Transcript Baroque II - Metcalfe County Schools

Baroque II
1600-1750
Johann Sebastian Bach
• 1685-1750
• Worked as court
composer and organist
for most of his life
• One of the most famous
and prolific figures of
the era
• Master of the Fugue
“Most contemporary music is about love between two people. What
makes Bach's music particularly striking is that it's about the love of
God. ….what I appreciate in Bach is his ability to suggest to me
what a belief in God feels like. His music seems to me to be about
devotion to a perfect ideal - something purer, better, higher ...”
Alain de Botton
Philosopher
I am not a deeply musical person - I don't play and have only the
vaguest grasp of musical structures - so this cannot be intellectual,
or mathematical, which is what people say Bach is all about. I find
him calming, hypnotic, meditative, inspiring and, above all,
consoling. I listen to a wide variety of music, from Beck to Bax, but
there's a bigness, an optimistic complexity and relish about Bach
that makes me return to him in all moods, without ever getting
bored. That's about all I can say.”
Andrew Marr
Broadcaster
Bach’s Music
• Wrote in every baroque form except opera
• Technical mastery and emotional depth
• Combined polyphonic texture with rich
harmony
• Foundation for all of our harmony
• Often religious in nature- S.D.G.
The Fugue
• The fugue was a cornerstone of Baroque
music.
• Polyphonic composition based on one
main theme, called a subject.
• Listen to a fugue by following the familiar subject through
all the levels of texture.
• Beginning of a fugue can be diagrammed like this:
Subject----------------------------..... Etc
Subject--------------------------------.... Etc
Subject--------------------------------------.... Etc
Subject-----------------------------------------... Etc.
• After a voice finishes presenting the subject, it is free to
do its own thing.
Bach: Organ Fugue in G Minor “Little Fugue”
• One of Bach’s most
well-known pieces
• The subject is
presented by four
“voices” in
succession, from
highest to lowest.
Bach: Prelude and Fugue in C Minor
from The Well Tempered Clavier
• Bach wrote preludes and fugues in all 24
keys (12 major, 12 minor)
• They are pieces written for students to
play and practice
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto
No. 2: III. Allegro
• Violin, flute, oboe, and trumpet with basso
continuo
• VIRTUOSO music- only for the VERY
talented and professional musicians
• “daring combinations” of instruments!
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto
No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050
1. Allegro
2. Affettuoso
3. Allegro
-Shows off the harpsichord.
www.youtu.be/BnjqGhAlFzs
Bach: B Minor Mass
• The B Minor Mass is widely regarded as
Bach’s masterpiece.
• Each part of the Mass text has its own
contrasting movements
• Listening: Crucifixus and Et Resurrexit
from Bach’s B Minor Mass
Church Music in the Baroque Era
• Chorale- hymn tune set to a german
religious text
• Chorale prelude- short composition
based on the hymn tune that reminded the
congregation of the melody.
The Church Cantata
• Cantata- a sacred work for chorus and
orchestra
• The cantata was the primary means of
musical expression in church.
• Closely resembled opera, and would
include aria, recitative, and duet
movements.
Bach: Cantata No. 140:
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
• Based on a hymn tune
• Each movement uses the hymn tune in
different ways
George Frideric Handel
• 1685-1759
• Master of the Oratorio
• Prodigy, who at age 11 was
composing and giving organ
lessons
• Worked as composer and
performer
• Moved to London later in his
life to compose some of his
greatest works
Handel’s Music
• Wrote in many forms, but most of his work
was Italian operas and English oratorios.
• Oratorios are usually based on Biblical
stories
– Most are Old Testament stories
– Most famous, however, is the Messiah
Opera vs. Oratorio
Opera
Oratorio
•For chorus and orchestra
•For chorus and orchestra
•Costumes, sets and
scenery
•No costumes, sets, or
scenery
•Based on mythology
(secular)
•Based on Biblical stories
(sacred)
•Act out a story- characters
and plot are revealed
through song
•Tells a story through music
•Usually in Italian
•In any language!
Handel: The Messiah
• Oratorio- NOT Opera!! (What's the difference?)
• Messiah lasts about 2 ½ hours and was written in just 24 days
• Based on Biblical text about the Messiah
• Part 1: Prophecy about the Messiah, Christ’s birth, and Christ’s deeds
on earth
• Part 2: Christ’s death, resurrection, ascension to heaven, and
spreading of the Gospel
• Part 3: Prophecy about resurrection of the dead, judgment, and
heaven.
•
Daily Listening Examples:
– Sinfonia for Strings and Basso Continuo (French Overture)
– Comfort Ye, My People (Recitative)
– Ev’ry Valley Shall Be Exalted (Aria)
– Thus Saith the LORD (Recitative)
– Hallelujah (Chorus)
Messiah Part 1: Comfort ye my People (Aria)
Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. Speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of
him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the
Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
(Isaiah 40:1-3)
Daily Listening Questions:
1) Describe the music… use adjectives to describe the mood,
style, emotion, etc.
Messiah Part 1: Ev’ry valley shall be exalted
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill
made low, the crooked straight, and the rough places
plain. (Isaiah 40:4)
2) Stylistically, what is the main difference between this
piece and the previous one?
Messiah Part 1: Thus Saith the Lord (Recitative)
Haggai 2:6,7 Thus saith the Lord of Hosts; Yet once, a little
while and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea,
and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of
all nations shall come.
Malachi 3:1 The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to
His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye
delight in: Behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.
3) Is this piece more like Comfort Ye, or Every Valley?
Messiah Part 2: Hallelujah (Chorus)
•
Hallelujah!
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
The kingdom of this world
Is become the kingdom of our Lord,
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
For ever and ever, forever and ever,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
And Lord of lords, And He shall reign,
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings, forever and ever,
And Lord of lords, Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
The job of the “Chorus” in an
Oratorio or Opera is to comment
on the action or storyline. This is
the most famous Chorus from
Messiah.
3) What instruments do you see and
hear during this performance?
4) Describe the mood, style, sound,
emotion, etc of this piece. How
does Handel’s choice of
instrumentation add to this
effect?
5) How does this Oratorio reflect
what you know about Baroque
music?
Handel: Water Music: Hornpipe
No. 12 in D
Written for an outdoor
concert on the river
Thames.
3 suites, made up of
overtures, minuets,
bourrees, and hornpipes.
Handel:Music for the Royal
Fireworks: III. Rejouissance
• Some of the first music ever composed for
just brass (beginnings of band)
• Written for an open-air performance
complete with fireworks
• London's first recorded traffic jam- 12,000
people attended!
Listening Exercise
On a separate sheet of paper, identify the
composer of the following pieces as either
Bach or Handel and then choose the
correct name of each piece.
1)
A) Hornpipe from Water Music
B) Little Fugue in G Minor
C) The Messiah
D) B Minor Mass
2)
A) B Minor Mass
B) The Messiah
C) Little Fugue in G Minor
D) Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
3)
A) The Messiah
B) Little Fugue in G Minor
C) Chorale prelude: Wachet Auf, Ruft uns
die Stimme BWV 645
D) Hornpipe from Water Music
4)
A) La Rejoissance from Music for the Royal
Fireworks
B) Fugue in A Minor BWV 543
C) B Minor Mass
D) Prelude in C Major from the “Well
Tempered Clavier”
5)
A) La Rejoissance from Music for the Royal
Fireworks
B) B Minor Mass
C) Excerpt from Saul
D) Prelude in C Major from the “Well
Tempered Clavier”
6)
A) Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
B) Excerpt from The Messiah
C) Chorale Prelude: Wachet Auf, Ruft uns
die Stimme BWV 645
D) Little Fugue in G Minor
7)
A) Excerpt from the B Minor Mass
B) Excerpt from Saul
C) Hornpipe from Water Music
D) Prelude in C from the “Well Tempered
Clavier”
8)
A) Chorale Prelude: Wachet Auf, Ruft uns
die Stimme BWV 645
B) La Rejoissance from Music for the Royal
Fireworks
C) Little Fugue in G Minor
D) Excerpt from The Messiah
9)
A) Little Fugue in G Minor
B) B Minor Mass
C) Excerpt from Saul
D) Hornpipe from Water Music
10)
A) Little Fugue in G Minor
B) La Rejoissance from Music for the Royal
Fireworks
C) Prelude in C Major from the “Well
Tempered Clavier”
D) B Minor Mass