chorale

• Structure of Bach’s cantatas varied
• Nearly all Lutheran cantatas use ^^hymns^^
• Lutheran hymns are called ^^chorales^^
• ^^Martin Luther^^ (father of Protestant Reformation) placed an emphasis on hymn singing by the congregation
• Most people just knew the chorales by memory

Women in Music

• Options for women were very limited
• The ^^theater^^ provided women with rare career opportunities
• Women in the opera were often ^^not very respected^^
• ^^Prima donnas^^ of the time included Anna Renzi, Faustina Bordoni, and Francesca Cuzzoni
• Female instrumentalists were rare
• ^^Elizabeth-Claude Jacquet^^ was a notable harpsichordist-composer (quite the exception)

Bach, Cantata No. 4, “Christ lag in Todesbanden” (1707)

• ^^Easter^^ chorale
• About mankind’s struggle with ^^Death^^
• ^^Mino^^r mode
• 7 stanzas
• ^^Gapped chorales^^ after a short prelude called a “sinfonia”