Genres of Baroque Instrumental Music Efford Major Mus223 Prof. Crowley Introduction The Baroque era in music presented the time when instrumental music became as successful as vocal music. In this time, the instruments could be played to imitate and sometimes surpass vocal renditions. The most popular instruments in this era were the keyboard, harpsichord and the pipe organ. This paper looks at the genre known as the Fugue. This genre has some distinctive characteristics that can be seen in the composition known as “The Little Fugue” or the “Fugue in G minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach.
These are within dynamics, tone colours, techniques, textures and range . The larger ranges of dynamics was due mainly too…….? Expanded tone colours were added through new instruments, and larger sections giving more diverse colours and patterns. Techniques came from players having greater ability, and instruments having more intricate and complex systems, and for playing in a virtuoso style as seen with the solo viola which would have required a highly skilled player . Textures… ……Is this due to new textures being created, and used in the pieces in the monophony bars at the end???
Schoenberg uses a lot of techniques to build up the texture and make it more interesting and more complex. Some of these techniques include inversions, imitations and canons. The rhythms are also complex and vary. The rhythms change quickly between ¾, 2/4 and 4/4. Schoenberg also layers different rhythms together to create a very complex polyphonic texture.
While each group showed differences in musical style, they all displayed great skill and magnificence in their compositions. My favorite piece in the concert was “God Bless the Child” by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. This piece was performed by the Strickland Quintet and consisted of a tenor saxophone, piano, guitar, drums, and bass. Unlike the previous fast paced pieces performed by this quintet, this piece started off with a slow, adagio, tempo. From the beginning, the performance caught the listener’s ear, as the saxophone played lead, followed by a soft hormonal background from the other instruments.
A marching band’s music is typically more fast paced and exciting to hear and see, compared to the orchestra’s more monumental and strident sounds. An orchestra’s music is often used in movie soundtracks because of the wide variety of sounds they can produce. A large part of the reason that orchestra has such a wide range in a stylistic sense is because it has a larger variety of instruments. Whereas marching band only has percussion, brass, and woodwinds. Orchestra’s added string sections add more flavor to the equation, being able to generate effects and sounds like plucking and even sometimes singing.
However, in bar 114 the texture converts from homophonic to polyphonic. In this bar the bassoons and lower strings play the first subject, while woodwind play a counter melody. This creates a polyphonic, or contrapuntal, melody. Pedals are used frequently throughout the symphony. In the first subject, the main theme is harmonised by a tonic
Prior to the classical era, musical patronage was dominated by the church. In the height of classicalism, the relatively new ‘public concert’ was growing in popularity, while patronage from monarchs was still the main lifeline for composers like Haydn and early Beethoven. Then by the start of the romantic era, the public concert grew to be the primary financial supporter of musicians. [2] Without this crucial shift in patronage, the lifestyle and vitality of musicians would be significantly different from how it is today. This change in patronage had a parallel relationship with changes in musical style as well.
It featured a mezzo soprano vocalist, Allison Sanders, a jazz trio (guitar, double bass, and drum set), and of course, the orchestra. The intertwining between the three parts was ingenious and entertaining. The orchestra would abbreviate gorgeous vocals, with several moments throughout the piece that showcase the jazz group. My own personal bias told me that the double bass could have been louder, especially since it was hooked up to an amplifier. The last piece was one of my all time favorite pieces, Dvorak Symphony No.
Both musical performers incorporated unique musical elements such as melody, harmony rhythm to mention a few. Lowell Lieberman performance was very captivating through his exhibition of passion throughout his musical circles. Throughout his musical performance, Liebermann makes imaginative use of rich and varied harmonic rhythm. His performance shows a classical theme from the beginning to the end. The mood in Lieberman music made the entire room gloomy whiles the melodic lines made the room flowing, the rich harmonies in his music made the room surprisingly striking.
This made the movement have an overall jazzy tone. With the introduction of the third movement, the tone shifted to serene and tragic—specifically during the cello solo that was then mimicked by the violin. As the tone and texture changed in the fourth movement, towards almost a fun sort of romp with the use of staccato notes, the tension began to grow and climax. The ending, in fact, was very feudal but