- The Baroque gave rise to a remarkable variety of musical style, ranging from the expressive monody of Claudio monteverdi (1567-1643) to the complex polyphony of J.S. Bach (1685-1750). -Baroque also introduce many new musical genres--opera, cantata, oratorio, sonata, concerto, and suite -Despite the quick stylistic changes and all the new types of music created, two elements remain constant throughout the Baroque period: an expressive melody and a strong supportive bass. Expressive Melody: - In early Baroque music, the voices are no longer equal. Rather a polarity develops in which the musical emphasis gravitates toward the top and bottom lines.
1) 2) 3) THEME-BUILDING BLOCK THEMATIC DEVELOPMENT-EXPANDING THE THEME MOTIVE-SMALLEST MELODIC UNIT OF A THEME THE CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA 1) ESTABLISHED IT AS WE KNOW IT TODAY 2) BLENDED THE FOUR INSTRUMENTAL FAMILIES A) THE HEART WAS THE STRING CHOIR B) WOODWINDS ASSISTED THE STRINGS C) BRASS SUSTAINED HARMONIES AND ADDED BODY D) PERCUSSION (TIMPANI) SUPPLIED RHYTHMIC LIFE 3) 30-40 PLAYERS 4) VOLUME OF SOUND WAS NOT STRONG 5) LIFE BEGAN TO MOVE TOWARD THE CONCERT HALL (NEAR THE END OF THE PERIOD) with Beethoven 6) GRADUAL CRESCENDOS AND DECRESCENDOS 7) THE PIANO WAS INVENTED DURING THIS
The movements of this symphony combine a fixed idea along with other elements to connect the movements to one another. The fixed idea is in each of the movements. Berlioz uses methods in his orchestration from his inspirations of opera. You can tell by the English Horn and Harp used. In the first movement of Symphonie Fantastique, Berlioz introduces the emotional calmness by the slowness of the build using string instruments.
Vivaldi’s orchestra in the Bassoon concerto consisted of a bassoon, Violin 1 and 2, Viola, Cello, and Bass. ******** Composer Beethoven was born in Germany. He was an innovator, widening the scope of sonata, symphony, concerto and quartet, and combining vocals and instruments in a new way. His personal life was marked by a struggle against deafness, and
In the beginning of the development, it gives you a hint of the first theme, and moves into a more minor sound at around 3:18, taking us off into a random dark sounding harmonic tangent. Soon after, at 4:39, an oboe comes in to save the orchestra with a solo. The oboe plays until the end of the development at 4:53. The recapitulation of
Dido’s Lament The Baroque period was a significant turning point for music; it began to be a separate form of art and not purely based in religion. The use of Recitative and Aria became a critical key factor to the development of opera, and is clearly used in “Dido and Aeneas” by Purcell. To enhance the characteristics of the Baroque opera, many techniques for manipulating Pitch, Duration and Dynamics were used. With these techniques it created more emphasis of the text with the use of word painting and string instruments. Throughout this piece the Recitative of the song is mainly sung in speech form, creating emphasis on specific parts of the text.
Gradual changes in dynamics. (Pg. 302 – 303).” Figure 1: a standard set up for a baroque orchestra from “http://dandanmusic.weebly.com” Figure 2: The typical arrangement of the early classical orchestra from “http://dandanmusic.weebly.com” Listening to Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, it is as lively a
A few composers who made music today possible by struggling through the aftermath of the Black Death epidemic would be; Jasquin Des Prez, (who was a big name at the time,) Pierre De La Rue, a very well proclaimed vocalist (The New York Time Company 2012, March 23. Top 8 Renaissance Composers Retrieved from http://classicalmusic.about.com.) One such composer whose name is still heard pretty often would be Johann Sebastian Bach; he is considered as one of the faces of classical music. Like all of us, he started out with baby steps, slowly learning the ways of music. Bach came from a family of musicians who brought him into the whole scene; his father was a director and had several uncles who were musicians (Christoph Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2000.)
The work is scored for an orchestra of 2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, sarrusophone (oboe/bassoon mixed breed), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, castanets, tambourine, gong, snare drum, celesta, 2 harps and strings. The work was dedicated "À mon cher maître Charles de Bériot.” Bériot was Ravel's piano teacher at the Conservatoire from 1891 to 1895. Although first performed in France, this is not Ravel’s first work in the Spanish style. Other Spanish influences include his early piano pieces, the especially popular Bolero of 1928, and his final song cycle Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, a score that was intended to be used for a stage version of the Cervantes novel. Ravel came to the Spanish idiom by no accident, as his father was Swiss and his mother was from the Northeast corner of Spain, and spoke Basque, also, Spanish was commonly spoken and sung in Ravel’s childhood home.
The entire collection of variations comprises what is considered to be Bach’s most ambitious undertaking, the Art of the Fugue, meant to serve as an intensive study of the fugue as an entity. Already a complex and multifaceted piece, Art of the Fugue gains a whole new level of depth and significance when placed inside its historical context, amidst the story of its creation and the demise of its creator. During the two hundred and fifty years of its existence, Art of the Fugue has acquired quite the reputation, as it has become enshrouded in a web of mystery and mystique. However, when we strip away these layers, the piece retains its magnitude, as the sheer mastery of the piece is enough to merit substantial renown and reverence. In the early 1740’s, Bach began work on what many consider to be his most monumental project ever, Art of the Fugue.