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vocal music in the baroque era
the development of instrumental music during the baroque period
characteristcs of baroque music era
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The two pieces chosen for this paper are particularly famous and are recognizable audibly, if not by name, by the majority of western populations. Pachelbel’s Canon in D was virtually forgotten from the 1700’s until it was rediscovered in 1919 by Gustav Beckmann. It gradually gained publicity, and burst into the popular culture after being used as the score for a movie, it is now by far the most famous canon and of the most well known pieces of baroque music.
The canon is a musical form popular in the Baroque period and is characterized by imitative counterpoint in which multiple voices, in this case violins, play the same piece of music but start at different times and in different keys. Pachelbel wrote his canon for 3 violins and a basso continuo which may have been a bass or a harpsichord. It is a strict canon in which the first voice is imitated precisely by the others for the duration of the piece. It contains 3 parts in two bar intervals with the new voices introduced at said two bar intervals.
Another characteristically baroque feature of the Canon is the use of a Basso Continuo. During the Renaissance and earlier periods, the bass was used as a melodic device as the lowest voice, equal to the any other instrument. During the 17th century, the bass began the transition to becoming a harmonic device providing a ‘backbone’ for which it is now almost exclusively used. In Canon, the bass serves a double purpose as a Basso Ostinato or Ground Bass, a melodic device which entails the continuous repetition of the same two bar sequence for the duration of the piece.
It also has an associated gigue, a classically baroque dance piece that departs from the strict canon form in favor of a livelier more jolly melody. In the ba...
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...Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .
Millar, H. M. "Henry Purcell and the Ground Bass." Music and Letters 29.4 (1948): 340. Print.
"Adagio for Strings." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .
"Pachelbel's Canon." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .
Paravonian, Rob. "Pachelbel Rant." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 21 Nov. 2006. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .
Schwartz, Steve. "Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings, Op. 11." Classical Net, 1995. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .
"The Impact of Barber's 'Adagio for Strings' : NPR, 4 Nov. 2006. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .
A sinfonia (Italian for symphony) broadly refers to a number of instrumental works from the Baroque period, including symphonies, sonatas, canzonas, concerti, and Italian opera overtures. Even J.S. Bach titles his “three-part” inventions for harpsichord “Sinfonia”. Torelli’s Sinfonia in D (G.8) is a four-movement “concerto” for trumpet, strings and harpsichord continuo. Unlike a concerto grosso, where a main theme is presented and then reappears in fragments, the main themes of Sinfonia in D are developed rather freely. The second movement (Adagio) is a very short, slow, interlude without trumpet that introduces the third movement (Allegro). Hence, the program shows these two movements as “adagio-allegro” joined together.
<td width="50%">Baroque OrchestrasClassical OrchestrasString section and basso continuo central to the orchestra. Other instruments are occasional additions.Standard group of four sections: strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. Different instruments treated individually.Fairly small; generally 10- 40 players.Larger than baroque; great variation to the numbers of players.Flexible use of timbres, e.g. Timpani and trumpets used generally just for festive music.Standardised sections. Most sections used regularly.Tone colour is distinctly secondary to other musical elements.Greater variety of tone colour and more rapid changes of colour. Timbre is unimportant and therefore a piece written for harpsichord could easily be rearranged for a string section.Each section of the classical orchestra has a special role. And each instrument is used distinctively.Wind instruments mainly used as solo instruments or as part of the basso continuo.The wind section had become a separate unit capable of contrast and distinct colour.The harpsichord generally plays an ostinato under the orchestra. Piano not invented.The piano introduces a third colour-tone to be contrasted with the orchestra
...ers and the audience. The dramatic nature of this piece alone is something to be reckoned with as it is extremely passionate. The symphony is presented in 4 movements as is common and begins with a Poco Sostenuto- Vivace, followed by a Allegretto movement, Presto movement, and finally ends on an Allegro con brio movement. the central theme of this piece is introduced in the first movement by a flute playing in tripple meter continuously ascending up the scales rising in dynamic contrast, continuing to grow into a louder and more stark contrast between it’s highs and lows. Consistently dance like, the piece is celebratory of its roots buried in historical Austrian music that has been present in the culture for years. The accomplishments of the soldiers for which the piece was composed for are easily told of simply by the energy and power present throughout the piece.
Price, Curtis. "Dido and Aeneas: Questions of Style and Evidence." Early Music 22 1, (1994): 115-25.
Schulenberg, David. Music of the Baroque. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. ML193.S38 2001 c.2
doubling the vocal line in harmony. The bottom, left corner of the piano was used as a bass
Daum, Gary. "Chapter 12 The Baroque Era (1600-1750)." Georgetown Prep. 1994. Georgetown University. 12 July 2005 .
The organum, which thrived at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, was one of the earliest types of polyphony. It was very much similar to a trope, as it added vertical notes onto an existing melody or plainchant. There is quite the development of the organum between the 10th and 12th centuries. French composers, Leoninus, and Perotinus, were leading contributors to the evolution of the organum advancing the terms “free organum”, and “discant organum”. Through examining the works throughout Musica enchiriadis of the 10th century, and the compositions of Leoninus and Perotinusis in the 12th century, it is made clear that the the organum endured influential alterations both melodically and rhythmically.
Anthony, James R., H. Wiley Hitchcock, Edward Higginbottom, Graham Sadler, Albert Cohen. “French Baroque Masters.” The New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians. W.W. Norton and Company, 1986. p. 1-63
Kamien, Roger. "Part VI: The Romantic Period." Music: An Appreciation. 10th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008. 257-350. Print.
The Baroque era presented music that experimented with different textures and harmonies. Composers of this era had a way of intertwining old and new styles. Composers were given the option of constructing an acapella or concerto scoring. The concerto scoring could be enhanced with independent instrumental parts that worked to complement instead of double the
From the Early Renaissance to the High Renaissance, there was a movement from vocal music to a combination of vocal and instrumental music (Brown, 1976). There are seven categories of instrumental music: 1) vocal music played by instruments, 2) settings of pre-existing melodies, 3) variation sets, 4) ricercars, fantasias, and canzonas, 5) preludes, preambles, and toccatas for solo instruments, 6) dance music, and 7) songs composed specifically for lute and solo voice (Brown, 1976). Italy dominated the stage for instrumental music at this time, and it was not until the last decades of the sixteenth century that English instrumental music became popular (Brow...
The piece opens with an allegro, minor melody with cymbal crashes and timpani rolls. There is a short pause then a major trill. Harp glissandos then accompany a legato oboe melody, which is repeated with a pizzicato string bass. The melody is then repeated by the whole orchestra. There is a crescendo with the tim...
There are two pieces in our Renaissance Era musical feature this evening, the first by Pierre Phalèse called Passamezzo d'Italye - Reprise – Gaillarde. Phalèse began as a bookseller in 1545 and not long after he set up a publishing house. By 1575 he had around 189 music books. Much of his work was devoted to sacred music but there was a small amount of Flemish songs and instrumental works. Phalèse borrowed work from many composers and did not hesitate to include other composer’s music in his works. The sec...
Historical. This brilliant composition is considered as one of the two most important violin concertos of the German Romantic period, with Mendelssohn’s vi...