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The Baroque Era. 1600-1750. “Baroque”. Coined by a French Scholar, in reference to a building facade From the Portuguese work “barrocco” (misshapen pearl), meaning “absurd” or “grotesque”. Palazzo Pamphili. Italy. The period was heavily influenced by Italian thinking
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The Baroque Era 1600-1750
“Baroque” • Coined by a French Scholar, in reference to a building facade • From the Portuguese work “barrocco” (misshapen pearl), meaning “absurd” or “grotesque”
Italy • The period was heavily influenced by Italian thinking • Monteverdi, Bernini, Scarlatti, Carvaggio • Pre-risorgimento
A Period of Great Creative Output • John Milton (Paradise Lost), Isaac Newton - England • Miguel de Cervantes (Don Quixote), Velasquez – Spain • Rembrandt Van Rijn – Netherlands • Renee Descartes – France • Johannes Kepler, Gottfried Leibniz – Germany
The Musical Affections • Rage, excitement, grandeur, heroism, lofty contemplation, wonder or mystic exaltation • These emotions were meant to be represented by musical ideas • Emotion became the driving force behind composition • Codified in the “Book of Affections”
Other Baroque Era Characteristics • Idiomatic writing (writing for specific instruments) • “Terraced” dynamics • Differentiation between vocal and instrumental writing • Standardization of instrumentation
Baroque Characteristics con’t… • The Continuo – Figured Bass
Baroque Characteristics con’t… • Codification of notation • Notation the way we know it today owes its existence to the Baroque era • Pre-baroque, notation looked very different
Baroque Characteristics con’t… • Use of “counterpoint”, or “contrapuntal” composition • Melodic material that is added above or below an existing melody. • The technique of combining two or more melodic lines in such a way that they establish a harmonic relationship while retaining their linear individuality.
Some Baroque composers of “note” • Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) • Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) • Henry Purcell (1659-1695) • Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1714) • Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) • George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) • Johann Sebastien Bach (1685-1750)
Opera • Revisitation of Ancient Greek Ideals – Staged Drama • It was argued that some of these plays involved singing • Claudio Monteverdi wrote the “first” opera in 1607 based on the Greek myth of “Orfeo and Euridice”
Next Week - Bach vs. Handel for the Baroque Heavyweight Championship