Module 5 Flashcards
(37 cards)
1
Q
Baroque period
A
- Predated the Classical period
- 1600-1750 AD
- Gets its name from the Portuguese word from a broken pearl
- Heavily instrumental at both the highest and lowest notes
- Regained popularity in the late 1800s and has been played ever since
- Employed freely changing styles; this also added to the emotion by making passages feel faster or slower; even if the speed of the music was unchanged
2
Q
Pianoforte
A
-a precursor to the modern piano
3
Q
Protestant Reformation
A
- The roman Catholic Church was split dividing music into new genera
- Which created various Protestant denominations throughout Northern Europe
4
Q
The Catholic Church
A
-Soon was encouraging musicians and composers to write that could appeal to the masses
5
Q
Gave birth to the genera of
A
- Opera
- Concerto
- Sonata
- Cantata
6
Q
Opera
A
- Combined music with drama
- Began in Florence, Italy
- By combining music with theater, helped unleash dramatic flair and expressive power, and it became popular in Baroque music, historians and Baroque in 1750, with the death of Johann Sebastian Bach
7
Q
Three important features
A
-Focus mainly on upper and lower tones (played by bass and soprano)
~Those who played in between those ranges improvised their works
- Focus of layered melodies
- Increase in orchestra size
8
Q
Layered Melodies
A
-The same notes would often be repeated throughout a composition, albeit played by different musicians
9
Q
Orchestra size
A
- Since various parts in a given piece of music the size grew substantially
10
Q
Three popular composers
A
- Bach
- Handel
- Monteverdi
11
Q
Johann Sebastian Bach
A
- The most famous composer of the Baroque period and among the most famous of all times
- During his life, he was more well regarded as an organist, but renounced since then for his work as a composer
12
Q
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
A
- The most famous composer of the Baroque period and among the most famous of all times
-During his life, he was more well regarded as an organist, but renounced since then for his work as a composer
-His music was considered the pinnacle of Baroque style
-Beethoven called him the immortal god of harmony
-During his lifetime, Bach was more famous as a organist than a composer - Was a music director at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, a job with little prestige and a huge workload
-Wrote organ music, orchestral music, vocal music, and more
-He composed in every Baroque genre except opera
-Goldberg Variation harpsichord or the Mass in B minor, a powerful sacred choral work written near the close of the Baroque era
~These pieces bring together an anthology of the greatest styles, forms, and techniques Bach had learned during his career as a Baroque composer
13
Q
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
A
- Wrote his greatest work, Messiah
- Baroque cosmopolitan
- Born in Germany, studied in Italy, and made a career in England
- Was an expert organist and he began his career as a church musician in Germany
- He cheated fame when he moved to London to compose operas for the public and commissions were royalty, including his music for the royal fireworks
- Best known for his oratorios, a sacred coral genre; he perfected during the later part of his life
- The “Hallelujah Chorus’ from Handel’s oratorio Messiah is one of the Baroque greatest hits
14
Q
Messiah
A
- Musical counterargument for the Church of England against the Catholic Church
- Remains one of the most famous works form the Baroque period and itself a great example of a Baroque work.
15
Q
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
A
- Catholic priest
- Remembered for writing some of the first operas in history
- His operas drew on the tales of the heroes from Greek and Roman mythology, making them a safe bet in a religiously charged environment
- Was one of the hipsters who started writing baroque opera before it became universally “cool”
- His opera, L’Orfeo, retells the story of Orpheus innumeracy, its dramatic experimental work that many consider the first great opera
16
Q
How to describe Baroque music
A
- “The End of All good music is to affect the soul.” Claudio Monteverdi
- Through ornate and complex compositions and performances
17
Q
The Doctrine of Affection
A
- The primary focus of the arts was to awaken the feeling of the soul
18
Q
Composers from this era focused on not their own emotions by instead on general emotions
A
- Love
- Joy
- Sorrow
- Fait
- Wonder
- Desire
19
Q
Emotions
A
- Were evoked per movement or per short piece
20
Q
Absolute Music
A
- Making music for music’s sake
- Not relying on words or passages to determine the rhythms and pitches used
- Without words, there wasn’t anything specific driving these new emotions
21
Q
Prior to the Baroque Era
A
- Melodies and harmonies were based on modes
- Were different types of scales
22
Q
Scale
A
-A set of notes
23
Q
Major and Minor Tonalities
A
- Based on more pleasant modern sounds
- A few of the older modes have some nasty note combinations when cords are made
-Offered clear expression of the affections while allowing for embellishments to decorate the melodies without clashing with the harmonies
-Helps structure the music; without words the structure of music was shifted
~Instead of thinking of each part linearly as in a melody; a more vertical approach was taken, focusing on the chords made by combining melodies.
24
Q
Basso continuo
A
- Bass line and harmony
- It acted like a curtail foundation, proving support for the melody and helping the music move along
- The bas line was played by a bass instrument like the bassoon, the cello, or the viola de gamba
25
Harmonic chords
- Were usually played by a harpsichord or Organ, the keyboard player was not give traditional notation
26
Figured Bass
- Is a system of numbers that is included with the bass line and implies certain cords
27
Ornamentation
- Add expression and character to what would otherwise just be an ordinary thing
- Additional small notes embellished melodies and gave a bit of creative freedom to the performer who use the ornaments to add their signature to the music
- Performers often elaborate improvisation using ornaments and even improvise their own melodies to further decorate the music
- Although ornamental melodies enhance and add character to the regular melodic line; they were significant enough to be a key feature of the Baroque period
- Rhythmic expression as well as they contributed rapid movement into what would otherwise be a plane note
28
Idiomatic writing
- Where the composer could write difficult, highly technical passages to show off the player's skills and the unique features of the instrument
29
Dynamics
- Is the volume and intensity with which a section of music is played
- Although they were just barely developed, was a no brainer in terms of writing and playing emotionally-charged music
30
Manipulating rhythm
- Composers emotionally decorated the music
| - Composers used driving rhythms and dramatic pauses to intensify the music
31
Monteverdi best job
- Music director at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice
| - Besides the sacred music he wrote; he wrote at least three operas plus secular vocal pieces called madrigals
32
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
- Court composer for King Louis XIV, the powerful monarch who built the Palace of Versailles and called himself the Sun King
- Lully wrote magnificent operas and ballets for the king's court
- He also invented a form called the French overture
33
French Overture
- Stately march, like music used to mark the King's entrance, at a performance
- That was like playing "Hail to the Chief" to the president to the United States
34
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
- One of the top names in English musical history
- As a child he was a choir boy in the Chapel Royal a prestigious group that was basically King Charles II's personal church choir
- As an adult he became the organist of the Chapel Royal and a king's court composer and the organist at Westminster Abbey
- His vocal music in known for rendering the English language into natural expressive musical rhythms
- Most famous work is, tragic, mythical opera Dido and Aeneas
35
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
- German organist
- Considered a one hit wonder due to his famous Canon in D major; this elegant piece with a repeating bass line accompanied countless brides down the aisle
- Was a prolific composer of organ music, who worked as an organist in churches throughout Germany and Austria
- Ironically his famous Cannon was originally written that not for organ, but for strings
36
During the final years of the Baroque
-Musical styles reached a new expressive heights thanks to the era's three biggest names
~Vivaldi
~Handel
~Bach
37
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
- Italian violinist and priest, who taught music at a girls school in Venice
-Wrote many of his works where his students to preform, including a cycle, a violin concertos called "The Four Seasons"
~Four pieces for orchestra and solo violin; each concerto uses imaginative musical facts to describe a different season of the year
