the baroque period (1600 1750) - burnet middle...
TRANSCRIPT
General Music Cycle 7
Mr. Hamilton
Period 3A
The Baroque Period (1600 – 1750)
Royalty, wealthy families, and large churches hired composers of the baroque period to provide
music for special occasions or for entertainment. Operas, ballets, and instrumental compositions
were written for the world at large. Large religious choral works – Masses and cantatas – were
written for use in churches. For contrasts in tone color composers used a wide variety of instruments
such as the organ, violin, flute, oboe, trumpet, and harpsichord.
Most baroque music has steady, rhythmic patterns. Each section of a larger composition conveys a
single mood or emotion. Improvements in instruments made more complex music possible. Two of
the most famous composers of all time, Johann Sebastian Back and George Frederick Handel lived
during this period and produced some of the finest examples of baroque music.
Characteristics of Baroque Music
Steady rhythms
Single mood in each section of a musical composition
Wide variety of instruments used for contrasts in tone color
Sacred Secular
Instrumentation
Any Instrumentation
Any Instrumentation
Texture
Mostly Homophonic
Mostly Homophonic
Song Forms
Mass Cantata Oratorio
Opera Ballet
Concerto
Baroque Period Composers
Johann Sebastian Bach
George Frederick Handel
Antonio Vivaldi
Baroque Concerto
“Spring” (First Movement) from The Four Seasons,
by Antonio Vivaldi
The CONCERTO was one of the most important instrumental forms used in the baroque period. In a
concerto, one instrument or group of instruments is set against the orchestra.
The Four Seasons is a group of violin concertos written around 1725 by the Italian composer Antonio
Vivaldi (1675-1741). Each concerto is accompanied by a poem, also written by Vivaldi, describing
that season. This is a very clear example of PROGRAM MUSIC, music that tells a story or describes
a scene.
One of the musical characteristics emphasized in the baroque concerto was contrast. In a style
typical of the baroque, Vivaldi used two contrasting groups of instruments, contrasting melodies, and
abrupt contrasts of loud and soft.
“Spring” begins with the main theme played by everyone. This section is called the RITORNELLO.
The ritornello is when everyone plays the main theme of the music. The contrasting sections, called
EPISODES, are played by the solo or small ensembles. The music played suggests musical
descriptions of spring, such as birds, murmuring waters, lightning and thunder.
Listening Map of “Spring” (First Movement)
from The Four Seasons
1.
Ritornello in Major Tutti
2.
Solo and Concertino Bird Calls
3.
Ritornello in Major Tutti
4.
Murmuring Stream Tutti
5.
Ritornello in Major Tutti
6.
Solo/Tutti Lightning and Thunder
7.
Ritornello in Minor Tutti
8.
Solo and Concertino Birds Return
9.
Solo, Concertino and Tutti Ritornello in Major