The Understanding of Music

The Understanding of Music

Unit 2: The Baroque Era – Lecture Notes

Baroque Spirit (slide #1,2 & 3)

The word Baroque refers to a very detailed and elaborate style in the arts. This description will seem very appropriate when we listen to the music Bach. At some points in history, the term was derogatory, indicating a style that was viewed as distorted, excessive, and un-natural, or ‘so extravagant as to be in bad taste’. But it is now recognized as a valid artistic expression. The Baroque Era spans the years 1600 – 1750. It is interesting that historians have chosen 1750 as the end of the era – the same year that Bach died.

The Baroque Spirit (slide #4 - 5)

The Baroque era was a turbulent time. Following the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, tensions continued to rise resulting in religious wars between the Protestants and Catholics, and between the Catholic dynasties of France and Germany.

World exploration continued and resulted in settlements being established in the New World (America). During this early colonization period, we also have the first printed music collection in the New World called the Bay Psalm Book (1640). In science, Newton discovered the theory of gravity and Harvey explained the circulation of blood.

The period is referred to as the Age of Absolute Monarchies. By the early 18th century, the royal courts had become world powers and reach the height of the wealth and influence. Louis XIV (who exclaimed “I am the state”) in his grandiose palace at Versailles, France was the envy of all – it was virtually a small city with several thousand employees. In music, many of these royal courts employed their own orchestras, choirs, opera companies, and musicians of all kinds for a variety of entertainment and ceremonial functions.

The rising middle class included a variety of professionals, entrepreneurs, merchants, and new landowners. Eager to participate in the artistic culture, music became a more prominent activity in the home, and community. With the corresponding development of public concert halls and opera houses, Western culture was beginning to develop a third source of patronage –the civic or public venues - in addition to the already existing church and royal court support. The term ‘middle class’ was not as we view it today – Today, the term is almost synonymous with income level (For instance, we probably would not refer to Bill Gates, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, or Warren Buffet as middle class). The idea of a Baroque ‘middle class’ refers to exactly this type of entrepreneur, businessman, and professional – a group that is separate from the royalty or noble class who acquire their station in life by means of inheritance.

The Arts (slides #6 & 7)

Baroque artistic styles illustrate the definition of Baroque as described earlier. The painting included the drama, and vivid colors of El Greco, and Rubens, or the intimate portraits by Rembrandt and Vermeer.

Architecture on a grandiose scale was characteristic of the royal palaces, the private homes of the ruling class, and the cathedrals which changed from the previous “Romanesque” style to the preferred “Gothic” style. There are corresponding developments in music such as the very complex music of Bach, the development of large genres such as the opera, oratorio, the cantata, and the highly ornamented style of keyboard music.

Main Currents in Music (slide #8)

We have already discussed the development of public theatres, and during the Baroque, the new genre of opera became the favored form of public entertainment. To illustrate, the most important city of Venice by the end of the Baroque era, a city of 125,000, had 17 public concert halls and theatres, and supported 6 full-time opera companies.

Instrumental music was a major factor in Baroque style, indeed the first period when instrumental music was as important as vocal music. This was partially due to the improvement of instrument making (such as the Stradivarius violin) and the development of new instrumental genres of music. You will also notice that the vocal music we study in the Baroque is not “a-cappella”, but is accompanied by orchestra.

The rise of the “virtuoso” (or world-class) musician is noted, and the involvement of women in music, particular as professional singers was greatly enhanced.

As more universities developed, we begin to have the “Collegium Musicum”, an ensemble equivalent to today’s University Orchestras.

Last, the textbook talks about the “Doctrine of Affections”, or the concept that one emotion should pervade an entire movement or piece of music. This can be easily understood in the music of Bach, which generally flows from beginning to end with very little change in style.

Comparison of Styles (slide #9)

Before we continue, examine the last two columns of the chart on page 103 of the text book to get an overview of the differences between Renaissance and Baroque music.

Baroque Musical Style (slide #10)

In the early Baroque, a new style called “monody” was developed. This is a solo song with instrumental accompaniment. Caution – do not confuse this with monophonic texture. The definition of “monody” clearly indicates that it is a homophonic texture. Most importantly, “monody” gave rise to the development of opera. In late Baroque, an emphasis on polyphonic texture returned.

Melody in the Baroque is generally a continuous flow and uses a wider range with a more disjunct style (the result of instrumental influence). The rhythm becomes very strong and energetic especially in the late Baroque – almost a “perpetual motion” style.

Composers in the Baroque era began to indicate specific dynamics or volume levels on the music, as well as specific instruments.

The Baroque Orchestra (slide #11 & 12)

Timbre (or tone color) in Baroque music included specific instruments and resulted in the development of the first orchestra. A Baroque orchestra is strings and basso continuo. The basso continuo is defined as “continuous bass”, but it is more appropriate to view as “continuous accompaniment”. As you can see it involved a keyboard instrument playing the harmony (or chords) and a bass instrument. In some music the continuo is not readily apparent because it is somewhat buried in the texture of the music, but it is almost always used in a Baroque orchestra. Other instruments (woodwinds, brass, percussion) were used for special occasions, ceremonies, or celebrations.

New Harmonic Structure (chromatic) (slide #13)

In the materials unit, we referred to Grand Staff as a menu of notes for writing music. If the composer used all of the pitches, it would be called “chromatic” built from a “Chromatic scale” which is 12 pitches, but early composers did not normally utilize this complete menu.

New Harmonic structure (slide #13)

The most important change in Baroque style was the development of a new system of harmony called “tonality”. This harmony has been used for over 400 years and is the primary harmony system of classical, Broadway theatre, jazz, movie soundtracks, and the popular music heard today. Tonality is the organization of pitches into scales, melodies, and harmony based on one pitch called the “tonic” or “keynote”. There are two basic types of tonality called a major scale (or major key) and a minor scale (or minor key, which can be built on 12 different pitches or “keynotes”, thus there are 24 total major and minor keys. Each scale is comprised of 7 pitches (with the eighth simply being a repeat of the first an octave higher). We will not be learning to construct these harmonies, but it makes a big difference in sound depending on which option is chosen. For instance, this piece may sound familiar but not exactly the way you have always heard it.

play Frere Jacques opening in minor

That’s because we learned this tune as a piece in a major key.

play Frere Jacques opening in major

Since we are not going to learn to construct major and minor scales, how do you explain that difference in sound? Almost impossible, but some authors have indicated that a major keys sounds happier and brighter -

play ending of Frere Jacques in Major

while minor keys sound more somber, serious, or sad –

play ending of Frere Jacques in minor

Perhaps that gives us at least an idea of what we are hearing.

It is sometimes easier to identify harmony if we hear the same melody in both keys. It is sometimes difficult to focus on just one characteristic in music because we respond to the entire style. When we refer to harmony, we must remember that tempo, range, dynamic level, etc. really have nothing to do with harmony. In some pieces, the tempo, range, dynamics, and style work to compliment and make very clear what the harmony is. This is the way composers use harmony. Almost all pieces that are heroic, triumphant, or majestic are written in a major key – that’s the only harmony that works for expressing those feelings. On the other hand, almost all pieces, that are mournful, sad, or funeral dirges are written in a minor key – because minor is natural harmony to express those emotions. As we listen to our Baroque music assignments, we will begin to study and notice how the harmony contributes to the expression and meaning each piece.

Baroque opera (slide #16)

Our textbook describes opera as “the single most important achievement in Baroque music”, and we have already mentioned that it became the favorite form of entertainment in the period. Opera was developed in the northern Italy city of Florence by a group called the “camerata”, and was an outgrowth of the new music style called “monody”. This group was attempting to capture the drama of classic Greek theatre in a musical production. The first great composer who we will not study was Claudio Monteverdi.

Baroque Opera (slide #16)

There are several terms to learn in opera. Early operas were based on ancient mythology and history and the style is called “Opera Seria”. Two of the primary musical elements include the “aria” and “recitative. Arias are the most important solo songs, often dramatic, and sung by the most important characters of the story – the hero, heroine, or Gods. Arias are frequently heard in other venues besides opera productions, such as a vocal recital or concert. “Recitative” is much freer in its rhythmic flow with very little accompaniment and are meant to replace spoken dialogue. The orchestra prelude is called an “overture” and there are two basic styles to learn – the French 2-part format (AB) and the Italian 3-part format (ABA). Instrumental interludes between scenes or acts are called a “sinfonia”. The text or words are written by a collaborator called the “librettist”. This “libretto” is then set to music by the composers we will study.

Baroque Opera – Henry Purcell (slide #17)

Although Italian-style opera was common throughout Europe, some productions took on different national characteristics in various countries. Our example is by the English composer, Henry Purcell. He was employed by the English kings, and as the organist at Westminster Abbey. The demands of the royal courts included music for ceremonies and celebrations, and from the royal court events (particularly England, France, and Germany) we have some of the earliest brass music, often in a majestic, ceremonial, or processional style.

An indication of Purcell’s stature in England is that he was the first composer to be buried in Westminster Abbey, the place where England buries their royalty and other famous individuals. Purcell’s crypt is directly below the organ loft.

Dido and Aneas (slide #18)

Dido and Aneas is based on the ancient Virgil manuscript. A couple unique characteristics of this work is that it was written in the English language (instead of the traditional Latin or Italian), and written for school group (instead of a professional opera company). The English were not too fond of pure Italian-style opera as indicated by the title of this published critique – “Opera in the Italian Manner on the English stage and Reflections on the Damage which this may bring to the Public”.

Dido and Aneas follow the fall of Troy, and Aneas, the former Roman King of Troy is forced to flee for safety. Sailing across the Mediterranean Sea, he lands on the coast of North Africa at the city of Carthage, and there falls in love with Dido, the queen of Carthage. A prophet appears and declares that Aneas is not destined to stay with his beloved Dido, but must leave and become the new King of Rome. That is a heartbreaking event for Dido, and on his departure, she sees her life coming to end, which is the famous Dido’s Lament at the end of our recorded example.

Purcell, Dido and Aneas listening guide, pg. 1 (slide #19)

(pages 116 – 117 in textbook)

The opening solo and chorus section “Come Away” is about Aneas’s departure from Carthage, sung by the sailors accompanying his voyage.

play excerpt of chorus

The recitative and aria are about Dido’s remorse at losing her beloved, and the thought of death. Notice the very sparse accompaniment in the recitative style -

play excerpt of recitative

Purcell, Dido & Aneas listening guide, pg. 2 (slide #20)

The famous aria “Dido’s Lament” is built on a ground bass – the repeated chromatic bass pattern underlying the changing melody.

The most intense section is the aria – “Remember me, Remember me” which is repeated several times and leap to the highest pitches, techniques which add emphases to the text.

audio excerpt “Remember me”

video clip of Dido’s Lament

17. The Baroque Cantata

Johann Sebastian Bach (slide #21 & 22)

Bach was German and the most important composer of the Baroque era. He was raised in a musical family. Records indicate that family reunions included over 100 people all singing and playing instruments and four of his sons became well-known composers. He was very religious and a devout Lutheran. Bach was employed by both royal courts and the Church. His first position at the court of Weimer began his legacy as an organist and improviser. Improvisation was a common characteristic in the Baroque era. It is a more involved than the common understanding of simply “playing by ear”. At its highest level, improvisation is simultaneously creating a piece of music in your mind and performing it, a skill that is not common in today’s classical musicians, but is very much alive in the popular music and jazz fields. It is recorded that on one occasion Bach entertained at the court of Frederick the Great, and was presented a simple melody. He sat down at the harpsichord, and proceeded to add harmonies, vary the texture, embellish the melody, and extend the form. After this occasion, he returned to the studio and wrote out the music he had just performed on the spur of the moment. The piece is his Musical Offering and generally regarded as one of the best works he ever wrote.