Baroque Mansur Brown

Baroque:


The Baroque period was a period that saw a revolution in the way architecture
and music were approached. The period started in approx. 1600 and ended in
1750. The period saw a rise in tonality and saw a major step in the
development of the musical instrument. With the creation of the Harpsichord
instrumental music became more prominent.

The Baroque period saw vast musical developments. This period saw the
development of tonality. Prior to this period music was all written in modality.
This simply means that music now followed scales. A major discovery that
helped tonality was equal temperament. Equal temperament gave every key a
distinctive pitch. This meant composers could write music for multiple
instruments and it would sound how they desired. At this point in time there was
not universal equal temperament. The French music of the time was pitched at
a=392hz, the Italian music of the time was pitched at a=440hz. In the
modern music we use the Italian version of equal temperament. This meant that
music could be played up to a whole tone lower than purposed.

With the creation of the string section and the harpsichord, the timbre of music
was become thicker and thicker. The baroque period saw the introduction of the
orchestra. Prior to this period instrumental music was non-existent to our
knowledge. It is believed that instrument like the lute and the pipe would
accompany the vocal music but these instruments were never incorporated into
the score. The musical instrument was on the rise. With the development of
different types of music the orchestra rose to prominence. In this period the
basso continuo developed. The basso continuo was comprised of the Cello and
the Harpsichord. The job of this section was to lay a foundation, often a ground
bass for the other harmonic textures to sit upon. Composers of operas often
used the basso continuo to support their monodic melody line.

Monody is also a distinctive feature of baroque music. Monody is when a single
melody line dominates the music. This melody line was almost accompanied by
the Basso continuo. There was also the introduction of musical oratorios. With
the development of musical instruments had to come the development of
different playing techniques. For example, Tremolo and pizzicato became
important because the string section was taking the leading role in the
orchestra.

Music began to sound different. As church began to loose its jurisdiction over
music and seculars works became prominent and melodies where not confined
to conjunct movement. Melodies became very adventurous, composers began to
create music with leaps of more than a third. Even religious music became less
and less constricted. Looking at Baroque melodies from a 21
st
century
standpoint, this music was very complicated and clarity at the same time.
Baroque composers often used techniques like sequence. This makes their
melodies more memorable. For example one of the most recognized baroque
works to this day is Bachs Tocatta and Fugue in D minor. On many instances
the initial melody is repeated but is accompanied by different harmony. This is
done subtly. This is how composers were able to expand on their motif ideas
without having to sacrifice the melody.
Polyphony was on a rise, as composition tools such as figured bass became
fashionable. Composers realized that they could use thick harmonies by utilizing
different parts of the orchestra.

One very significant feature of baroque is terraced dynamics. A lot of baroque
music has very little fluidity. Terraced dynamics meant that only one dynamic
could be played in a section of a piece of music. This was because instrumental
technology had developed enough for certain instruments to play multiple
dynamics. So if a composer wanted to have multiple dynamics the player of that
instrument would have to use different instruments tuned to the different
dynamics the composer intended for.

The rise of instrumental music meant that new forms of music could develop for
example the concerto and the fugue. These were the two most musical
developments synonymous with the baroque period. There were two types of
concerto one being a solo concerto. This type of music meant that there was a
solo instrumentalist supported by an orchestra. The other being a Concerto
grosso, this is when a group of soloists would perform the main the melody and
were supported by the rest of the orchestra. A fugue was commonly performed
on an organ.

The opera developed in this period. The opera was the earliest form of a
musical. The opera was a play, which was pe;rformed wholly in melody. This
meant that an orchestra was required to accompany the performer. The opera
consisted of two parts, the recitative and the aria. These two sections were
audibly very different. For example the recitative was a reflective part of an
opera. It was very bare and only consisted of the basso continuo and the
performer. The basso continuo would not do much, commonly there would be no
harmony coming from the basso continuo. The performer did not do much
melodically either. This part was used to explain what was going on and often
done by the narrator. The aria was the most dramatic and emotional part of the
opera. This section had the whole orchestra playing and the Performer would
often express the drama that occurred. In this period the ground bass aria
became very popular. A repeated bass line would sit under changing harmonic
melodies. This made the music feel as if it was constantly evolving.

As the orchestra became more and more popular, rich nobles and royals saw a
necessity to have their own courtly orchestra. This created the space for what
we now know as suites. There are many different types of suites like the
overture and the Sarabande. Suites were different depending on the region for
example the Sarabande is a Spanish suite in triple meter. George F. Handel
wrote the most famous Sarabande.

Handel was one of the most iconic composers of the period. He has a catalogue
of over 250 compositions. Another renown composer of the time was J.S Bach.
He is known as the most iconic composer of the baroque era. His catalogue
consists of over 1000 compositions. Bach wrote in every type of baroque style
apart from Operas. His works are still being studied in the present day. Bach is
known for his compositions being mathematically perfect, But this does not take
away from the creativity put in to these works.










In the world of the opera, Henry Purcell a young british composer was seeming
to make his mark on the opera scene. Purcell was born in Westminster, London
on September 10
th
1659. Purcell was born into a musical family. His elder
brother was already a respected working musician. Purcell started composing at
the age of nine. Purcell, with the help of his uncle, was a chorister in King
Charles chapel at a young age. He studied under Captain William Cooke and
Pelham Humfrey at Westminster School.

One of Purcells most famous works is his opera Dido and Aeneas. This is a tale
of two lovers. Dido is the queen of Carthage. Aeneas is a Trojan war hero. The
lament of dido takes place at a point in the opera when Aeneas has left Dido to
return to his homeland. Dido becomes distraught and she is about to take her
own life.

This song is designed to be sung by a Mezzo soprano. The song is divided into to
sections. The beginning section is a recitative secco. This section is very stripped
back. The lead vocalist is accompanied by the basso continuo. Melodically this
section is very loose and free flowing. The accompaniment does very little at this
point. The main focus of this section is too explain the emotions and the mood
of the performer. It is used to set the Aria section, which is to come.
This section uses word painting. This is a applied when the words darkness
and death are used. It is performed in the use of chromaticism.

The main section is a ground bass aria. The song is in
2
2
meter and is in the key
of G minor. The use if thus minor key helps emphasis the darkness of the lyrics.
There is also dissonance, which also adds to the overall mood of the song.this
dissonance is used along with word painting, examples of this are found in bar 7
and 17. The aria starts by the continuo playing the last phrase of their ground
bass line.

The rest of the orchestra start, the composers give the instructions Violins Very
Soft. The song is written in a four-part harmony (excluding the vocal line). For
the first couple of bars, the rhythm of the accompaniment is very basic. There is
very little going on. This complements the complex melody being done the
vocalist.

Lyrically, this section is very dark and depressing. The singer talks of suicidal
actions. Word painting and Melisma is used to heighten the severity of the lyrics,
for example in bar 8 and 18 there is a descending melisma. This creates the
feeling of death and a falling. Dissonance is used in bar 7 to highlight the use of
the words laid in earth. The song reaches a melodic peak in bar 43. This is the
point where the main message of the song is being told. The composer does a
very good job of creating different harmony over the Ground bass. This ground
bass line gets lost in the song.

This song is sure to have you impressed.