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Baroque Music. Sonata – Concerto – Concerto Grosso Chorale Prelude – Passacaglia - Chaconne. Sonata. A sonata is usually a piece in several movements for a solo instrument and piano. The piano part is of equal importance to the other instrument, rather than simply accompanying.
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Baroque Music Sonata – Concerto – Concerto Grosso Chorale Prelude – Passacaglia - Chaconne
Sonata • A sonata is usually a piece in several movements for a solo instrument and piano. • The piano part is of equal importance to the other instrument, rather than simply accompanying. • In Baroque music, the piano did not exist so this role would have been taken by the harpsichord or chamber organ. • A ‘cello or lute may also be added, forming the bassocontinuo group. • Watch an example of this in J.S.Bach’s sonata for violin.
Concerto • A concerto is a piece for solo instrument accompanied by orchestra. • This concept was introduced in the Baroque period, but is still a popular type of composition today. • Watch an extract from the famous ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’ by Joaquin Rodrigo.
Concerto Grosso • A concerto grosso features a group of solo instruments (accompanied by orchestra)rather than just one. • This group of instruments is known as the concertino. • The rest of the orchestra are called the ripieno. • Both in concertos and concerto grossos, the orchestra often play a returning theme which we hear throughout the movement. This is called a ritornello. • Listen to the 3rdmvt of ‘Autumn’ from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. How many times does the ritornello appear?
Chorale Prelude • This is a piece for organ. Bach was particularly good at writing chorale preludes. • The melody of a well-known hymn tune or chorale would be hidden amongst an intricate piece of music. • The ‘chorale’ part is often played using a different organ stop (or voice) to help it stand out from the rest of the piece. • Listen (again!) to Bach’s Wachet Auf – this time, the organ choral prelude version.
Passacaglia • Another piece usually written for organ. • It consists of a series of variations played over the top of a ground bass. • It is usually in a minor key. • Listen to Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor
Chaconne • Another piece often heard on the organ. • It consists of a theme and variations heard over a repeated sequence of chords. • It could also be above a ground bass. • It is practically the same as a passacaglia but is usually in a major key.