lecture notes
MUSIC HISTORY & LIT I: CHAPTER 13
Moving from Renaissance to Baroque
Europe in the 17th Century Science: ■ Scientific revolution:
– Johannes Kepler: showed planets moved around the sun – Galileo: developed the telescope to look to space – Sir Francis Bacon: developed observational science – Descartes: developed deductive science – Sir Isaac Newton: law of gravitation
■ Advancements in math, calculus, science, physics, and engineering
Europe in the 17th Century Politics: ■ New political ideas emerged – democracy vs all-powerful sovereign state
■ In France: Henri IV granted freedom to Protestants while declaring Catholicism the state religion
■ Protestant England/Catholic Spain ended years of war
■ Calvinist Netherlands gained independence from Spain and became a republic
■ Thirty Years' War (1618-48) – reduced Germany to 50% population in some areas
■ English Civil War (1642-49) - king vs Parliament, ended the monarchy for about 10 years
■ Spain, France, and England were constantly vying for power – sometimes including Italy and the Low Countries in their disputes
Europe in the 17th Century Expansions: ■ British, French, and Dutch established colonies in North America,
Caribbean, Africa, and Asia
■ Sugar and tobacco were imported and considered luxuries as they were grown on plantations in the Americas – Crops required extensive labor and started the slave trade
■ As Europeans moved into these new lands, they brought their mix of traditions with them
Europe in the 17th Century Capitalism: ■ Britain, Netherlands, Northern Italy prospered from capitalism
■ Individuals invested their own money into businesses designed to return profit
■ Stock companies developed – Stock companies were formed to finance opera houses
■ Capitalism created more expendable income for individuals, who would spend money, and then boost the economy
■ For music, capitalism saw the creation of public concerts, increased demand from upper/middle classes for published music, instruments, music lessons
Europe in the 17th Century Patronage: ■ Musicians still benefited from patronage – court, church, city
■ Wealthy/powerful families still competed for the best musicians
■ Musicians were still best off in Italy
■ In France, the King controlled the arts as a symbol of power and wealth
■ Along with noble patronage, cities began opening "academies" that sponsored musical activities open to the public
The Baroque Period 1600-1750 ■ Referred to as a period of time, not as a style
■ Baroque – translates to bizarre, exaggerated, or in bad taste – A period of constantly changing tastes and values – Took on a positive meaning in the 19th century when historians
came to recognize the qualities of extravagance, decoration, and focus on drama and expression
The Dramatic Baroque
■ The Baroque period saw a rise in art that focussed on the dramatic
■ Literature: William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes
■ Art: movement and story
■ Music: the affections
■ Architecture: more ornate
Renaissance vs Baroque
The Affections ■ Emotions: sadness, joy, anger, fear, excitement, wonder, love
■ It was the goal in all art forms to stimulate the affections.
■ In music: – It was widely believed that stimulated the affections was healthy – Composers did not try to express their personal feelings, but wrote
for a succession of moods ■ Moods/emotions were expressed through melody, rhythm, harmony, bass
lines, and meter
– Opera: led to the development of characters having their own emotions and songs (arias)
The Second Practice
■ Break the "rules" on purpose to better portray affections. – Counterpoint, harmony, dissonance
■ Example: Monteverdi's Cruda Amarilli
■ Resulted in prima practica and seconda practica – A distinction between the 2 schools of style thought
Baroque Music Traits ■ Polyphonic with an emphasis on treble and bass lines
■ Basso continuo – Composer wrote out the melodies but left it up to the performers
to fill in the appropriate chords – Continuo instruments – Figured bass – Realization
Baroque Music Traits
■ Concertato – group of unlike instruments
■ Tuning – mix between mean-tone and equal temperaments – Performers would compromise on pitch
■ Polyphony – now an emphasis on the bass line instead of all parts equal
■ Rhythm – free or metered, saw the development of measures
■ Vocal and instrumental music started to be seen as equals
Baroque Music Performance
■ The focus fell from the composition/composer, to the performer/performance
■ The responsibility of appropriate portrayal fell on the performer – Expected to add to the performance in some way (gestures, improv,
etc.)
■ Ornamentation – performers were expected to add trills, turns, appogiaturas, and mordents to create affections.
Performance Practice
■ Discuss in groups some ideas you may have to take into consideration when performing Baroque music: – Tuning – Ornamentation – Instrumentation – Dynamics – Rhythms
■ Also picture yourself as a sculptor, painter, or writer. How do your Baroque performance practice ideas bleed over into other areas of art?