Music
Baroque music is a type of music, in which the harmony is confused, and loaded with modulations and dissonances. The singing is harsh and unnatural, the intonation difficult, and the movement limited. It appears that the term comes from the word 'baroco' used by logicians.
Baroque music forms a major portion of the 'classical music' canon, and is now widely studied, performed, and listened to. Key composers of the Baroque era include Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel and Claudio Monteverdi.
During the Baroque era, professional musicians were expected to be accomplished improvisers of both solo melodic lines and accompaniment parts. Baroque concerts were typically accompanied by a basso continuo group while a group of bass instruments played the bassline.
Composers and performers used more elaborate musical ornamentation, made changes in musical notation and developed new instrumental playing techniques. Baroque music expanded the size, range, and complexity of instrumental performance, and also established the mixed vocal/instrumental forms of opera, cantata and oratorio and the instrumental forms of the solo concerto and sonata as musical genres. Dense, complex polyphonic music, in which multiple independent melody lines were performed simultaneously. A characteristic Baroque form was the dance suite. There are three periods of baroque music - early, middle and late.
Early Baroque music (1580-1630)
There was Camerata de' Bardi, important group of humanists, musicians, poets and intellectuals who discussed and guided trends in the arts, especially music and drama. They based their ideals on a perception of Classical (especially ancient Greek) musical drama that valued discourse and oration. They rejected their contemporaries' use of polyphony (multiple, independent melodic lines) and instrumental music. In Baroque, the new basso continuo technique was introduced. With basso continuo, a small group of musicians would play the bassline and the chords which formed the accompaniment for a melody. The basso continuo group would typically use one or more keyboard players, a lute player who would play the bassline and improvise the chords, and several bass instruments, which would play the bassline.
Middle Baroque music (1630-1680)
This period was called the Age of Absolutism, personified by Louis XIV of France. The realities of rising church and state patronage created the demand for organized public music, as the increasing availability of instruments created the demand for chamber music, which is music for a small ensemble of instrumentalists. There were created the vocal styles of cantata, oratorio, and opera and a new concept of melody and harmony that elevated the status of the music to equal level as words. The florid, coloratura monody gave way to a simpler, more polished melodic style. These melodies were built from short, delimited ideas often based on stylized dance patterns drawn from the sarabande or the courante.
Important terms
Sonata
Sonata means a piece played as opposed to a cantata. It is generally for one or more violins and Bass. It normally consists of a slow introduction, a loosely fugued allegro,and a cantabile slow movement.
Cantata
Cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical concert composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. It often deals with spiritual topics.
Solo concerto
A solo concerto is a musical form which features a single solo instrument with a melody line, accompanied by the orchestra. Traditionally, there are three movements in a solo concert, consisting of fast, slow and lyrical, and fast tempos, respectively.
Opera
Opera is musical theater. It includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. It deals with history and mythology, including age-old devices of romance, deception, and murder.
Dance suite
While the pieces in a dance suite were inspired by actual dance music, dance suites were designed purely for listening, not for accompanying dancers. A dance suite contains some of the following movements: Prelude, Entrée (ballet), Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Intermezzi, Gigue, Minuet, Polonaise.
Famous Baroque music
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburgische Konzerte
Georg Friedrich Händel
Sarabande
Antonio Vivaldi
Four Seasons
Claudio Monteverdi
Orfeo
Adam Václav Michna of Otradovice
Czech Lute
Exchange in Germany
Baroque music in Leipzig, Germany
Bach Museum Leipzig
Thomanerchor
Thomanerchor, boys' choir in Leipzig, was founded in 1212. At present, the choir consists of about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called Thomaner, live in a boarding school and go to the Thomasschule zu Leipzig, focused on musical education. Although the choir's main musical field traditionally consists of the vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach, the repertoire comprises pieces from different eras.
Dance
Baroque dances arised at 16th century.
We can separate Baroque dances into 2 types:
- Contradance
Danced primarily in England in the middle class. The main sign of this kind of dance is happiness.
There various figures and according to them we can divide Contradance to three types: Rounds, Squares and Longways. The first one was for unlimited number of pairs. The second one was usually for 4-8 pairs and the last one was for 6-8 dancers in 2 lines. - La bella danse
This dance was favourite among the upper class in France. The most important thing for this dance was handling with specific technique. In other countries, such as Italy or Spain, there are very similar dances with small differences.
Exchange in the Czech Republic
