Music in the Baroque Era: Part IV
1600-1750
The Late Baroque Era in Italy and France
1700-1750
ITALY
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)• violin teacher• operas performed throughout
Europe• operas, cantatas, sacred vocal,
sonatas, 500 concertos (200 for solo violin)
• solo concerto– ritornello form
• alternating solo & ritornello sections– ritornello: a tutti section from a
concerto– solo: a section of a concerto
featuring a soloist accompanied by an orchetra
– “Spring” from “The Four Seasons”
– Concerto in a minor
France
François Couperin (1668-1733)• court organist, harpsichordist• wrote keyboard suites (orders)
comprised of dances and character pieces– Vingt-cinquième ordre
• La visionaire• La muse victorieuse
• character piece: piece with a descriptive title, usually the name of a person, place, or expressive characteristic of the piece
• ornament—small stereotyped melodic figures consisting of short notes that decorate a longer one (distinguished from embellishments, which must be written out)
Jean-Phillipe Rameau (1683-1764)• early career—organist
– keyboard pieces, motets, cantatas• Theory of Harmony
– chord progressions, not voice-leading, as basis of all musical composition
– tonic, dominant, subdominant• later career—opera composer
– Hippolyte et Aricie (start video at 3’33’’)– Les Indes Gallantes
• Rameau and Lully operas– similar
• French overture/prologue• recits have metrical shifts to imitate text• dance• ornamentation, not embellishment
– different• Rameau influenced by Italian music
– da Capo aria/melismas