Baroque 1600-1750 Flashcards
Air de cour
“Court song”
A short strophic and homophonic chanson often with refrain which first appeared in France around 1550
Usually performed as a solo or duet with lute accompaniment
Characteristic is the constant shift between duple and triple meters
Affektenlehre
(Doctrine of the Affectations)
Baroque composers in general strove to affect the emotions of a listener through musical means. One movement was devoted to stirring up one affect. This aesthetic can be seen as an extension of the renaissance musica reservata and led to the emotionalism of Empfindsamkeit
Almira
Handel’s first opera in 1705 in Hamburg composed at 19
Anthem
Settings of the morning and evening services of psalms and of pieces for the offertory communion post communion and for special occasions. During the second half of the 16th century two types appeared: The verse anthem with verses for solo voices and instrumental accompaniment, alternating with courses for the full choir; and the full anthem which was a coral motet in English
Ariadne musica
1715
A collection of keyboard preludes and fugues in nineteen different major and minor keys by JKF Fischer.
These pieces served as training in composition and performance
Did not apply equal temperament, as certain keys were avoided
L’Art de toucher le clavecin
Francois Couperin’s treatise (1716) on Clavecin performance
Detailed instructions for fingering and execution of the agrements (ornaments)
Artusi
1540-1613
Composer and theorist
L’Artusi overo delle imperfettioni della Moderna musica (1600)
Artusi criticizes Monteverdi’s contrapuntal licenses, particularly his apparent freedom with dissonances, which Monteverdi considered part of the “second practice”
Bach, Johann Sebastian
1685-1750
Served as an organist at Arnstadt 1703-1707
Organist at Muhlausen 1707-1708
Court organist and concertmaster in the chapel of the duke of Weimar 1708-1717
Music director at the court of a price in Cothen 1717-1723
Cantor St. Thomas’s school and music director in Leipzig 1723-50
Composed in almost all forms of his time except for opera
Early career wrote mostly organ works including: chorale preludes, several sets of variations on chorales, some toccatas and fantasias which show influences of Buxtehude.
At Cothen - he wrote no church music but The Well-Tempered Clavier Part 1 1722, instrumental works (Bradenburg concerti, works for solo violin and solo cello), music for instruction and for domestic or court entertainment.
At Leipzig he wrote cantatas, and other church music, Goldberg Variations
His style exhibits a mastery of counterpoint and a fusion of Italian, French and German characteristics, copious musical invention, balance between imaginative use of pictorial and symbolic figures, intensity of expression always controlled by a ruling architectural idea and the technical perfection of every detail.
Bardi
1534-1612
Member and host of the Camerata in Florence starting in the 1570s
Wrote that the melody and rhythm should follow the text
Baroque Organ
Gottfried Silbermann (1683-1753) early 18th century organ builder, trained in France, influenced by the French full organ or Plein Jeu.
German organ builders influenced by instruments in Antwerp and Amsterdam… these organs were richer and had a higher wind pressure than the sweeter Italian organs
Organ music reached a golden age in Germany during the late 17th and early 18th centuries with composers such as Bohm, Buxtehude, and Pachelbel
Basso seguente
A bass line which is not figured and which simply reproduces the lowest note of the texture at any moment and therefore is expendable
Bay Pslam book
The first American Psalter and the first book printed in the New World in 1640
The beggar’s opera
John Gay. London 1728
English Ballad opera which enjoyed tremendous success
Piece poked fun at Italian opera
Contains many popular tunes and some numbers parodied from familiar operatic airs
It’s success was indicative of English reaction against foreign opera which led Handel to turn from opera to oratorio in the latter part of his life
Bel canto
“Beautiful singing”
18th century applied to emphasis on beauty of sound and brilliance of performance rather than dramatic expression of romantic emotion
Early development tied up with early opera seria (Scarlatti, et all)
The term has also been used to ply to the compositional styles of Rossi and Carissimi who cultivated a simple melodious vocal style of song like quality without virtuoso coloraturas
Also applies to the 19th century Italian opera Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti
Biber, Heinrich
1644-1704
Bohemian
Composer and violinist
Most famous virtuoso of his age
An important precursor to JS Bach he used high pitch positions, new modes of bowing, multiple stopping, and unconventional tunings
Scordatura - to produce the illusion of counterpoint (in his violin compositions)
16 Mystery Sonatas - evocations of the moods of biblical scenes
One opera
Church music employs a capella and concertato forces
Blow, John
1649-1708
English composer
Organist of Westminster Abbey in 1668
1674 master of the Children at the Chapel Royal until he died
Taught Purcell
May have earned the first doctorate of music by the Archbishop of Canterbury 1671
Fluent composer of anthems and services
Master of the festive verse anthem
Contrapuntal style using English false relations and “old-fashioned” harmonies
His odes contain powerful music, especially the masterly Ode on the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell 1696 for countertenor duet, two recorders and continuo
Bonocini, Giovanni Maria
1642-1678 Italian
Father of Giovanni Bonocini
Wrote attractive chamber music and was one of Corelli’s most important predecessors in the composition of trio sonatas, and development of idiomatic writing for the violin
Wrote a treatise on counterpoint which was widely known in German in the 18th century
Bonoicini. Giovanni
1670-1747
Italian, Eldest son of GM Bonocini
Primarily an opera composer
He was one of the resident composers of the newly founded Royal Academy of Music (London 1720s)
Operas in London were very successful (Griselda) and were competitive with Handel’s at the time
The styles of the two were very distinct
Bonocini’ s arias were simple and tuneful while Handel tended to write extended forms and with elaborate orchestral accompaniments
One of the first perpetrators of plagiarism - tried to pass off a composition by Lotti as his own and was found out which caused him to have to leave London
Buxtehude, Dietrich
1637-1707
Danish
Organist and composer
1668 organist of St. Mary’s Lubeck which he held his entire life
His fame as an organist caused Bach to travel 200 miles (apparently on foot) just to hear him play!
His style was an important influence on many young North German composers especially Bach who took Bux’s sacred vocal and instrumental music as his principal model
He wrote 120 sacred vocal pieces including oratorios, chorales and arias. His cantata (in Dulci jubilo) and Jesu meine Freude are probably the best known
Follow tradition of Schutz
His organ works: Toccatas and fugues, chaconnes, a passacaglia, chorale preludes, chorale fantasia, and chorale variations are unsurpassed and represent a perfect fusion of complex contrapuntal North German style and the brilliant keyboard style of Froberger.
His instrumental chamber music includes 14 trio sonatas and other keyboard works which are less important
Byrd, William
1543-1623
England’s foremost composer during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I
Large output: Masses (3), motets, polyphonic songs, consort songs, and works for keyboard and instrumental consort ranks among the most individual and inspired of the late Renaissance on a level with that of Palestrain, Lassus or Victoria
Pupil of Tallis
Teacher of Morley and Tomkins
Influenced every other English composer of the period
He contributed to each musical form of the day establishing new standards of excellence for each
He and Tallis were granted permission to print music in England: 1575 Cantiones sacrae both Tallis and Byrd included 17 works, one each for every year of the Queen’s reign
Prolific composer of keyboard works, many sets of variations on popular melodies and ground basses as well as stylized dance music (pavans and galliards) and abstract pieces such as fantasias and preludes
Little of his instrumental works preserved during his lifetime but complied for patrons in the vast Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
His later CATHOLIC church music is often joyful, meditative and serene. He was devoutly catholic and suffered persecution during the prevailing Anglicanism of the court
His final collection published in 1611: Psalms, Songs and Sonnets
Caccini, Guilio
1551-1618
Le nuove musiche 1601
Singer and composer who was one of the creators of early opera
Like Peri he also set Rinucci’s L’Euridice
Peri, Caccini and Cavalieri all strove for a kind of song that was intermediate between spoken recitation and singing (this led to the recitative style)
Developed a mainly syllabic style that while aiming for clear and flexible declamation of words nevertheless admitted certain embellishments of the melodic line adding an element of vocal virtuosity
Two types of songs: aris = strophic
madrigals = through composed
Cadenza
Music for soloist
Especially in concerto or other works with accompanying ensemble
An improvised or written out ornamental passage performed by the soloist usually over the penultimate or ante penultimate note or harmony of a prominent cadence
Accompaniment during cadenza pauses or sustains a pitch or chord
Virtuosic cadenzas gained popularity during the Baroque Era
Baroque singers placed cadenzas at any 3 points of their ABA cadences but especially at the final one
CPE and Quantz discussed the cadenza at length in their treatises on performance
19th century cadenzas became obligatory and often placed in unorthodox positions (Mendelssohn Violin concerto) changes in position from end of recap to end of development became a common feature of vocal and instrumental music notably in piano works of Chopin and Liszt and the later operas of Verdi
Cantata
A composite vocal genre of the Baroque era
Consisted of a succession of Recitatives, Ariosos and set pieces (arias, duets, and choruses)
Sacred or secular in subject matter and function
Range from small scale works for solo singer or singers and restricted accompanimental forces to large ones with chorus and orchestral accompaniment. Such large cantatas were often composed to celebrate or commemorate specific events.
Term originated in 17th century italy first used to distinguish a piece to be SUNG as opposed to sonata to be played
Most frequent cantatas performed today are by Bach. Sacred works with German texts and intended for use during Lutheran church services (typically employs several soloists and chorus accompanied by small orchestra)
Canzona
Italian for “song”
BUT it was the most important INSTRUMENTAL genre of the late 16th century
Common practice for lutenists And keyboard players to make instrumental arrangements of the chanson of the French composers who flourished 1520 to 1550. These chanson were especially good material for playing: lively rhythms and tunes coupled with a simple distinctive structure.
At first the arrangers did a little more than a few trails at cadences, but later they embellish there models quite elaborately that’s transforming their nature completely.
By the late 16th century the canzona was extremely popular notably those by G Gabrielli who wrote for the large ensemble at St. Mark’s adapting the idiom of “cori spezzati” (split choirs) to bring a grand scale into instrumental music.
Some of these works are extremely complicated in form
Di Capua, Rinaldo
1705-1780
Italian Composer
Mainly lived and worked in Rome
32 stage works, opera seria and comic opera
His compositional style shown in his sinfonia or overtures - these contributed to the development of the Classical-symphony-sonata,.
Carissimi, Giacomo
1605-1674 Italian
Composer one of the finest of the 17th century end of great importance in the history of the oratorio
He adopted the operatic idiom of Monteverdi to the purpose of sacred drama
Set Latin texts, setting Old Testament stories
Uses expressive aria and Arioso developed by Monteverdi in his later operas and also the sonorous madrigalian choruses favored in Rome.
He wrote masses and motets some quite old-fashioned (missa L’homme arme the last work to be based on a 15th century tune)
Wrote 100+ cantatas
Chaconne/ passacaglia
To ground bass patterns which were not associated with any poetic form
The chaconne Was probably imported into Spain from Latin America; it was a dance song with a refrain that followed a simple pattern of guitar chords which in Italian variations upon it were transformed into a bass line
The passacaglia originated in Spain as a ritornello (music having a certain pattern of guitar chords played before and between the strophes of a song). It to evolved into a variety of bass Formulas that were suitable for making instrumental or vocal variations.
It was usually in triple meter and minor mode
17 century composers write both forms with a continually Repeating four bar formula and triple meter and slow tempo
In the 18th century the forms began to be confused
Chambonnieres, Jacques Champion de
1672-?
French composer of harpsichord music and famous as a harpsichord player
Founder of the French school of harpsichord composers
1670 two books: Pieces de Clavessin were published, contains mainly dances in the style brise (arranged in suites), some have titles (not program music).
Delicate and elegant style
Charpentier, Marc-Antonine
1645-1704
French composer of church music, sacred dramas, cantatas
Studied in Rome with Carissimi at the German College
In returning to Paris he was seriously hampered by French nationalism which was supposed to his Italian style
Lully saw him as a serious rival during his lifetime and was his most important contemporary in France
Church music is especially attractive - splendid grand motets (often using double choir) 11 masses (rich polyphony of old to the harmonization of carol tunes in the well-known Messe de minuit pour Noel early 1690s)
Dramatic cantata - Orphee descendant aux enfers shows what he might have done with opera had he taken the chance
Cherubini, Luigi
1760-1842
Italian composer who spent most of his career in France
Educated in Florence (wrote several masses and an oratorio there)
London (2 operas)
Then lived in Paris for the rest of his life
Known primarily as a composer of operas Lodoiska (1791 made him famous)
All of his important works are sacred except for an opera, a set of string quartets, and a symphony
Chitarrone
A large lute with extra bass strings
The preferred instrument for realizing the thorough bass accompaniment to a recit or aria in the early 17th century
Chorale
English term for the strophic congregational hymns of the Protestant church in Germany
German word Choral originally signified a plainchant melody sung chorally
From the late 16th century its meaning was widened to include vernacular hymns
Strictly speaking the word chorale means both the text and the melody of a hymn -as a single unit- but not infrequently the term is used to describe the music only either a single line melody or a fully harmonized version as in the four parts settings of Bach.
Tunes are adapted from secular sources or are composed on similar models
Chorale fantasia
An organ work in the freestyle of a Fantasia based on a chorale melody
Chorale Fantasia’s many of the large scale Works were composed by many North German composers of the 17th and 18th centuries notably Buxtehude and Bach. The genre was revived in the late 19th century by such a Composers as Reger.
Chorale prelude
1 In a general sense the same as the organ chorale
2 a short Setting for organ of one strophe of a chorale, Which serves as an introduction to a congregational rendering of the chorale. The melody which may be embellished is presented over a polyphonic accompaniment
The chorale prelude What is developed in the late 17th century mainly by North German composers such as Buxtehude and JC Bach. Reached its culmination in JS Bach’s 45 examples of Orgelbuchlein written between 1710-1720
Term not much used after 1750 revived again in the 19th century by Brahms and Reger
Chorale variation
Variations on a chorale Melody usually for keyboard. The form was popular in the early 17th century and there were several by such composers as Sweelinck and Scheidt.
Later the term chorale partita was used.
Collegium musicum
The earliest example of concert giving in Germany and Austria
Founded in the 17 century it was associated with a quart notably in Berlin.
Similar to the Concert Spirituel which later occurred in France in 1725 (but these concerts were for the public and not the court)
Concertato
The characteristic medium of the 17 century which consisted of the mingling of the Voices with instruments such that the instruments are not nearly doubling the voices but have independent parts
Concerto
From Italian “concertare” to join together
A piece for soloist and orchestra
Conceived in the concertato contrast between opposing vocal and instrumental groups in the works of G Gabrieli. The concerto concept took more definite form int he 17th century sonatas and sinfonias for divided orchestra.
Throughout Early Baroque the term concerto was commonly used for Italian and German church music for voices accompanied by instruments.
The history of the concerto begins with the concerti grossi of Corelli
Concerto Grosso
Written for several soloists who often form concertino (or little concert) In the texture of the trio sonata and orchestra. Baroque and classical periods
Preceded by the canzona, sonata and trio sonata
Texture alternates between the ritornello and soloists and evolved into solo concerto
Orchestral concerto
20th century version of the concerto grosso
A neo classical concept
Bartok “Concerto for Orchestra” 1944
Berg Chamber Concerto
Ritornello
The recurring tutti section of a concerto movement or a da capo aria
Ritornello form is common typically in the 1st and last movements of a late-Baroque or Classical concerto
Based on alternation of tutti and solo sections
Sometimes the principal formal event is the recurrence of the main theme in various keys
Sacred concerto
In the 17th century secret works for voices and instruments were typically called concertos
Secular works of Similar character were more often entitled airs, musiche, cantatas, and so forth
Large scale secret concertos for chorus soloists and instruments were particularly common in Venice from the late 16th century onward (Monteverdi, G Gabrieli)
Solo concerto
The last type of concerto to develop it had far-reaching effects on virtuosity manufacture of improvements for instruments construction of concert halls an audience attendance. Became more of a show piece in the romantic era strictly to demonstrate virtuosity that it’s more homogeneous beginnings in the classical period.
Consort
A term used in the 17th century for a small instrumental ensemble
Whole = the same instrument
Broken = a mix of instruments
Corelli, Arcangelo
1653-1713
Violinist and composer
1700 published 5 volumes of chamber music which were to make him one of the best-known composers of his time
He was one of the 1st composers to vary the keys in a binary mvt in a meaningful way
Couperin, Francois
1668-1733
French composer of works for keyboard he titles all of his pieces Ordres
Collections of pieces which may have been intended for suite-like performance
Pieces in the same ordre are linked by key used a lot of A, E, b and f# in his pieces
Many pieces in the ordres bear programmatic titles
Many are recognizable dance movements or more abstractly linked to dance
Echoes of the Lullian opera
Dafne
A poem by Rinucci which was set to music by Peri
This was produced in Florence as the first dramatic pastoral fully set to music in 1597.
Das Wohltemperirte Clavier
A collection by JS Bach written in two volumes
Each volume contains a prelude and fugue in all 24 major in minor keys
Many of these pieces appear to have grown out of pedagogical exercises Bach set for his children and students
The title refers to a version of mean-tone tuning Used during Bach’s time. This work influenced other later composers like Chopin, Hindemith, Shostakovich etc who wrote similar collections in all 24 keys
