In this unit we are learning about the Baroque Period in musical history We will learn about different styles of music composed, the composers and concepts within these styles. We will learn about the social and cultural influences of music during this time. We will be able to listen to excepts of music and identify musical concepts. LEARNING INTENTIONS OPERA OPERA. OPERA was invented in the Baroque era. In the years around 1600 a group of noblemen, poets and composers in Florence tried to recreate the way the Ancient Greeks had performed their dramas. They mistakenly thought they had been sung throughout with accompanying instruments and so, through a mistake OPERA was born. An OPERA A drama set to music, acted and sung by SOLOISTS and CHORUS and accompanied by an ORCHESTRA OPERA An OPERA contains several different types of music: is used to tell the story. In recitative the voice follows the natural rhythms and rise and fall of the text. The words are most important. The accompaniment is very simple, just a bass note and simple chords. ARIA is the term used for an operatic song. An ARIA is sung in the more reflective parts of the story when one of the characters thinks about their situation. The music becomes more important. CHORUSES are used when appropriate, perhaps to comment on the action, and can be for male, female or mixed voices (S.A.T.B.) Recitative AriaChorus An aria in Ternary form, found in opera and oratorio in the 17th and 18th centuries. The third section is not written out but the instruction Da capo (from the beginning) is given instead. Ternary Form ABA Da Capo literally translates form italian as from the head. a musical setting of a biblical story It has many characteristics similar to OPERA. It uses the same range of performers: Soloists The soloists take on the role of characters in the drama and the music makes use of some of the same forms: RecitativeAria Chorus Orchestra Mixed voice chorus The main difference is that ORATORIO is not acted out, but performed at a concert and the CHORUS has a very important role to play. He is buried in Westminster Abbey He was born in Halle (Germany) and died in London. He travelled widely in Europe as a young man and settled in England where he composed most of his famous music. Examples of his works include The Messiah and The Water Music (performed on a boat while sailing up the Thames behind King George I) G.F. Handel ( ) Handels London home At 23/25 Brook Street in the heart of Mayfair, is the house George Frideric Handel lived in for thirty-six years, when he was at the height of his success composing Messiah, Zadok the Priest, and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Two hundred and nine years later a young American musician, Jimi Hendrix largely unknown in his own country but hoping to establish his name in England, moved in with his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham. This was his home for the rest of his short life; he died on 18 th September 1970 aged twenty-seven. It is a very long work taking a whole evening to perform yet Handel completed it in 24 days! Of the many ORATORIOS Handel composed this is by far the most famous. It premiered in 1743 in London He began to write ORATORIOS while he was in England when his OPERAS became less popular. Handel The Trumpet Shall Sound ARIA OBBLIGATO ARIA for bass solo, trumpet OBBLIGATO and strings ARIA The ARIA opens with an instrumental OBBLIGATO introduction featuring an OBBLIGATO on the trumpet. The trumpet writing shows what was possible on the trumpet in the Baroque Era. The opening arpeggio are the only notes playable in the lower register, while the scale passage shows greater flexibility of the upper register. OBBLIGATO a prominent solo part in a piece of vocal music. We are going to listen to the Hallelujah chorus from Handels Messiah. We are going to listen for the texture of the piece. Texture in music is like chocolate bars Unison - All parts playing the same notes at the same time Homophony - All parts moving in together at the same time. Polyphoney - All parts moving indpendatly at the same time. Hallelujah Chorus An excellent example of a CHORUS for the whole choir This chorus must be the most famous piece Handel wrote. It demonstrates the variety of textures he liked to use in his choral writing. Notice how he writes a new musical phrase for each new phrase of text. The first Hallelujahs are sung HOMOPHONICALLY Hallelujah Chorus The words for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth are sung twice by all the voices in UNISON. Different voices then take up the melody in turn while the rest of the choir interject with lively hallelujahs. HOMOPHONIC writing then returns on the Kingdom of this world Hallelujah Chorus Another new theme is introduced for the words and he shall reign for ever and ever This theme is treated in POLYPHONIC IMITATION as each voice enters in turn with the melody, beginning with the bases. The phrase King of King and Lord of Lords is sung on one repeated note in the sopranos, each time it is repeated it is sung at a higher pitch as a sequence bringing the music to a tremendous climax Finally, to bring the chorus to a close the Hallelujahs return.