Introduction to Baroque Period of Music

BAROQUE ERABAROQUE ERA

1600-17501600-1750

Baroque LiteratureBaroque Literature

Shakespeare – HamletCervantes – Don Quixote

Milton – Paradise LostDefoe – Robinson CrusoeSwift – Gulliver’s Travels

Baroque ArtBaroque ArtRubensRembrandt

Baroque PoliticsBaroque Politics

King James Bible – 1611Galileo – 1610 Earth revolves around the sun.Thirty Years War (1618-1648)Newton – Principal MathematicaWitchcraft Trials in Salem – 1692

Louis XIVLouis XIV1638-1715 (reigned for 72 years)

The Palace at VersaillesThe Palace at Versailles

VersaillesLandscaping

Hall of MirrorsExtravagance

Baroque MusicBaroque MusicComposers:

MonteverdiArcangelo CorelliHenry PurcellAntonio VivaldiGeorge Frideric HandelJohann Sebastian Bach

Baroque OrchestraBaroque Orchestra

10-40 musiciansUpper Strings –

1st and 2nd Violin, Viola

Basso Continuoharpsichord plus cello, double bass or bassoon

flutesoboesrecorders

WoodwindsWoodwinds

BrassBrasstrumpetshornstrombones

PercussionPercussion

timpani/kettle drums)

Baroque OperaBaroque Opera

a French critic, late 1600s said:

“Opera is a bizarre affair made up of poetry and music, in which the poet and the musician, each equally obstructed by the other, give themselves no end of trouble to produce a wretched work.”

began as a combo of dance scenes, lyrical music and plot based upon courtly love.

Opera was illegal in Rome in the early 1700s.

an English critic, 1872:

Opera is to be regarded

“musically, philosophically, and ethically, as an almost unmixed evil.”

How evil is opera??How evil is opera??

Baroque Instrumental MusicBaroque Instrumental Music

This is the first time that we see instrumental music sharing the same stature as vocal music.

For the first time, there was a clear separation of Vocal and Instrumental music

Baroque Instrumental PracticeBaroque Instrumental Practice

• There were no ‘classics’, so contemporary composers were very prolific

• Virtuosity (music that shows off the technical skills of the performer)

Keyboard MusicKeyboard Music

Equal tempered tuning

Keyboard InstrumentsKeyboard Instruments

Three main instrumentsOrgan: sacred venues and some home chapels• Tracker Action• Great, positive, and portative organ

Harpsichord: basso continuo for orchestra and dance music. Solo instrument. Strings plucked by a Plectrum.Clavichord: strings struck by hammers made originally from bone. Precursor to the piano.

Positive organ Portative organPositive organ Portative organ

Baroque OrgansBaroque Organs

Harpsichord, ca. 1675Made by Michele TodiniRome, Italy

Harpsichord, ca. 1675Made by Michele TodiniRome, Italy

HarpsichordHarpsichord

ClavichordClavichord

InnovationsInnovations

Instrument building familiesStradivarius, Guarneri, and Amati

StringsCat gut

Slightly different playing technique….bowing

Woodwinds: mellow sound as opposed to a more brassy sound in modern times.

InnovationsInnovations

BrassOriginally a military instrument for signals

Without valves

Key changes made by inserting longer or shorter crooks in the horn.

Violin, 1693Made by Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) Cremona, Italy

Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

The Life of J.S. BachThe Life of J.S. Bach

Born in Eisenach, Germany, which was also the birthplace of Martin Luther. Bach’s family supplied musicians (agents)

The Bach family was made up of more than 70 composers and performers in Germany from the 16th to the early 19th centuries.

Orphaned at age of 10, raised by his older brother.Brother was an organist and Bach’s first music teacher (family apprenticeship)

Bach as a young manBach as a young man

Bach: prolific & complexBach: prolific & complex

Wrote over 1000 musical pieces in every genre except operaCantatas (1 per week for 8 years)Public complained for his flowery musicMusicians felt his

music too difficult

Bach’s SignatureBach’s Signature

J.S.Bach (musical) cross. Bach signed himself with a single note (using 4 different pitches)

B: Left staff (treble clef) A: Upper staff (tenor clef) C: Right staff (alto clef) H: Lower staff (treble clef)

Bach’s WorkBach’s WorkChurch Musician

Write music for servicesPlay organTeach choirsTeach soloistsConduct orchestra, choirs

Court MusicianWrote music for entertainmentWrote commissioned pieces

School teacherOrgan teacherOrgan construction consultantComposer—sacred & secular musicHusband/father

This is a picture of one of the churches in Leipzig where Bach worked. He was responsible for all music in all 4 churches in the town.

St. Thomas Church and School

“Since the best man could not be obtained, mediocre ones would

have to be accepted.”

-Leipzig town council member commenting on the hiring of Bach

In 1707, Bach married his cousin, Maria Barbara. They had 7 children. She died in 1721. The same year, he married Anna Magdalena Wilken, who was a professional singer. They ended up having 13 more children during their marriage.

This brings Bach’s total of children to 20!!!This brings Bach’s total of children to 20!!!

It is interesting to see that Bach did not travel much during his lifetime and stayed within a small area of Germany.

Born 1685

1703-17081708-1717

1717-1723

1723-1750

GermanyBach’s life and work

By 1748 Bach was nearly blind from cataracts.In March and April of 1750, he was operated on by the English oculist John Taylor. The operations and the treatment that followed them may have hastened Bach's death. Johann Sebastian Bach died on July 28, 1750.

Did you know?

Bach shares his birth year with G.F.Handel. Handel also had cataract surgery performed by oculist John Taylor.

American composer, Edward MacDowell said,

"Bach and Handel were in every way quite different, except that both were born in the same year and killed by the same doctor”.

George Frideric Handel George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

George Fredric HandelGeorge Fredric Handel

born in Halle, GermanyFather was a wealthy barber/surgeon that believed that Handel should never enter the music field. Born Georg Friedrich Händel, Handel anglicized the spelling of his name after becoming a British citizen in 1727. Handel never married.

Hanover

He traveled to London to stage his opera, which was very well received

The next time he went to London, he just stayed

He was dismissed by the Elector of Hanover

The elector of Hanover, was crowned King George I of England in 1714.

Oops!

Handel’s Water Music 1717

An offering to King George I after irritating His Serene Highness.

Music for an outing on the Thames river.

His former salary (in Hanover) was doubled

Oratorio

Baroque vocal piece.

Multi-movement

First oratorios were sacred operas.

Oratorio

Eventually stripped of staging and costumes etc.

At the end of the Baroque it was simply a “non-staged event.”

Middle and late oratorio used no acting, staging, costumes. -- Concert version.

Based upon a biblical story

Messiah (1742)

Premiered in Dublin, Ireland.

Composed in 24 days.Has been performed every year since its premiere in 1742.

Libretto: Biblical verses divided in three parts: Christmas, Easter, Redemption

Concert etiquette for Messiah

Why stand at the Hallelujah Chorus.

Tradition or Religious significance?

King George

the Top 10 (possible) reasons

the king was awakened by the loud chords of the beginning of the chorus

he was tired of sitting

he was hard of hearing and thought they were playing “God Save the King”

he had gout and stood for relief

he arrived late and all stood when he entered

he had hemorrhoids and stood for relief

he had to go to the bathroom

he mistook the words “And he shall reign forever and ever” to be a personal tribute

he thought the chorus was so splendid that he assumed it marked the end of the show

he was actually moved and inspired to stand

Handel’s last years

he lost his eyesight during the last years of his life

He had the same physician who treated Bach!

Handelburied in Westminster Abbey

Note the wrong date on the grave marker.

Handel is the greatest composer who ever lived. I would bare my head and kneel at his grave.

- Ludwig Van Beethoven

Antonio Vivaldi: 1678 –1741Antonio Vivaldi: 1678 –1741

Composer in one of four of the most important music schools of Italy (and Europe)

Called ‘The Red Priest’ because of his red hair

Vivaldi’s Musical StyleVivaldi’s Musical Style

Vivaldi is credited for helping to free instrumental style from vocal style.

Each piece is used as a teaching tool to create virtuosity in the players of the orphanage and music school.

Most famous piece: The Four Seasons