History of Music

1. History of Music Baroque And Classical

2. Baroque 1600-1750 • At the end of the 16th century, madrigal composers moved to extreme dissonances and rhythmic contrasts to illustrate emotional texts • The Baroque period began as a reaction against the madrigal. • The recitative was developed as a new solo singing style. This led to the stage and eventually to opera. • The Baroque is characterized with extreme excess and extravagance. • Baroque “dualism” is a constant theme throughout the Baroque era. It is the battle between freedom and strictness, extravagance and control.

3. Baroque musical characteristics • Rhythm is more definite and regular. • Bar lines begin to be used for the 1st time. • The basso continuo is formed. This includes the bass voices or low sounding instruments and organ or harpsichord (chordal instrument allows for continuous chords). In general, the bass line is reinforced. • Harmony evolves and musicians developed our modern major/minor system. • Chords became a standard and used in a predictable and meaningful way. We being to have an established sense of tonality.

4. Opera • Introduced around 1600 • Opera is drama set to music and singing is used instead of speech. • Main genre of secular music during this time • Art form that combined music, drama, dancing, poetry, scenery, and special effects. • Became an important part of culture and entertainment. • Opera alternated between the styles of recitative and aria. • Listen:Dido and Aeneas I(1689) by Henry Purcell.

5. Oratorio • Sacred vocal music that includes a variety of styles and forms. • Oratorio is basically opera using sacred subjects and are performed in concert form (no scenery, costumes, or gestures). • Includes the participation of the choir • May borrow from secular vocal music • Listen: Recitative, There were Shepherds and chorus, Glory to God by Handel from Messiah

6. Instrumental Music • Instrumental music rises through the popularity of dance, virtuosity, and vocal music. • The rise of instrumental music can also be associated with the development of instrument making technology. • The first fortepianos are invented during this time and are the first to use hammer strokes not by plectra. • Pipe organ technology continued to evolve and organ building becomes a craft.

7. The Late Baroque • The age of absolutism and the doctrine of the divine right of kings, the absolute rule of “God-chosen” monarchs. Absolutism can be seen in Baroque opera. • It was the age of science when Newton and Leibniz invented calculus, Newton established his laws of mechanics and the theory of gravity. • Music reflected the scientific attitude by tuning scales (or tempering) them with more precision. • Music theorists were scientifically motivated to make checklists of musical devices and techniques that match with emotions. • Art was used to impress as evidenced through King Louis XIV building the palace of Versailles. • Composers were most likely to view themselves as servants striving to satisfy their masters.

8. Late Baroque Styles • Rhythm continued to be regular • Dynamics: composers rarely used loud (f) or soft (p) markings in their scores, but sudden dynamic contrasts were favored • Melodies were ornate and complex • Improvisations were used and often written down for musicians • Polyphonic texture was standard along with the harmony of the basso continuo. • Musical forms became clearer due to the patronage system. Formulas were used for composing due to the quick demand associated with the patronage system. • To the modern listener music of the Baroque may seem impressive, but is typically comes off as impersonal. • Baroque composers conveyed a range of emotions, but they usually did not convey their own personal feelings. • The fugue, a polyphonic composition built on one theme (fugue subject) that appears over and over in each voice or instrument, is an important development in the Baroque. • Listen: Fugue in C-Sharp Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (1721)by Johann Sebastian Bach

9. The Baroque Orchestra • The Baroque orchestra was formed and the core group of instruments were members of the violin family. A keyboard instrument was added for the continuo and woodwinds and brass instruments were sometimes added, but were not standard. • The famous orchestra controlled by King Louis XIV in the late 17th century was called The Twenty Four Violins of the King (6 violins, 12 violas, 6 cellos). Today this would be called a string orchestra. • The concerto (orchestra and a soloist) and concerto grosso (orchestra and a small group of soloists) become important orchestral genres. • Listen: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, for flute, violin, harpsichord, and orchestra (before 1721) by Johann Sebastin Bach. • The use of movements within one work are seen. The movements help extend a composition. Typical late Baroque concertos have three movements. The first movement is in a fast tempo, the second is a contrast of the first (quieter and slower), and the third is usually faster than the first.

10. Making Money as a Composer in the Late Baroque • There were three main ways a composer could earn a living: • The church as an organist or choirmaster who composes • The Court working for a master • The Opera House

11. Baroque Composers • Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643): Italian composer proficient in most of the major genres of his time • Henry Purcell (1659-1695): English composer and organist who wrote only one true opera but wrote other compositions for the stage • Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713): Italian composer and violinist who wrote solo sonatas, trio sonatas, and concertos • Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): studied music from other composers, took his own style, and blended them • George Frideric Handel (1685-1759): English Composer born in Germany who wrote music for all genres of his time • Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725): Italian opera composer • Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Italian composer and violinist known for concertos and opera • François Couperin (168-1733): French composer, harpsichordist, and organist • Jean Philippe Rameau (1683-1764): important French musician for the development of opera • Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757): the son of Alessandro Scarlatti who is known for his keyboard sonatas • Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767): brought music to the middle class by publishing music that could be played at home by novice musicians.

12. Classical1750-1820 • This intellectual movement, the Enlightenment, focused on the advancement of science and reasoning. People of the time valued intelligence, sensitivity, and humor. • Intelligence was used to solve scientific problems and problems associated with morality, education and politics. • Fascination with the “natural” and “the good life” • For many, religion stopped being a tremendous force during this era. • Time of the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers • The introduction of the coffee house and public concerts • Arts were seen as a way to contribute to an improved quality of life. They were intended to please not teach or impress like in the Baroque era. • Music strived for clarity, restraint, and balance • Composers wrote Masses and operas, but majority of the compositions were instrumental. • Primary genres included were the symphony, sonata, chamber music, opera, solo concerto.

13. How it started • A reaction against the extravagance of the Baroque • Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a self-taught composer who started an attack on the complex and artificial aspects of Baroque opera. Attacking the primary genre placed all of the music from the Baroque in question. • The people of the classical era wanted opera that would portray real people in real life.

14. Other Movements in Art • Neoclassicism: A movement in visual arts that supports the return to simple and natural values and an opposition to the complexity of the Baroque and the extreme lightness of the Rococo. • Rococo: period between Baroque and Classical in which paintings, decoration, furniture, and jewelry were done in an extremely light style. • The Novel: A new literary type that depicted contemporary life and feelings.

15. Style Features • Rhythm: flexible rhythm, the tempo and meter are constant throughout a movement, but the rhythms differ; rhythm gives a feelings of less predictable movement that is more exciting than the regular rhythms of the Baroque. • Dynamics: become more specific and passages begin to be marked by composers with f, p, ff, and mf; there was a desire for variety in a pleasant way within predictability. Composers worked degrees of volume with the crescendo and diminuendo. • Melody: simple melodies were preferred • Texture: Homophony was the principal texture but counterpoint continued in a “natural” way to create tension; major turning point because polyphony previously dominated

16. Classical Music Forms • Standard patterns for composition • Sonata form • Minuet form • Rondo • Theme and variations Form

17. Classical Orchestra • The orchestra became standard during the Classical era and helped form the foundation of the symphony orchestra later in time. • The core of the Classical orchestra continued to be the violins, violas, and cellos. • Woodwinds and brass instruments were given specific and regular parts. The woodwind instruments that were included were flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons. The brass instruments were French horns, and trumpets. The timpani was also given a regular role in this orchestra.

18. Public Concerts • Concerts were not a new idea and in the past they were conducted in a variety of places • However, in the Classical era concerts became an important aspect of music • In 1748, the 1st hall in Europe specifically for concerts was built • The rise of the concert allowed orchestral music to reach the public and therefore it grew in prestige and importance. • Concert series allowed another way for composers to earn a living, but the main ways for composers to earn money continued to be the church, the court, and the opera house.

19. The Symphony • Popular in the Classical era because it fit the needs of society at the time including public concerts • Symphony movements contrast in tempo and are composed according to different forms • Opening movement: fast to moderate tempo and sonata form • Slow movement: slow to very slow tempo without a standard form • Minuet (and trio): moderate tempo in minuet form • Closing movement: fast to very fast tempo in sonata or rondo form • Listen: Haydn, Symphony No. 88 in G, first movement through fourth movement (play beginnings)

20. Other Classical Genres • Sonata: In this period, a piece for one to two instruments. Sonatas were not intended for concerts, but were meant for private performance by novice musicians. • Listen: Piano Sonata in B-Flat, K. 570 (1787), Mozart (three movements) • Concerto: idea from the Baroque era continued to be refined, virtuosity included, but Classical orchestra was more flexible. • String Quartet: for four instruments (two violins, one viola, and one cello) with four movements like the symphony • Opera Buffa: Comic opera in which singers had to act, sing, and be funny. The flexibility of the Classical style was a perfect fit with the comedy of opera buffa. Ensembles are also a part of opera buffa. • Listen: Don Giovanni (1787), Mozart

21. Composers • Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): helped develop the symphony and style for the string quartet but considered himself a vocal music composer • Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791): helped develop the style for the string quartet, solo piano concerto, and contributed to many genres of his time. • Christoph Willibald von Gluck (1714-1787): composer associated with Vienna and Paris who used classical ideals to reform opera

22. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) • Roots in the Classical era, committed to the principles of Classicism • Three Periods • First period: until 1800 his music was in a Classical style like Haydn and Mozart • Second period: 1800-1818 was a time of “heroic” works like Eroica and his Fifth Symphony • Third period: 1818-1827 was a time characterized as more abstract and introspective. He mainly composed intimate genres like piano sonatas and string quartets. (Period most like Romanticism). • Student of Haydn • Mood of excitement and urgency by increasing musical elements • Higher and lower registers • Stronger syncopations and accents • Dissonances with strong resolutions • Expanded the orchestra and new demands on instruments • Stretched classical forms

23. References Kerman, Joseph, and Gary Tomlinson. Listen. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. Stolba, K. Marie. The Development of Western Music. 3rd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998.