Baroque Music: Forms, Composers, and History
Six Famous Baroque Composers
Baroque: Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, Monteverdi, Broschi, Purcell.
The Birth of Opera
Opera emerged within the cultural circle of Count Bardi in Florence, known as the Camerata Fiorentina. This group, which gathered nobles, scholars, philosophers, poets, and musicians, aimed to revive classical Greek theater. Their efforts marked the starting point of the operatic genre, characterized by fully accompanied monody. The first preserved opera is Jacopo Peri’s Euridice.
Characteristics of Opera
Opera is a complex vocal form with a narrative that utilizes stage performance. Written for orchestra, chorus, and soloists, it is divided into three main parts:
- Overture: An instrumental introduction that begins the work.
- Sung parts: For soloists and chorus. There are two styles of singing based on the text’s content: aria and recitative.
- Interludes: Instrumental sections interspersed to articulate and link the different parts of the work.
Types of Opera
- Opera Seria: Uses plots based on mythological and heroic writings in Italian. It was the preferred genre of the aristocracy. Principal composers include Scarlatti and Handel.
- Opera Buffa: Uses plots based on everyday life, featuring characters closer to the common people. These operas often presented a social critique of the upper classes. A notable composer is Jean-Baptiste Lully.
The Cantata
The term “cantata” means “to sing” and originated as an opposite to “sonata” (music to be sounded or played by instruments). Notable composers include Georg Philipp Telemann and Bach.
The Oratorio
This form can be considered a religious-themed opera without stage performance. It is more elaborate and extensive than the cantata. Notable composers include Giacomo Carissimi and Handel.
The Passion
The Passion is an oratorio with the exclusive subject of the passion and death of Christ, inspired by the Gospels. It is a complex structure of recitatives, arias, and choruses, written for orchestra, chorus, and soloists. A notable composer is Bach.
The Fugue
The Fugue is a simple contrapuntal texture based on the systematic use of imitation.
The Suite
The Suite evolved from Renaissance dance music, often associated with pairs of different rhythms and dances: Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Giga.
The Sonata
Music for “sonatas” was touched or played by instruments, typically in a slow-fast-slow-fast pattern.
The Concerto
Derived from the word “concertato,” expressing the idea of order and collecting different things, the concerto typically follows a fast-slow-fast pattern. It can be either grosso or solo.
Ballet de Cour
Ballet de Cour was a danced play that began with an instrumental overture and finished with a grand ballet in which, at least once a year, the king himself participated. The dramatic development consisted of a series of entrées or scenes that mixed song and dance, performed exclusively by professionals. It was represented in splendid scenery, and the dancers, initially only male, were adorned with lavish costumes and masks.
Court Dances
- Allemande: A quiet dance with steps in binary rhythm and a brief initial anacrusis.
- Courante: Its name derives from the French word “courant,” a fast-paced ternary dance.
- Bourrée: A French round dance with fast motion and binary rhythm.
- Chaconne: A sung dance of Spanish origin, quiet and in ternary rhythm.
- Sarabande: A solemn dance of Spanish origin, in ternary and slow rhythm.
- Gigue: A fast-paced dance of English origin in 6/8 time.
Religious Vocal Music
Motets, Masses, and carols. Notable composers include Joan Cererols and Francisco Valls.
Secular Vocal Music
Romance and carol. Notable composers include Mateo Romero and Juan Hidalgo.
Zarzuela
Zarzuela is a typically Spanish genre whose name derives from the Madrid palace located in an area of brambles in the woods of Pardo. Philip IV inaugurated the custom of representing comedies with music for the court’s distraction. Zarzuela uses the Castilian language and consists of a succession of sung and spoken parts. Featured composers include Sebastián Durón and José de Nebra.