The Baroque Era

1. The Baroque Era

2. Sonata • Sonata – Chamber piece of several contrasting movements, written for a small number of instruments • Solo Sonata – Single instrument with basso continuo – continuo consisting of a harpsichord and low string instrument • Trio Sonata – Two instruments with basso continuo • If the movements were based on dance rhythms, the sonata was known as sonata da camera (chamber sonata) • If the movements were more serious in nature, they were known as Sonata dachiesa (church sonata)

3. Concerto • Italian wordconcertare has two meanings: to struggle or to fight or to cooperate • Concerto – a solo player or a group of solo players is contrasted with an entire orchestra. Sometimes soloists and the orchestra play together, sometimes separately. • Concerto grosso – “large concerto” – small group of soloists contrasting with the whole orchestra • Solo concerto – Single soloist with the orchestra • Virtuoso – Expert/skillful performer “show-off” • Concerto and Sonata improved performers technique and craftsmanship

4. Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) • Composer and violinist • Only composed violin music and his intentions were to “show off the violin” • One of the first composers to become famous exclusively for writing instrumental music • Trio Sonata, Op. 3, no. 7 for two violins and basso continuo • Composed in 1689 • Key: E minor

5. French Music • France reigned by Louis XIV for 72 years (1643-1715) • Fortunately for the arts, Louis XIV was An Avid Supporter and French music flourished under his patronage. • Louis XIV loved to dance and one of the most important influences on French music was dance. • It was featured in French opera and instrumental music • Dance influenced music in France in two ways • 1st, French opera included a great deal of ballet • 2nd, the use of dance forms as independent instrumental music • Minuet – A triple-time dance in moderate tempo • Dance Suite – A series of dances for instrumental performance. They are usually in the same key so there is a unity among the different types of dance.

6. Late Baroque Opera • Opera continues to flourish • Opera seria (serious opera) – based on some story from ancient history and involved dramatic situations, two pairs of lovers and a prince or king who resolves the situation in the end. There were always three acts and the music was built around a constant alternation between recitatives and arias. • Recitatives = carry the plot forward • Arias = singers could display their talents – action would stop and aria would explore emotion created by the story. Arias were typically in ABA form. The second A was often ornamented so the soloist could show off their abilities.

7. Late Baroque Concerto • The solo concerto becomes more and more popular • The flute, oboe, or trumpet begin to be featured as well as the keyboard

8. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) • Vivaldi learned to play music at an early age, as his father was a violinist at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. • Vivaldi trained for the priesthood, but because of an illness, Vivaldi was unable to continue being a priest. Instead, he was appointed as director of music at the Ospedaledella Pieta in Venice (residential school for orphaned girls and young women) • Vivaldi composed a large amount of music for Ospedale including: solo and trio sonatas, oratorios, sacred music and nearly 600 concertos. • Composed concertos for unlikely instruments: the bassoon, small recorder, clarinet, viola, and mandolin, but most are for one or more violins.

9. More on the Concerto • Usually in three movements (fast-slow-fast) 1stmov’t usually Allegro, 2nd slow (Adagio) and 3rd is a little faster and livelier than the first • 1st and 3rdmovt’s are in ritornello form = The ritornello in a concerto is an orchestral passage that constantly returns. Between appearances of the ritornello, the solo instrument plays passages of contrasting material, which are known as episodes. See chart on page 138 • Program music – Music that is designed to tell a story