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Chapter 9 Prelude: The Late Baroque Period Late Baroque Timeline Key Terms • • • • • • Baroque Absolutism Harmonic rhythm Basic orchestra Festive orchestra Sequence • • • • • Ornamentation Ritornello Continuo Figured bass Affects Age of Absolutism • Decreasing power of church • Rise of absolute monarchs (Louis XIV) • Pomp and splendor (Versailles) Age of Science • Development of scientific methods and technology • New theories about the natural world • Advent of empiricism Art and Absolutism • Royal patronage of arts – Courts throughout Europe imitated France – Rules vied with each other through art • Art’s political function – To reflect and symbolize the majesty of the state – To stupefy with its grandeur The Music of Absolutism A Golden Age of Theater • Music required for court life • Baroque obsession with emotional extremes • All arts take on a dramatic quality – To pay homage to nobles – To play for ceremonies – To entertain at banquets and balls – Theater: Shakespeare, Corneille, Racine – Art: Tiepolo, Guercino, Rembrandt – Music: invention of opera • Opera closely associated with courts – Expensive, spectacular entertainment – Allegorical tributes to noble patrons Science’s Impact on the Arts • Painting – Scientific observation Detail and perspective – Optics Attention to light • Architecture – Symmetry and geometry Grandeur and scale of Versailles – Regulation of nature Formal gardens • Theater – Mathematics and machinery designs Bibiena’s set Musical Life in the Late Baroque Period • Composer as artisan – Producing a made-to-order craft for patrons – Music often anonymous in character • Three main institutions for music – Church – Court – Opera house Science’s Impact on Music • • • • • Scales tempered more precisely More systematic use of harmony New regularity in rhythm Orderly formal schemes Emotions (affects) analyzed and classified Church Composers • Composed or improvised new music for worship • Played and led performances • Provided elaborate works for special occasions • Trained choirboys • Responded to increasing desire for keyboard, chamber, even orchestral works Court Composers • Employee of the court, producing music to order • Had to be prolific • Enjoyed secure existence • Could travel and encounter new trends Opera House Musicians • Supported by the public (paid admission) • Solo singers were the stars • Composers wrote and rewrote music to show off singers’ talents • Composers often conducted their operas from the harpsichord Style Features of Late Baroque Music • Extravagance – Large-scale works for large ensembles – Intense, dramatic emotional expression • Control – Thorough, methodical expression – Extracting maximum effect from material – Uniting many elements to depict a single emotion Rhythm • Highly regular, determined motion • Distinctive rhythms against a steady beat – Freer rhythms in upper voices – Walking bass • Steady harmonic rhythm Dynamics • Rarely indicated; usually steady • Dramatic contrast preferred – Either loud or soft (f or p) – Change at end of entire section, if at all • Performers still created subtle nuances Tone Color • New interest in sonority – Distinctive Baroque sounds and instruments – Idiomatic writing—taking advantage of unique color of each instrument • Flexibility – Works “for violin or oboe or flute” – Rewriting earlier works for different performing forces Basic Baroque Orchestra A string orchestra with continuo Melody • Tends toward complexity and difficulty – Extended range – Variety of rhythmic note values – Intricate, unpredictable twists and turns – Irregular phrase lengths • Frequent use of sequence for forward motion Texture • Standard Baroque texture is polyphonic – Sometimes homophonic texture, for contrast only • Dense orchestral works use many moving contrapuntal lines • Simple works for solo and continuo still feel contrapuntal (active bass) Festive Baroque Orchestra Adds brass, woodwinds, and percussion Ornamentation • Addition of fast notes, motives, or effects to a melody – Cadenzas; chording continuo instruments • Improvised during performance – Sometimes written down to guide lesser performers – Even simple tunes lavishly ornamented The Continuo • Provides framework and support for melody and polyphony – Bass line played by cello or bass viol – Chords played by keyboard or plucked strings • Creates “polarized” texture • Often written as figured bass Playing the Continuo • Bass line played with left hand • Chords improvised with right hand • Chords “realized” in simple or complex manner, according to ability Baroque Musical Form • More standardized formal patterns – Fugue, ritornello, dance form, etc. – Easier to compose on demand for patrons • Patterns filled in orderly, logical manner – Entire fugues constructed from single theme – Often symmetrical ordering of movements • Meant to sustain rich musical experience over long time span Emotional Expression • Powerful yet impersonal • Baroque composers thought music should – Mirror a wide range of emotions (affects) – Depict those emotions consistently – Take on a theatrical quality Affects • Scientists studied and classified emotions • Composers catalogued musical elements for each “affect” – Keys: D minor = Serious; E minor = Pathos, etc. – Melodic and rhythmic figures – Instrumental and vocal types and genres