LESSON 4

1. LESSON 4 The Baroque

2. The BAROQUE BIG FIVE • Monteverdi (1567-1643) • Pachelbel (1653-1706) • Handel (1685-1759) • Vivaldi (1678-1741) • J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

3. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

4. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) Claudio Monteverdi was an Italian composer who got started during the Renaissance and completed his career during the Baroque. His work successfully bridged the two eras, and both reflected and influenced the transition in musical styles. Monteverdi was regarded as somewhat of a revolutionary, as he helped to bring about the change in styles that marked the beginning of the Baroque era. He was also a pioneer of sorts, composing some of the earliest operas. Monteverdi created his first music, motets and madrigals, starting in 1582. He published his first book of madrigals in 1587, and in 1590 found work at the court of Vincenzo I of Gonzaga in Mantua as a vocalist and viol player. He worked for the court of Mantua for 21 years, eventually as court conductor. Up until age 40 or so, Monteverdi specialized in writing madrigals, composing a total of nine books of madrigal song. The break between the Renaissance and Baroque forms was delineated in his Fifth Book of Madrigals, published in 1605, which described two different styles. Prima practica followed the polyphonic contrapuntal approach of the sixteenth century; seconda practica used the much freer counterpoint and hierarchy of voices common in the seventeenth century, along with a continuo instrumental accompaniment. Later in his career, Monteverdi composed several notable operas. His first opera, L’Orfeo (“ Orpheus”), premiered in 1607; he wrote at least 17 more, only three of which survive to this day.

5. Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)

6. Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) Johann Pachelbel was a German-born composer, organist and teacher who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most important composers of the middle Baroque era. Pachelbel's music enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime; he had many pupils and his music became a model for the composers of south and central Germany. Today, Pachelbel is best known for the Canon in D. His music is less virtuosic and less adventurous harmonically than others of his day, but Pachelbel experimented with different ensembles and instrumental combinations in his chamber music and, most importantly, his vocal music, much of which features exceptionally rich instrumentation. Pachelbel explored many variation forms and associated techniques, which manifest themselves in various diverse pieces, from sacred concertos to harpsichord suites.

7. George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

8. George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) George Frideric Handel was a German-born composer and organist, although he spent most of his life in England. (He became a British citizen in 1727.) Handel, along with Bach, was acknowledged as one of the greatest composers of his age. It is reported that Bach said of Handel, “He is the only person I would wish to see before I die, and the only person I would wish to be, were I not Bach .” Beethoven called him “the master of us all.” High praise indeed. Music wasn’t Handel’s first career choice. Young Handel started out studying law, per his father’s wishes, but abandoned law for music on his father’s death in 1703. He accepted a position as violinist and harpsichordist at the Hamburg opera house in 1704 , and wrote his first two operas the following year, when he was just 19. Handel contributed to every musical genre of his time, with operas dominating his early career. He spent his later years focusing on large-scale vocal works, such as the English oratorio, which he invented. His most famous composition was the Messiah (1741), an oratorio set to texts from the King James Bible; it is today considered the greatest oratorio ever written. The following figure shows the beginning of the oratorio’s famous Hallelujah chorus, which is a traditional part of many Christmas and Easter programs. Handel wrote more than 20 oratorios, along with nearly 50 operas and hundreds of orchestral pieces.

9. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

10. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Initially a violin teacher and a priest, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) published his first sonatas in 1705; he was 27 years old at the time. Early on, Vivaldi was employed by the Ospedale della Pieta, an orphanage in Venice. He composed for the children there, primarily the young girls that formed the renowned orchestra and choir of the orphanage. Vivaldi very quickly became known and admired throughout Europe as both a virtuoso violinist and a talented composer , especially for the violin as a solo instrument. Not surprisingly, he is known primarily for his string concertos, especially the four concertos known as The Four Seasons. Vivaldi’s compositions displayed an extraordinary variety and invention, and embraced instrumentation unusual for the time. In contrast with the seriousness of Handel, Vivaldi’s music was playful and exuberant. This lightness in composition made Vivaldi’s work particularly accessible to the wide public, not just to an intellectual minority— which explains why his music remains popular to this day.

11. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

12. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) When it comes to Baroque-era composers, I’ve saved the best till last. The music of the late Baroque era is best represented by the numerous works of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Bach was a true musical genius; he produced an astounding variety of chamber and orchestral works, as well as a large number of organ and keyboard works . His choral works include a variety of sacred and secular cantatas, motets and other large choral pieces, and chorales and sacred songs. The only musical form in which he didn’t work was opera. What makes Bach unique is his absolute mastery of the strict compositional techniques of his day. His innate talent enabled him to combine expressive melodies with the rigorous intricacy of counterpoint and the fugal form— most notably in his suites for solo violin and solo cello, as well as in much of his harpsichord music. The result is a huge body of work, all of it of exceptional quality. Bach was not only one of the top musicians of his day, but also one of the most influential composers of all time— if not arguably the greatest.