Ch. 10 Instrumental Music, 1600-1750

Chapter 10 Instrumental Music 1600–1750 History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-1 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instruments of the Baroque Era The Violin Baroque violin was similar to modern violin but differed from it in ways that gave it a sweeter, more rounded tone History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-2 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instruments of the Baroque Era Winds, Brass and Percussion The transverse flute (today’s standard flute) became increasingly prominent but the recorder predominated The oboe emerged as a successor to the shawm The bassoon evolved out of the curtal The chalumeau developed into the clarinet History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-3 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instruments of the Baroque Era Winds, Brass and Percussion The trumpet evolved out of the cornetto The trombone developed out of the sackbut Timpani were often used with trumpets History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-4 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Keyboard Instruments The clavichord was valued as an expressive instrument Two basic types of harpsichord emerged: with either one or two keyboards Smaller versions of the harpsichord included the virginal and spinet History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-5 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instruments of the Baroque Era Keyboard Instruments Fortepiano – allowed hammer to strike string with variable force then fall away without ricocheting so the string freely reverberated Organ – large ones featured three or four manuals, pedal division, more than 60 speaking stops History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-6 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instruments of the Baroque Era The Orchestra Gradually emerged: an ensemble of players with more than one to a part (at least in the string section) Churches: size of ensemble varied according to their importance and resources Court orchestras rose to special prominence in France and Germany History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-7 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instruments of the Baroque Era Instruments of the Baroque Era The Public Concert A concert taking place outside the church or theater and open to the public remained an unusual phenomenon Notion of a permanent municipal orchestra did not yet exist Amateur societies occasionally offered public performances History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-8 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Sonata Term sonata was broadly used for instrumental works of all kinds Had no fixed number or order of movements Trio sonata acquired a relatively fixed form with three notated parts: two higher voices above a basso continuo History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-9 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instrumental Genres of the Baroque Era Instrumental Genres of the Baroque Era Sonata By middle of 17th century, a distinction emerged between two different types of trio sonata: the sonata da camera and the sonata da chiesa Sonata da camera (chamber sonata) consisted of a suite (collection) of dances Sonata da chiesa (church sonata) was suitable for performance within the liturgy History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-10 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instrumental Genres of the Baroque Era Sonata The term sonata also applied to works for solo instrument (including sonatas for solo instrument with basso continuo) History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-11 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instrumental Genres of the Baroque Era Concerto The term concerto had a wide range of meanings Applied to works in which any number or combination of diverse musical forces work together, or “in concert” Genre highlighted the contrasts within its performing forces Several subcategories: concerto grosso, solo concerto and ripieno concerto History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-12 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Antonio Vivaldi. This caricature captures a certain levity and mischievousness that characterizes a good bit of Vivaldi’s music – which despite its conventional surface is never predictable. History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-13 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instrumental Genres of the Baroque Era Suite Grouped dance movements in sets of two, three, or even more pieces Groupings went by different names depending on locale Keyboard suite known as partita in Germany and Italy, lesson in England, and ordre in France History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-14 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instrumental Genres of the Baroque Era Suite Number of movements is variable, most consist of four to six dances of varying tempo, meter and character Basic framework might consist of two moderately fast movements, followed by a slow movement and at the end, a lively dance in triple meter History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-15 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instrumental Genres of the Baroque Era Suite Variation suite presents a series of contrasting dances based on one basic thematic idea Suite was a favorite medium for program music (instrumental music meant to express a nonmusical story or idea) History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-16 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instrumental Genres of the Baroque Era Other Keyboard Genres Four broad categories: free, vocal based, dance based, and variation Free genres have no preexistent material and adhere to no particular pattern or structure (toccata, canzona, fantasia, prelude, canon, ricercar and fugue) History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-17 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instrumental Genres of the Baroque Era Other Keyboard Genres The most important vocal-based genres were founded upon chorale melodies Chorale preludes served as instrumental introductions to congregational singing of a chorale in church History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-18 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Instrumental Genres of the Baroque Era Other Keyboard Genres Large percentage of keyboard music was based on the principles of dance – often using binary forms Variations on bass line patterns (ground basses) were popular in both vocal and instrumental music History of Music in Western Culture, 4e 10-19 © 2014 Education, Inc. By Mark Evans Bonds Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458