Music writing 2

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Chapter 8

The Early Baroque Period

(Late 1500s – Early 1600s)

Renaissance to Baroque

  • A period of rapid change
  • New emphases
  • Expression of strong emotion
  • Solo singing
  • New styles
  • Recitative; theatrical opera style
  • Instrumental and dance music

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Extravagance and Control

  • New freedom of emotional expression

Versus

  • Systematic control of new forms

= Expressive yet organized music

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Rhythm and Meter

  • Strong beat and regular meter
  • Consistent repetition of patterns
  • Different patterns for different emotions
  • Range between two extremes
  • Recitative
  • Dance music

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Score Example

Texture: Basso Continuo

  • Consistent feature of Baroque music
  • Strong, reinforced bass line
  • Strong harmonic foundation
  • Played by
  • Bass melody instruments (cello, bass)
  • Chording instruments (keyboard, lute)

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Texture: Ground Bass

  • Ground bass = Basso ostinato, repeating bass line

  • Ostinato = repeated motive/phrase.
  • Is a nearly universal practice
  • Repeated rhythm or harmony/melody

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Functional Harmony

  • Relies on major and minor scales
  • Sense of stability
  • More focus on chord progressions over strong bass line
  • More predictable, purposeful—more modern.

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Opera

  • Drama presented in music
  • Most characteristic Baroque art form
  • Ideal example of extravagance and control
  • Lavish mix of many art forms
  • Rigid schemes (recitative and aria)

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Recitative & Aria

  • Recitative- technique of declaiming words musically in a theatrical manner.
  • Aria- extended piece for solo singer. Musically elaborates the passage of recitative.

Recitative vs. Aria

Recitative

  • Free, speechlike rhythms
  • Pitches follow speech patterns
  • Continuo accompaniment
  • Prose text (words stated once)
  • Advances the action (movement)
  • Dialogue (free interaction)

Aria

  • Clear beat, consistent meter
  • Pitches form melodic patterns and phrases
  • Orchestral accompaniment
  • Poetic text (phrases often repeated)
  • Freezes the action (reflection)
  • Soliloquy (expresses one emotion)

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Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)
The Coronation of Poppea

  • Poppea is mistress to Emperor Nero
  • Their love triumphs after
  • Poppea’s former lover is banished
  • The Empress is set to sea
  • Nero’s adviser is forced to commit suicide
  • Poppea is crowned Empress of Rome

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The Coronation of Poppea
From Act I, Recitative

  • Rhythm dictated by words and dialogue
  • Speeds up and slows down freely
  • Short arioso (songlike) passages
  • Support Nero’s flattery of Poppea

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The Coronation of Poppea
From Act I, Aria

  • A kind of victory dance in three sections
  • Recitative indicates moment of uncertainty
  • Energetic rhythms depict section 3’s battle

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Henry Purcell
(1659–1695)

  • Greatest English Baroque composer
  • Influenced by French and Italian music
  • Wrote the first real English opera, Dido and Aeneas

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Dido and Aeneas (1689)
Act III, final scene

  • Recitative
  • Dark, somber tone
  • Mostly minor mode with chromaticism
  • Aria
  • Descending bass line
  • Repeated phrases
  • Chorus
  • Alternates imitation and homophony
  • Uses word painting

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Dido and Aeneas
Act III, final scene, Aria

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Dance

  • Opera firmly linked to ballet
  • Dance suites for orchestra
  • Stylized dances and suites for harpsichord

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Virtuosity

  • Instrumental music was now written down
  • “Virtuosity” reflects an extraordinary high level of technical ability
  • Virtuoso performers used written music as a guide for improvisation

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Vocal Music
Influence on Instrumental Music

  • Baroque favored solo singers
  • Imitative polyphony moved to instruments
  • Development of fugue
  • Sets of variations on vocal tunes

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Fugue & Variations

  • Fugue- piece with imitative polyphony based on a single, main theme
  • Variations- form using single melodic unit that’s repeated with harmonic, rhythmic, and other changes.

Renaissance vs. Baroque

Renaissance

  • Human voices superior
  • Vocal ensembles
  • A cappella ideal
  • Natural, simple musical ideas
  • Irregular, floating rhythms
  • Modal harmony
  • Church and chamber
  • Declamation and word painting

Baroque

  • Instruments equally important
  • Solo singers
  • Voice with accompaniment
  • Artifice and virtuosity
  • Clear, dance-like rhythms
  • Functional harmony
  • Theater, church, and chamber
  • Expression of strong emotions

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Key Terms

  • Basso continuo
  • Ground bass (basso ostinato)
  • Functional harmony
  • Opera
  • Recitative
  • Aria
  • (Dance) Suites
  • Fugue
  • Variations (form)