Chapter 8, 9, 10 Flashcards
Claudio Monteverdi
Composed 9 books of madrigals, including basso continuo and continuo. He violated the following counterpoint rules:
- Repeated suspending notes
- Writing a descent after a # tone, and ascent after b tone
- Writing vertical dissonance, cross-relations, unprepared dissonance
- More cadences in mode 12 than in mode 7
- Strongly associated with seconda prattica but never claimed to have created the style
Ballet de cour
- Main form of french musical theatre
- Known for their inclusion of dance, song & instrument
- Many texts are allegorical stories praising the king
Tragedie en musique
1) French “ouverture”: Slow intro with dotted rhythms, followed by fast imitative section
2) Allegorical prologue
3) Five acts, all sung, each divided in different scenes
4) In the acts, divertissements to display dance, choral song, instrumental
Vocal styles: Recit, air
Italian opera seria
- Dominated Europe from 1670-1770
- Subject manner from classical antiquity–rulers always heroic, generous, duty & honour above personal gain
- Action scenes are sung in recitative, reflection scenes as arias. Arias also functioned as showcases for the star singers that drew paying audiences.
Recitative simplice/secco
- With only basso continuo
- Used in long passages of phrase, eg monologue or rapid exchange between characters
- Sparse sounds
- Moves through a lot of text quickly
Recitativo accompagnato
- With a full orchestra
- Used in moments of high emotion and drama
Da Capo Aria
- ABA (da capo)–with embellishment
- A (ritornello) instrumental, sets mood/theme of aria
- Increasing virtuosity required of singers, which often obscured the opera’s text, also led to the exit convention (singer exited stage during applause, avoiding upstaging others)
Castrato singers
- 17c-18c, young boys with promising voices were castrated to prevent change of voice during puberty
- In adulthood, their voices combined high range of female voice with male physical power
Recitative
- Permitted solo voices to declaim relatively large quantities of text in a rapid yet comprehensible manner
- Largely syllabic, greater emphasis on text than melodic line,
- Composers could more accurately approximate inflections of spoken speech even while indicating specific pitches and rhythms to be sung
France: Air de cour
- French academicians sought to recreate the magical powers of ancient music in a manner suited to the French language
- Air de cour was at first polyphonic but eventually evolved into the favoured vehicle for solo voice and lute accompaniment
- Fluid, syllabic, harmonic simplicity and melodic grace
England genre of masque:
- Form of entertainment, a mixture of poetry, songs, scenery, dance, and instrumental music
- Began as semi-improvised intrusions into large social festivities by masked and costumed actors
- –>eventually migrated to the stage as a loosely assembled series of vignettes that allowed for a colourful mixture of musical and dramatic elements
Semi operas
- Flourished mid 17c
- Plays with large proportion of musical numbers, both vocal and instrumental
- 17c was a time of political unrest in England–circumstances unfavourable to the introduction of opera from abroad
Baroque cantata
=different kinds of vocal works
- Sacred or secular
- Small scale or large group
- mvmts 1 or more
- 17c term referred to solo madrigals
Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre
- Keyboardist, first french woman to compose opera
- 3 collections of cantatas
- In the tradition of solo madrigals
French & Italian cantatas
Tended to be non-liturgical though sacred texts were used.
JSB’S “Jesus, Who My Soul” featured 4 different compositional traditions:
Ostinato
Chorale
Ritornello
Motet
Jesus Who My Soul Ostinato
-Repeated idea: Cantus firmus always appears in at least one voice
Four measure figure in bass line descends by 1/2 step from G to D–> Descending chromatic fourth=”painful passage/passus duriusculus”
JWMS Chorale
- Melody of chorale “Jesus, Who My Soul” permeates first mvmt
- Melody was familiar to all congregation
- Contains distinct phrases and is always presented by soparano
JWMS Ritornello
- Mvmt opens with extended orchestral passage that returns between choruses
- Dotted rhythm melody above the bass ostinato
- Rhythm is like sarabande, slow triple emphasis on 2nd beat
JWMS Motet
- Text divided in 6 distinct sections
- Each section has its own points of imitation
- JS Bach has borrowed motet structure for the choral parts of this mvmt
Concept of “musical work” in 17/18c
- JSB and others borrowed and reworked materials when writing music
- Up until 19c it was common for composers to borrow from themselves/others, recycle/revise/rework completed compositions
- Borrowed for practical reasons (deadlines), as well as to explore other styles
- “Musical work” was an open-ended concept, did not mean a definite, inalterable state. “Originality” and its value rose greatly in the 19c
- However, 15c on, piracy and fraud were major concerns
Early 17c “concerto” vs. end of 17c “concerto
Early: Referred to any combination of musical forces that “worked together”
End: The opposition between a soloist and an ensemble
3 main subcategories of concertos
1) Concerto grosso: Had a concertino (small group of soloists + basso continuo) vs. ripieno/tutti
2) Solo concerto: One soloist or pari of soloists vs. ripieno ensemble
3) Ripieno concerto: No soloists, no contrasting forces–also known as sonata, sinfonia, concerto
Ripieno
Large ensemble, Italian word for “full”, tutti
