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Music History Baroque 1600-1750 MAIN CONCEPTS •ornamentation •prima prattica •secunda prattica •affectations VOCABULARY •figured bass (basso continuo) •improvisation •extended works The Baroque The Renaissance period, with its explosion of the arts, was followed by a period of music identified as the Baroque. Baroque translates to “irregular shape.” The term is not just used to describe the musical period, but is also synonymous with the art and music identified with this period comes from Europe. Baroque music falls into three main areas of performance: church, concert, and theatre. In addition, Baroque composers began to write music for specific instruments or voices, rather than music that could be performed by any combination of voices and instruments. Written music began to be written and heard in distinct measures, with definite patterns of strong and weak beats. Baroque music can be classified in two distinctly different styles, known as the prima prattica (first “practice”) and secunda prattica (second “practice”). In the prima prattica, the music dominated the text, but in secunda prattica, text had a higher priority than the music. Composers also began to embrace the concept of writing music that reflected the affections, or states of the soul/emotions. In Baroque art and architecture, forms were sometimes distorted to reflect the passionate intensity of the artist (thus the naming of this period); Baroque music did the same, embracing the performer as artist and improviser. X The compositional technique of basso continuo, or figured bass, was prevalent during the Baroque. The composer would write out a melody line and the bass line, but the rest of the harmony was not written in. Performers were expected to fill in the rest of the harmony based on the figures; therefore, improvisation and ornamentation by the performers was expected, in which performers elaborated on the notated scores by adding trills, turns and accidentals. There is much discussion between music theorists and historians as to the “correct” interpretation for baroque music, because performance practice was not necessarily standardized or recorded during this time. Many instruments reached their pinnacles of development during the Baroque period, especially string instruments made by master violin builders such as Stradivari and Stainer. Much Baroque keyboard music was written to feature the harpsichord and the organ, leading the way to the development of the pianoforte, which would prevail in the Classical period. Extended forms with multiple movements or sections were common, the most common being the concerto grosso, canon, fugue, suite and sonata. While the presence and popularity of instrumental music continued to grow, vocal music found new popularity in a new venue: opera. Extended vocal works with multiple movements were also introduced, including the oratorio, passion, and cantata. Notable Historical Events •1607 English settlers arrive in Chesapeake Bay •1618-1648: Thirty Years’ War •1666: Great Fire of London •1687: Sir Isaac Newton summarized his discoveries in terrestrial and celestial mechanics in Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) Handel was a German-born Baroque composer who spent most of his life living and working in England. Handel is famous for his operas, oratorios and concerti grossi. Works: Messiah; Water Music; Music for the Royal Fireworks. •1709: Bartolomeo Cristofori invents the piano. Henry Purcell (ca. 1659-1695) Purcell has often been called England’s finest native composer, known best for his vocal and keyboard compositions. Works: Dido and Aeneas, In these delightful pleasant groves. Period Artists & Writers Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) Italian composer Scarlatti was especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. Works: Già il sole dal Gange, O cessate di piagarmi, St. Cecilia Mass. •Milton: Paradise Lost (1667) •Rembrandt: Nightwatch •Bernini: Ecstasy of St. Teresa •Cervantes: Don Quixote Notable Composers Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Bach was a prolific German composer and organist, writing sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments. Works: Brandenburg Concertos; Mass in B Minor; St. Matthew Passion; The Art of the Fugue. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) As well as being a composer, Vivaldi was a Venetian priest and a famous virtuoso violinist as well as being a music teacher. Works: The Four Seasons, Gloria. POPULAR MUSICAL FORMS INSTRUMENTAL •canon •fugue •concerto •suite •sonata VOCAL •opera •oratorio •passion •cantata