Transcript Baroque Music (1600-1750)

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Baroque Music
Part I
1600-1750
The Baroque Style
• baroque= ornamented
– fills space with movement.
• Very rich and powerful rulers
• Luxury is the name of the game!
Baroque Lifestyle
• Absolutism:
– A rulers right to have absolute power over their
subjects.
• A king could throw a worker into jail
because that worker wanted to quit his job.
Baroque Greats
• Scientific Discovery
– Newton
– Galileo
• Music Giants
–
–
–
–
Johann Sebastian Bach
George Frederic Handel
Antonio Vivaldi
Henry Purcell
HOT Question…
Think of some events in
history where people
were oppressed by rulers
and fought back?
Characteristics of Baroque Music
• Unity of Mood
– A piece of music usually expressed only one
feeling throughout the entire piece
• Repeating rhythm and melodies
Characteristics of Baroque Music
• Terraced dynamics– the alteration between loud and soft like
physically stepping from one level to another.
• Because of the harpsichord!
Chords and Basso Continuo
• Basso Continuo
– Bass part usually played by two instruments: a
keyboard instrument and a low playing
instrument
Basso continuo
The Baroque Orchestra
• Baroque orchestras are small!
– Usually only 10-40 players
• Basso Continuo + Strings
– Brass, Woodwinds, and Percussion used very
rarely!
The Baroque Orchestra
Baroque Forms
• Movements:
– a piece that sounds fairly complete and
independent but is part of a larger
composition.
HOT Question…
Think of one modern thing
to compare a movement
vs. whole work to…
Movements- single, short
Whole work- long, lots of parts
3rd hour start
Music in Baroqe Society
• Composers made money by having a
patron!
• Patron
– someone who supported a composer by paying
them for their music and requesting new
music to be composed
Music in Baroque Society
• Music on demand!
– Main source of entertainment in
royal courts.
• One court might have an orchestra, a
church choir, and opera singers
Music in Baroque Society
• Music director
– Composer who works for a patron
– In charge of composing all the music at court.
– Rehearsed the orchestra, choir, and all other
musicians at court.
Good
– Pay and popularity were high
– Compositions always performed
Bad
– Still a servant of the patron
HOT Question…
What are some modern
day examples of
Patron/Musician
relationships?
The Elements of Opera
• opera: a drama in which some or all of the lines are sung
to an orchestral accompaniment
• libretto: the text of the opera
• librettist: the one who writes the libretto
• overture or prelude: the orchestral introduction
to an opera
• aria: a song for solo voice with orchestral
accompaniment
• recitative: a vocal line that imitates speech,
accompanied by basso continuo
Early operas:
• Based on the Greek myth
• Written for aristocracy
• 1637: first public opera house in Venice,
Italy
• Orfeo by Claudo Monteverdi, the first great
opera
Output
• 3-2-1 Summary
1 question you can
answer using the
other two levels
2 important facts about the
music or lifestyle of the
baroque
3 important vocabulary
terms from the Baroque Era
with definitions