Masterpieces of Music History: Baroque to Modern

Posted on Feb 16, 2025 in Music

Contents

  • Baroque: Vivaldi and The Four Seasons, Bach and The Well-Tempered Clavier, Handel and Messiah
  • Classical: Haydn and the “Emperor Quartet”, Mozart and Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Beethoven and Symphony No. 5
  • Romantic: Schubert and “Erlkönig”, Chopin and Polonaise in A flat major, Berlioz and Symphonie fantastique, Bizet and Carmen
  • Modern: Debussy and Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, Stravinsky and The Rite of Spring, Bernstein and West Side Story, Louie and Music for Piano, Adams and Short Ride in a Fast Machine

Baroque

Antonio Vivaldi and The Four Seasons

Life: Antonio Vivaldi, born March 4, 1678, in Venice, was a virtuoso violinist and Baroque composer. Dubbed “The Red Priest,” he wrote over 500 concertos and 46 operas. Known for his idiomatic string writing and innovative concertos, his masterpiece The Four Seasons remains a classical music staple. He passed away on July 28, 1741, in Vienna.

Musical Life and Contributions: Vivaldi pioneered the three-movement concerto and the ritornello form. Known for his virtuosic string writing, he used rapid passages, string crossings, and double stops. His programmatic compositions, like “The Four Seasons,” incorporated descriptive titles and sequences. Vivaldi’s innovations remain influential and celebrated for their expressive qualities.

Terms

  • Concerto: A popular instrumental genre of the Baroque era, is a musical composition typically in three movements—fast, slow, fast—featuring a solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment. It often uses the ritornello form to showcase the soloist’s virtuosity and expressive capabilities.
  • Ritornello form: The ritornello form is a structure employed in the first and third movements of the Baroque concerto. The opening passage (ritornello) is restated throughout the movement, serving as a refrain.
  • Ripieno: A term used to denote the use of the full orchestra in the Baroque concerto. Italian for “full” or “complete.”
  • Ostinato: Italian for “obstinate” or “persistent.”
  • Pedal Point: A note, or a series of notes, sustained through harmony changes in other parts.
  • Idiomatic Writing: Highlights the unique technical capabilities of an instrument in the style of writing, opposite of “generic”, developed in the Baroque Era.
  • Programmatic Writing: Music with a descriptive element, inspired by extramusical associations, like a story or painting evolved into a significant feature of 19th-century instrumental writing (program music).

The Four Seasons

Genre: Solo violin concerto. Composition date: 1725. Performing forces: Solo violin, strings, and continuo. First movement – Key: E major, Form: Ritornello form, Tempo: 4/4.

Second Movement

  1. Write the letter of the term in the right column beside the correct definition in the space provided. You will NOT use all the terms.

a. Aria
b. Figured Bass
c. Idiomatic Writing
d. Libretto
e. Exposition
f. Ballet
g. Tonal Answer
h. Ostinato
i. Pedal Point
j. Recitativo Secco

(i) A sustained note over which harmonies change
(b) A musical shorthand developed in the Baroque era, numbers are placed below the baseline to show harmonic progression
(j) A speech-like, declamatory style of singing, supported only by continuo
(d) The text of an opera or oratorio
(c) Highlights the unique technical capabilities of an instrument in the style of writing
(e) The opening section of a sonata form movement
(a) A solo song in an opera or oratorio
(g) A statement of the subject in which one or more intervals is adjusted to accommodate the harmony
(f) A choreographed stage work combining dance and music

  1. Name the composer (use their full name) associated with the following statements:

(Adams) Incessant, driving rhythm (moto perpetuo) – frequently uses ostinato patterns, syncopation, and complex polyrhythms resulting in “rhythmic dissonance.”
(Bernstein) Leader in breaking down time barriers separating “serious art music” from more popular styles.
(Chopin) Performed his variations on Mozart’s “La ci darem la mano” from Don Giovanni to great acclaim.
(Bach) He composed many organ works, including the Orgelbuchlein (Little Organ Book) and music for Lutheran church services.
(Chopin) Original and innovative pianistic figurations; unusual spacing of chords, sweeping arpeggiation, expanded range, exploited new capabilities of the piano.
(Bizet) Wrote orchestral pieces like: Symphony in C major, “Roma Symphony”, incidental music to “The Girl from Arles.”
(Bach) He composed in every genre of his day except opera.
(Beethoven) Explosive accents, extreme dynamic contrasts, incorporated new orchestral instruments.
(Bernstein) Absorbed popular, jazz, and musical theater elements, complex polyrhythms resulting in “rhythmic dissonance.”
(Haydn) Used pedal points to suggest bagpipes, pizzicato strings to suggest guitar.
(Mozart) Virtually all Classical genres were explored, advanced, and developed.
(Schubert) German Romantic poetry inspired this composer to write over six hundred Lieder.
(Mozart) This composer wrote operas in every style, including opera seria, opera buffa, and Singspiel.
(Handel) When opera seria began to lose popularity, this composer developed the English oratorio.

  1. Name the composer associated with the following people:

(Handel) George Ludwig (King George I)
(Mozart) Johann Christian Bach, mentor
(Beethoven) Napoleon, great admirer
(Chopin) Wodzinska, influenced his music
(Berlioz) Marie Recio, second wife, singer

  1. Associate the following musical features with one of the four eras:

(Baroque) Idiomatic writing
(Classical) Sonata cycle
(Baroque) Ornamentation
(Modern) Atonality
(Romantic) Exoticism