Baroque PeriodFugueConcerto Grosso and Ritornello Form Concerto grosso is an important form of orchestral music in the late broque period. In a concerto grosso, a small group of soloists is pitted against a larger group of players called the tutti (all). Usually, between two and four soloists play with anywhere from eight to twenty or more musicians for the tutti. The tutti consits mainly on string instruments, with harpsichord as part of the basso continuo. A concerto grosso presents a contrast of texture between the tutti and the soloists, who assert their individuality and appeal for attention through brilliant and fanciful melodic lines. The soloists were the best and the highest-paid members of the baroque orchestra, because their parts were more difficult than those of the other players. Concerti grossi were frequently performed by private orchestras in aristocratic palaces.~~~(1600-1750)
One cornerstone of Baroque music is the fugue, which can be written for
a group of instruments or voices, or for a single instrument like an organ
or hapsichord. A fugue is a polyphonic composition based on one main theme,
called subject. The top melodic line-whether sung or played-is the
soprano voice, and the bottom is the bass. The texture of a fugue usuakky
includes three, four, or five voices. Though the subject remains fairly
constant throughtout it, it takes on new meanings when shifted to different
keys or combined with different melodic and rhythmic ideas.
A fugue subject can be varied in four principal ways:
OperaOpera was born in Italy. Its way was prepared by musical discussions among a small group of nobles, poets, and composers who began to meet regulkarly in Florence around 1575. This group was known as the Camerata(Italian for feloowship or society) and included the composer Vincenzo Galilei, father of the astronomer Galileo. The Camerata wanted to create a new vocal style modeled on the music of ancient Greek tragedy. Since no actual dramatic music had come down to them from the Greeks, they base their theories on literary accounts that had survived. It was believed that the Greek dramas had been sung throughout in a style that was midway between melody and speech. It was sung by a soloists with only a simple chordal accompanient. The new music is therefore homophonic in texture. Polyphony was rejected by the Camerata because different words sounding simultaneously would obscure the all-important text. Much baroqua opera was composed for ceremonial occasions at court and was designed as a display of magnificence and splendour. The subject matter was drawn fron Greek mythology and ancient history. Not only were arostocratic patrons og the baroqua fascinated by the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome, but they identified with Greek and Roman heroes and divinities. Opera did indeed reflect the creative urge of composer nad libretists, but it also was a way to flatter the aristocracy. The first public opera house opened in Venice in 1637; now anyone with the price of admission could attend an opera performance. Between 1637 and 1700 there were seventeen opera houses in Venice alone, as well as many in other Italian cities_ample evidence that the opera had been born in the right place at the right time. Hamburg, Leipzig, and London had public opera houss by the early 1700s , but, on the who;e, public opera outside Italy took longer to develop.
There were many composers
during the Baroque Period. But my favorite composer here is Bach.