Transcript Can I Really Live in the 21st Century?

Western Art Music
from 1700-1760
From the Baroque to the Classical
Professor Jennifer Rycenga
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
• Wrote music for all
occasions
• Helped advance solo
concerto as a form
• Much of his music
was written for girls
at an orphanage
school
Portrait by François Morellon La Cave, 1723
George Friedrich Handel
(1685-1759)
• One of the greatest
composers of the
Baroque
• Cosmopolitan and
fiscally secure, he
established and reestablished his
reputation in four
different European
countries
Excerpts from Handel’s Messiah
Recitative
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts:
Yet once a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the
sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations; and the desire of
all nations shall come. 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.
****
Aria
But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when
He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire.
****
Chorus
And He shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the
Lord an offering in righteousness.
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750)
• Wrote for the Lutheran
church
• Master of technical
aspects of harmony and
counterpoint; perhaps
the best musical mind in
Western art music
• noted 20th century
theologian, Jaroslav
Pelikan, dubbed Bach
“The Fifth Evangelist”
Recit ative (teno r)
Wie has t du d ich, mein Gott,
In meiner Not,
In meiner Furcht und Zagen
Denn ganz von mir gew andt?
Ach! kenns t du nicht dein K ind?
Ach! hö rst du n ic ht das Klagen
Von denen, d ie dir sind
Mit Bund und Treu verwand t?
Da warest meine Lust
Und bist mir grausam worden;
Ich suche d ich an all en Orten,
Ich ruf und schrei dir nach,
All ein me in Weh und A ch!
Sche int it zt, als sei es dir ganz unbewuß t.
Why has t thou, O my God,
In my distress,
In my gre at fear and angu ish
Then turned away from me?
Ah! Know' st thou not thy child?
Ah! Hear'st thou not the waili ng
Of those who are to thee
In bond and fait h allie d?
Thou wa st onc e my d eligh t
And to me art now crue l;
I search for thee in ev 'ry reg ion,
I call and cry to thee,
But still my "Woe and Ah"
Seems now by thee completely unper ceived.
Aria (teno r)
Bäche von gesalznen Zähren,
Fluten rauschen stets einhe r.
Sturm und W ellen mi ch ver sehren,
Und d ies trüb salsvo ll e Meer
Will mir Geist und Leben schwäch en,
Mast und Anke r wolle n b rechen ,
Hier versink ich in den Grund ,
Dort seh ins der Hölle Schlund.
Streams of salt y tears are welli ng,
Floods are rush ing eve r forth.
Storm and waters overwhelm me,
And this sorrow-laden sea
Would my li fe and spirit weaken,
Mast and anchor a re ne ar brok en,
Here I sink into the depths,
Ther e peer in the jaws of he ll .
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
• Great keyboard
composer
• Used a variety of
sources for melodies
and playing
techniques
• Paves the way for
transition to classical
period
Giovanni Battista Sammartini
(1700-1775)
• Early Classical
Period
• Italian composer who
makes advances in
the symphony form,
helping to launch the
multi-movement
form
•
Franz Joseph Haydn
Last major composer
(1732-1809)
to exist on patronage
alone
• One of the three great
composers of the
classical era
• Note how even in his
portrait, he reflects
the age of
Enlightenment,
looking more like
George Washington
than like Bach or
Vivaldi.