Johann Sebastian Bach: The Baroque Composer

2. Contents Key words: baroque, art, composer, common fetures, style, ornamentation, organist, violinist, Lutheran, Brandenburg Concertos, Well-Tempered Clavier, D Minor, lifetime, counterpoint, fugue, variations. Bach's life

3. ‘Baroque’ is said like ‘Ba-rock’. Think of a sheep sitting on a rock. Then you will know how to say it! So now we know how to say it, what is it? The word ‘baroque’ is used to describe a style of ‘art’ from a certain period of history. ‘Art’ here means all sorts of things, like paintings, buildings (architecture) or music.

4. The baroque period of history is from about the year 1600 to about 1750 (in other words, it is a long time ago!). This means that baroque art is art painted sometime around 1600 to 1750. Baroque architecture are buildings built sometime around 1600 to 1750. And baroque music is music written sometime around 1600 to 1750.

5. Baroque Composer The greatest baroque composer was Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). Other famous baroque composers include George Frideric Handel (1685–1759). Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741). Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706).

6. N.B It is important to remember that baroque music is a style of music. It is not an exact period of time. This means that some composers lived during the baroque period, but their music wasn’t always very ‘baroque’ in style. One example is Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757). On the other hand, Handel’s music was always baroque—even though he died after 1750.

7. So what is the baroque style? Well, like classical music in general, it is not easy to describe. The best way to understand what baroque is, is to listen to the great baroque composers. If you listen to a lot of baroque music you will begin to recognise the style, even if you can’t describe it. And if you study the music very carefully you will begin to notice common features. Enjoy listening to baroque music! Here is a video to set you on your way. It’s the end ofBach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3

8. Common Features • Common features are: the music is characterized by a complex weaving of melodic lines and elaborate ornamentation different lines of music (or ‘tunes’) are going their own way. These single tunes weave together to make the whole music

9. Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician. He lived from 1685 to 1750, and the style of his music is called BAROQUE music. Bach was a great organist (organ player) and violinist. He worked as a church musician for St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Leipzig, Germany. This meant he had to constantly compose music for the church services (for choir, organ, harpshichord, and orchestra). So he composed LOTS and LOTS of music.

10. Bach's Life Bach was devoted to his family. In 1706, he married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach. The couple had seven children together, some of whom died as infants. Maria died in 1720 while Bach was traveling with Prince Leopold. The following year, Bach married a singer named Anna Magdalena Wülcken. They had thirteen children, more than half of them died as children. During his lifetime, Bach was better known as an organist than a composer. Few of his works were even published during his lifetime.

11. Bach's Family Bach had twenty children by two wives. Many of his children became good musicians, too. Bach was part of a large musical family. Many of Bach's sons knew how to play piano and many other instruments including flute, organ, and violin.

12. Toccata and Fugue in D minor Some of Bach's most famous works are the Brandenburg Concertos, the Well-Tempered Clavier (for piano), and the organ workToccata and Fugue in D Minor.

13. The Great Composer Musically, Bach was a master at invoking and maintaining different emotions. He was an expert storyteller as well, often using melody to suggest actions or events. In his works, Bach drew from different music styles from across Europe, including French and Italian. He used counterpoint, the playing of multiple melodies simultaneously, and fugue, the repetition of a melody with slight variations, to create richly detailed compositions. He is considered to be the best composer of the Baroque era, and one of the most important figures in classical music in general.

14. Baroque Arts The word "Baroque" is used in other art forms besides music; we talk about: Baroque architecture

15. Baroque Arts Baroque painting

16. Baroque Arts Baroque sculpture

17. Baroque Arts Baroque literature

18. The Baroque Period The Baroque period comes between the Renaissance and the period of Classicism (the Classical Period). The Baroque was a time when people liked large spaces and a lot of ornamentation.

19. Styles and instruments The idea of two contrasting groups was used a lot in Baroque music. Composers wrote concertos. These were pieces for orchestra and a solo instrument. Sometimes a concerto contrasted a group of soloists with the rest of the orchestra. These are called by the Italian name "Concerti Grossi. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are good examples.

20. Styles and instruments - 2 Organs, and some harpsichords, had at least two manuals (keyboards). The player could change from one manual to the other, contrasting two different sounds. Baroque music was often a melody with a bass line at the bottom. This could be, for example, a singer and a cello. There was also a harpsichord or organ that played the bass line as well. Often the composer did not write out all the chords (harmonies) but just showed some of the chords by figures, leaving it to the performer to decide exactly which notes to play. This is called “figured bass” or “basso continuo”. The soloist, who played or sang the melody on top, often put in lots of ornamental notes.

21. Suite The Baroque suite is a collection of dance movements written in the style of Baroque music. There is an accepted standard order in which the dances are performed. The five primary dances are the Overture, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue. Many times a composer would add a Prelude before all the dances. Sometimes a composer would add another piece in between the Sarabande and the Gigue.

22. A Short Dictionary A Concerto Grosso is a piece of music from the 18th century in which there are a small group of instruments and a large group of instruments. These two groups are contrasted with one another. Sometimes both play together, sometimes one plays by itself, or the two groups might imitate one another. The small group is called “concertino” and the large group is called "tutti", “ripieno” or “concerto grosso” (the same name as the musical piece). “Concerto grosso” is Italian for “big concerto”. The plural is “concerti grossi”. Notice that the second “c” in “concerto” is pronounced like an English “ch”. A concerto grosso has several parts that differ in speed and character. There are usually three movements; the first is fast, the second is slow, and the last is fast. The first movement contrasts the tutti and the soloists, the second movement is quiet, while the last movement is lively. A singer is a person who sings. Anyone who is singing is a singer. Some people do it as a job (professional singer), others may sing without being paid (amateur singer). Singers may sing anything: songs, opera etc. They may be accompanied by an instrument or an orchestra. Some singers also play a musical instrument such as piano, guitar or harp while they sing (they accompany themselves). Singing is important in movies and in the theatre.

23. A Short Dictionary - 2 The cello is an instrument used to play music. Its name comes from the Italian language, so it is pronounced “chello”. The full word is violoncello, but when speaking, people normally call it the “cello”. A person who plays the cello is called a “cellist”. The cello is a very popular instrument. It belongs to the string family. It has many uses: as a solo instrument, in chamber music and also in orchestras. Harpsichords are keyboard instruments that make sound by having the strings plucked with a plectrum. This makes them different from a clavichord where the strings are hit. The piano is therefore closer to a clavichord than a harpsichord. On a piano it is possible to play louder or quieter by playing the keys with more or less force. On a harpsichord the volume (playing louder or softer) cannot be controlled by the way it is played. However, some large harpsichords have several "stops", each one giving a different kind of sound. The largest harpsichords have two manuals (keyboards) which gives more variety. It makes it possible for the right hand to play the tune on one manual while the left hand plays an accompaniment more quietly on the other.

24. A Short Dictionary - 3 The pipe organ is a keyboard instrument in which the sound is made by air blowing through pipes. A person who plays the organ is called an organist. The organist plays the instrument using both the hands and the feet. The hands play the keyboards (called manuals), while the feet play pedals which also make notes Basso continuo is a form of musical accompaniment used in the Baroque period. It means "continuous bass". Basso continuo, sometimes just called “continuo”, was played by a keyboard instrument and another bass instrument such as cello, violone or bassoon. The keyboard instrument was normally a harpsichord or, if it was being played in a church, an organ. In music, a suite (pronounce "sweet") is a collection of short musical pieces which can be played one after another. The pieces are usually dance movements. The French word “suite” means “a sequence” of things, i.e. one thing following another.

25. A Short Dictionary - 4 In music, counterpointis the relationship between voices that are harmonically interdependent (polyphony) yet independent in rhythm and contour. Ornamentation, in music, is the embellishment of a melody, either by adding notes or by modifying rhythms. In European music, ornamentation is added to an already complete composition in order to make it more pleasing. In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.