Early Baroque-Chapter 8

The Early Baroque Period

    • Around 1600, music went through rapid changes in sophisticated courts & churches in Italy
    • Motets, madrigals, etc. were written for direct effect w/ less imitative polyphony
    • New style took over Italy & Europe
  • From Renaissance to Baroque
    • Madrigal was the most “advanced” form in late Renaissance music
    • End of 16th century, search for expression lead to madrigal composers using extreme and weird word painting
    • Taboo dissonances and rhythmic contrasts were explored
    • Influential group in Florence attacked word painting
    • Recitative (new style of solo singing) that joined music and speech, eventually leading to opera
    • Venice developed “colorful” music, probably influenced by architects and painters in the area
    • Homophony prevailed over counterpoint having choirs answer one another in stereo
    • Music was also becoming more rigorously controlled and systematic
  • Giovanni Gabrieli “O magnum mysterium” (Motet 1610)
    • One of the most important composers in Venice
    • Used special acoustics of St. Mark’s Basilica to their advantage
    • Created echo effects that modern audio equipment cannot duplicate
    • Written for Christmas season
    • Piece uses 2 choirs, each with 3 vocal parts & 4 instrumental & an organ
    • The choirs come together in the end for a grand ending
  • Style Features of Early Baroque Music
    • Baroque music is 1600-1750
    • Baroque - originally a jeweler’s term for large pearls of irregular shape
    • Rhythm became more definite, regular, and insistent (single or similar rhythms can be heard throughout a piece)
    • Very different from Renaissance floating rhythm and imitative polyphony change
    • New emphasis on meter, bar lines are used for the FIRST TIME IN MUSIC HISTORY
    • Strong beats emphasized by certain instruments
    • Some music is homophonic and some is polyphonic, but both use basso continuo
    • Basso continuo - a set of chords continuously underlying the melody in a piece of Baroque music; the instrument(s) playing the continuo, usually cello plus harpsichord or organ
    • Rather than just cello or bassoon, bass part was extended to the harpsichord and organ
    • Modern baroque players call it continuo
    • Continuo - a set of chords continuously underlying the melody in a piece of Baroque music; definition 2 from above
    • Ground bass - an ostinato in the bass (also known as basso ostinato)
    • Music in Baroque was constructed from the bottom up, starting with the bottom chords and adjusting the polyphony to it
    • Ostinato - a motive, phrase, or theme repeated over and over again
    • Harmony evolved rapidly in Baroque
    • Development of modern major/minor system is in this time, chord became standardized, and sense of tonality became stronger
    • Chords received special roles in relation to the tonic chord, making chords newly predictable and purposeful
    • Functional harmony/tonality - from the Baroque period on, the system whereby all chords have a specific interrelation and function in relation to the tonic
  • Opera
    • Opera - drama presented in music, with the characters singing instead of speaking
    • Considered the most characteristic art form of the Baroque period
    • Music, drama, poetry, dancing, and elaborate scene design and special effects were used
    • Machines were used to depict gods descending to earth, shipwrecks, volcanos, etc.
    • Scene designers received top billing
    • Started in Florence, they were court entertainments put on for royal weddings
    • In 1637, first public opera theater opened and became the leading form of entertainment in Italy
    • Recitative - a half-singing, half-reciting style of presenting words in opera, cantata, oratorio, etc., following speech accents and speech rhythms closely. Secco recitative is accompanied only by continuo; accompanied recitative is accompanied by orchestra
    • Aria - a vocal number for solo singer and orchestra, generally in an opera, cantata, or oratorio
    • Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) was the first great composer whose music was attacked for being too radical
    • Considered the last great madrigalist and first great opera composer
    • Published a book of sacred songs at 15, and composed operas into his 70’s
    • His first opera is considered the first masterpiece of opera
    • Claudio Monteverdi “The Coronation of Poppea” (1642)
      • Still is a shock, startling and cynical dramatical realism today
      • Poppea (mistress of Nero) schemes to get his wife Ottavia deposed and his eminent adviser Seneca put to death (and she succeeds)
      • Counterplot: Ottavia blackmails Ottone (Poppea’s rejected lover) in an attempt on Poppea’s life (and fails) and all the counter plotters are exiled
      • Arioso - a singing style between recitative and aria
    • Henry Purcell (1659-1695) is the greatest English composer of the Baroque era
    • Italy was the leader in music in the 17th century, but Baroque styles flourished in France, Germany, etc. (under Italian influence)
    • He wrote the 1st English examples of the new Italian instrumental genre, sonata
    • Henry Purcell “Dido and Aeneas” (1689)
      • His one true opera (which was performed at a girl’s school) lasts a little more than an hour and contains no virtuoso singing roles
      • Considered the only great opera in English prior to the 20th century
      • He used Aeneid (a Latin epic poem by Virgil), celebrating the glory of Rome and the Roman Empire
    • The Rise of Instrumental Music
      • The most far-reaching contribution of early Baroque composers was the development of instrumental music
      • Divided into 3 main sources: Dance, Virtuosity, and Vocal music
      • Dance reaches back to the Middle Ages, but Baroque dance received “special impetus” from opera, which was liked with ballet
      • Musicians in France (the center of ballet) put together dances from operas or ballets called suites
      • Suite - a piece consisting of a series of dances
      • Composers wrote dances and suites for harpsichord, stylized dances (not meant for dancing but written in the style of dance music)
      • Virtuosity is the 2nd source, as long as instruments have existed there have been individuals ready to show them off to audiences ready to applaud
      • Early art of virtuosos was improvised and scarcely written down (until the 16th and 17th century), and even written down pieces left it to improvisation
      • Vocal music, the 3rd source, transferred imitative polyphony to instrumental music
      • Actually occurred towards the end of the Renaissance, with instrumental genres containing points of imitation built on different motives (motet or madrigal)
      • Fugue - a composition written systematically in imitative polyphony, usually with a single main theme, the fugue subject
      • Art of improvisation was featured especially in keyboard players
      • Variations - sectional pieces in which each section repeats certain musical elements while others change around them
      • Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) was the foremost organ virtuoso of early 17th century and the organist of St. Peter’s in Rome
      • Johann Sebastian Bach carefully studied Girolamo’s work, who composed in several different genres
      • Toccata - especially in Baroque music, a written-out composition in improvisational style, generally for organ or harpsichord
      • Canzona - a lively, fugue like composition, one of several 16th and 17th-century genres of instrumental music
      • Stylized dances - formed of 2 phrases each, one or both repeated to pattern a a b or a a b b; sometimes grouped together in small suites
      • Sets of variations on melodic or harmonic patterns borrowed from contemporary vocal music
      • Girolamo Frescobaldi, Canzona, Balletto, and Corrente (1627-1637)
        • Canzona - 4 entries of the theme then a cadence; followed by a new theme entering at the top of the texture, combining it in counterpoint with the 1st and bringing it to a cadence
        • Balletto and Corrente - each consists of 2 phrases repeated in a a b b style, shown they are related (especially in their bass line). One is duple though while the other is triple meter.

Late Baroque-Chapter 9

The Late Baroque Period

 

    • Music from 1600-1750 music is referred to as Baroque
    • Art was considered imperfect, bizarre, and erratic; and what was originally negative was turned positive
    • Over the last 75 years (with help of recordings) Baroque music has become more popular
    • Most Baroque music heard today is from the 18th century (1700-1750)
    • Famous composers such as Bach and Handel are from this time
  • Absolutism and the Age of Science
    • 1600-1750 Age of Absolutism
    • Time of belief in the divine right of kings, kings ruling was absolute and they were chosen by God
    • Absolutism still exists (dictatorships)
    • Others call it the Age of Science: telescope, microscope, calculus, and Newton’s laws of mechanics and theory of gravity were all invented
    • This affected technology and philosophy
    • Even in ancient times, rulers sponsored the arts
    • Largest supporter in the Baroque period was Louis XIV of France
    • Others envied him and tried to match him (especially in Germany)
    • Art was meant to impress and stupefy (ex: Louis XIV building the largest palace in history, Versailles)
    • Horn players were for hunts, trumpeters for battles, and orchestras for balls/entertainments
    • There were even small groups to play background music (Tafelmusik)
    • Opera was the main Baroque absolutism of music; just like today, In Baroque times it was a very expensive form of entertainment with drama with music and stage
    • There is one difference: Baroque opera stories were indirect tributes to the glory of patrons
    • Opera was invented in 1600 Italy and contributed to the 17th century’s “golden age of the theater”, with individuals such as Shakespeare, Corneille, Calderón, and Lope de Vega
    • Theater is where strong emotion is on display, and the Baroque fascination of this translated to art
    • Baroque formal gardens symbolize human control over nature; landscape architecture was considered a major art in the Baroque period
    • Science had an impact on music: scales were tuned/tempered more exactly than ever before, all 24 major/minor keys were available; harmony was systemized so chords followed one another
    • Regularity was the ideal in rhythm, distribution of sections of music in time and schematic plans
    • Music became planned systematically similar to the landscape architects 
    • Thinkers sought to apply new rational methods to analysis and classification of human emotions; and music was related
  • Musical Life in the Early 18th Century
    • 18th century was a great age for crafts (ex: age of Stradivarius in violin making, Chippendale furniture, Paul Revere silver)
    • Baroque pieces are not individualized in expression because they were thought to be jobs rather than pleasure/art
    • 3 main areas for composers to make a living: opera, church, and court
    • Church: organists/choirmasters had to compose their music, play and conduct it, and even had to improvise or write out music to accompany certain parts of services and played long pieces (church musicians also trained boys who sang in their choir)
    • Court: musician was hired on same terms as a painter, master of hunt, or head chef; they worked at their master’s whim. They had better musical developments than church musicians due to their required travel with employers
    • Opera: many were attached to courts, but some were run by entrepreneurs in big cities; composers conducted their own operas from the harpsichord. Opera was very exciting and unpredictable
  • Style Features of Late Baroque Music
    • Methodical quality is the central of late Baroque music
    • Consists of inspired repetition and variation
    • Baroque composers preferred thoroughness and homogeneity
    • It was longer pieces broken up into blocks of music that contrasted in obvious ways but were still homogeneous in themselves
    • Baroque music started playing distinctive rhythms against steady beats
    • The meter stands out and is emphasized by certain instruments (most characteristic is harpsichord)
    • There is also harmonic rhythm - changing chords every measure
    • Composers rarely used f or p to indicate dynamics and the starter was consistent through the entire piece (although performers never really followed these indications)
    • Abrupt dynamics were preferred rather than gradual builds
    • Tone color provides a contradiction: early parts evinced interest in sonority, and the end echoed sophisticated sounds
    • Other side, significant amount was written to allow multiple/alternative performing forces (ex: oboe OR flute)
    • Baroque orchestra was 24 “violins”; instruments within the string/violin family (ex: string orchestra)
    • Keyboards were eventually added, and winds/brass were not a feature unless for special occasion
    • Baroque melodies leaned towards complexity, pushing to the limits (extending over 2 octaves, etc.)
    • Considered that it peaked in that European classical period of the late Baroque era
    • Melodies were not easy to sing, and often featured sequence
    • Ornamentation - addition of fast notes and vocal effects (such as trills) to a melody, making it more florid and expressive. Ornamentation is typically improvised in the music of all cultures, and in Western music is often written out
    • Baroque improvisations were written down and give us an idea of music played at the time
    • Standard texture was polyphonic and had contrapuntal lines
    • Polyphony was supported by harmony (continuo)
    • Continuo left a lot for players to do, even though their role was considered subsidiary
    • Baroque music described as polarized (polarity between strong bass and clear soprano range)
    • Baroque musical form was clearer than other historical periods, mainly influenced by the social and intellectual factors
    • Other factor was the scientific spirit of the age; musicians took scientists/philosophers/craftsmen ideas of thing could be controlled and encompassed at will
  • The Emotional World of Baroque Music
    • Baroque music strikes the listener as powerful yet impersonal
    • Exhaustiveness of their musical technique made a similar exhaustiveness of emotional effect
    • A single movement restricted itself to depicting one emotion, and as it repeats it intensifies that one feeling
    • They were extremes, people though to experience this were larger than life, and this ties into the Baroque love of theater

Baroque Music Overview

Step 1

Share your overall impression of the music of the Baroque Period

As we move on in history, I am becoming much more familiar with the music from each era. There definitely is a level of personal bias here, but I prefer the Baroque period music a lot more because of the strong development of instrumental music in this time (stuff like Toccata and Fugue in D Minor really get me hyped y'know). The level of advancement in this music from the Renaissance is so drastic and familiar/similar to the music that is most often played now, that it is somewhat a relief to finally be in this period.

How does this music sound similar to the music of the Renaissance?

The biggest similarity between the two is the use of polyphony. They both have strong levels of polyphony in their work (due to its development and advancement in these times). There is a small amount of similar orchestration, but the Baroque period had different instruments develop in comparison to the Renaissance period. Overall, they do have their diversities but overall sound very similar.

How does this music sound different from the music of the Renaissance?

Although there were hints of it at the end of the Renaissance, the development of instrumental music (music without vocals and just the instruments are present) is a very strong characteristic of the Baroque period. We see a shift from solely vocal music with instruments as accompaniments to an era where instruments can be featured all by themselves. The strongest thing that stands out besides the shift in what is being performed is the shift to the major/minor modes which are still in use today, as well as an even stronger entertainment aspect of music in the form of opera. The Baroque music overall compared to Renaissance music has more diversity, the stronger development of harmony, and the use of different modes, making it very different from Renaissance music.

 

Step 2

Describe the mood of the music represented here in Monteverdi's opera Orfeo

The initial start of orchestration is a very upbeat and happy sounding portion, I feel as though I am a happy little kid running through a village (or something like that who knows). Around 1:40, the piece starts to get more suspenseful as it builds up the entrance for the singer. Once the singer enters, the piece becomes much more depressing and minor. As she sings, I feel as though someone has died and she is mourning the loss of that individual, it genuinely gives that much of an intense sadness.

 

Step 3 

Describe the pitch geography and pattern of the bass line heard here in Pachelbel's Canon

The bass line is a constant ascending lick played over and over again, changing slightly after each repeat. The same rhythm and idea is followed in every single lick, but it may just change the pitches by a step or two for where it starts. There is no real variety or grand changes in the bass line compared to the other melodies or harmonies being played.

 

Step 4 

Why do you think this Trumpet Tune by Purcell  is used for so many wedding ceremonies?

I find it interesting that this is apparently played at so many wedding ceremonies, but this is my first time ever hearing the piece. I believe due to its upbeat mood and major key. It has a very romantic feeling due to the instrument choices (organ, which are usually found in churches; and trumpets, which are often featured in the majority of wedding pieces anyways). Besides its instrumentation, upbeat demeanor, and almost romantic feeling, there is no other reasoning that I can picture for its frequent use in weddings.

 

Step 5 

Describe the emotional effect inspired by When I am Laid in Earth from Purcell's Dido and Aneas

The song does feel very sad, but for some reason it doesn't feel like it is in a minor key, and almost has a bit of hopefulness to it. Whereas most sad pieces make me feel dreary or depressed, this one almost feels relaxing and a bit uplifting. It is a very unique sound that I haven't seen in many pieces before.

 

Step 6 

Describe the texture(monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic) of this Old 100th Hymn from the Bay Psalm Book

Homophonic; the voices and the organ are following the same rhythm and are just harmonized.

Period Research

Step 1 

1.  Provide approximate dates for the Baroque Period punctuated with notable world/historical events

The Baroque Period is considered to be from 1600-1750. During this period, was saw a lot of events occur. At the beginning, there is the start of the reign of King James I as well as the death of Queen Elizabeth I. This is soon followed by the establishment of Jamestown in North America in 1607. We also see the Thirty Years War from 1618-1648, a fight between Catholics and Protestants in the Holy Roman Empire. The Pilgrims arrived in North America in 1620, and eventually we see the English Civil War. As we near the end, we see tragic events such as the Salem witch trials. Some notable figures from this time are Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, and composers such as Purcell, Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi.

 

2.  Define the term 'Baroque' and how this relates to the characteristics of music and art from this period

The term Baroque was originally a jeweler's term for large pearls of irregular shape. The Baroque period was filled with very extravagant architecture, paintings, music, etc. which was very different from previous eras. The Baroque music used previously taboo ideals or things with negative connotation to their advantage and advanced the music in that idea. Like the large pearls, the art of this time was larger than life and contained what were previously conceived as irregularities. 

 

3.  List the Instruments for each family that comprise a Baroque Period Orchestra

A.  String: Violin 1s and 2s, Violas, Cellos, Bass

B.  Brass: 3 Trumpets

C.  Woodwind: 2 Oboes, 1 Bassoon

D.  Percussion: 2 Timpani, & Harpsichord or Organ

 

4.  Provide a bit of trivia regarding 

A.  Brass Valves vs. No Brass Valves in this Time Period: There are two different types of trumpets, the Baroque and the Natural trumpet, and there is a great deal of controversy between the two. The Natural trumpet is a valveless trumpet that was used well before the Baroque period; the name Baroque trumpet is used to describe the replicas of Natural trumpets created for modern players interested in the instrument. Often times, a Baroque trumpet has added vents to add ease for modern players.

B.  Baroque Trills and Ornamentation: Ornamentation is the addition of fast notes and vocal effects (such as trills) to a melody, making it more florid and expressive. Ornamentation is typically improvised in the music of all cultures, and in Western music is often written out. It was used to add some "spice" or pizazz to a piece. There are a handful of signs that were used in the Baroque period to indicate these ornamentations and how they should be played, but without the indication, performers were allowed to make their choice of how it sounds. Basically, there is no "right" wait to execute ornamentation.

Baroque Instrumental Music-Chapter 10

Baroque Instrumental Music

    • Early European music was with words, strictly instrumental was rare
    • The Baroque era was important due to instrumental music being taken much more seriously
    • It was gradual, early Baroque composers wrote no instrumental and late composers wrote hundreds of instrumental pieces
    • Occurred during the improvement of instrument making
    • Stradivarius violins and Strad cellos came out in this era and sell for millions
    • There was the need for a basic understanding between composers and audiences; when does the music end? Vocal music ended with the lyrics, but in instrumental they had to develop an ending
  • Concerto and Concerto Grosso
    • The most orchestral genres of the Baroque era
    • Basic idea of genres is the difference between orchestras, soloists, and small groups of soloists
    • Movement - a self-contained section of a larger piece, such as a symphony or concerto grosso
    • Typical Baroque concertos have 3 movements, 1st is bright & fast tempo, 2nd is more emotional & slower, 3rd is faster than 1st
    • Ritornello - the orchestral material at the beginning of a concerto grosso, etc., which always returns later in the piece
    • Ritorno refers to going between the orchestral piece and a solo, repeat, etc.
    • Antonio Vivaldi, Violin Concerto in G, La stravaganza, Op. 4, No. 12 (1712-1713)
      • Wrote hundreds of concertos and published them in sets of 6 or 12
      • A concerto for solo violin, to showcase Stradivarius’ violins
    • Variation forms were the simplest and most characteristic of Baroque forms
    • Variation form - a form in which a single melodic unit is repeated with harmonic, rhythmic, dynamic, or timbral changes
    • One of the most popular concertos from the Baroque period is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
    • Program music - a piece of instrumental music associated with a story or other extramusical idea
    • Cadenza - an improvised passage for the soloist in a concerto, or sometimes in other works. Concerto cadenzas usually come near the ends of movements
  • Fugue
    • One of the most interesting characteristics in Baroque music and culture
    • Baroque composers systematized imitative polyphony (glimpsed in Middle Ages, developed in Renaissance)
    • Exposition - the first section of a fugue; the first section of a sonata-form movement
    • Subject entries - in a fugue, appearances of the entire fugue subject after the opening exposition
    • Episodes - in a fugue, a passage that does not contain any complete appearances of the fugue subject
    • Countersubject - in a fugue, a subsidiary melodic line that appears regularly in counterpoint with the subject
    • Inversion - reading or playing a melody or a twelve-tone series upside down, playing all its upward intervals downward and vice versa
    • Stretto - in a fugue, overlapping entrances of the fugue subject in several voices simultaneously
    • Prelude - an introductory piece, leading to another, such as a fugue or an opera (however, Chopin’s Preludes were not intended to lead to anything else)
    • Arpeggio - a chord “broken” so that its pitches are played in quick succession rather than simultaneously
  • Baroque Dances
    • France was associated with dance music
    • Many different dances existed in Baroque era, differences associated in dance steps
    • Minuet - a popular 17th and 18th century dance in moderate triple meter; a movement in a sonata, symphony, etc., based on this dance
    • Sarabande - a baroque dance in slow triple meter, with a secondary accent on the second beat
    • Suite - a piece consisting of a series of dances
    • All dances in a suite kept to the same key
    • Gigue - a baroque dance in a lively compound meter
    • Binary form - a musical form having two different sections; AB form
    • Trio - a piece for 3 instruments or singers; the second, or B, section of a minuet movement, scherzo, etc.

Baroque Vocal Music-Chapter 11

Baroque Vocal Music

    • Vocal music was a major part of output from most Baroque composers
    • Words define or suggest emotions in vocal music
  • Opera
    • The principal genre of secular vocal music
    • Started around 1600, most influential and adventurous genre
    • Opera offered stage to express powerful emotions through solo singers
    • Emotions were made more intense by music
    • Coloratura singing - fast brilliant runs, scales, high notes, vocal cadenzas, etc.
    • Opera seria - a term for the serious, heroic opera of the Baroque period in Italy
    • Mainly solo singing by sopranos and mezzo-sopranos, and plot was based on ancient history with additions
    • Recitative - a half-singing, half-reciting style of presenting words in opera, cantata, oratorio, etc., following speech accents and speech rhythms closely. Secco recitative is accompanied only by continuo; accompanied recitative is accompanied by orchestra
    • Castrato singers were prized; male singers in opera who submitted to castration at puberty in order to preserve soprano/alto voices
    • Aria - a vocal number for solo singer and orchestra, generally in an opera, cantata, or oratorio
    • Da capo - literally, “from the beginning”; a direction to the performer to repeat music from the beginning of the piece up to a later point
  • Oratorio
    • Sacred vocal music has diversity in style and form
    • Most was written for churches, so the style depended on if it were for Roman Catholic, Lutheran, or Anglican
    • 2 general factors for Baroque sacred music: oratorio and passion, cantata, Mass, and motet. Traditional factor is participation of choir; other factor is strong tendency to borrow from secular vocal music
    • Oratorio - long semi dramatic piece on a religious subject for soloists, chorus, and orchestra
    • Oratorio substituted for opera in England and Italy (during religious periods)
  • The Church Cantata
    • Cantata - a composition in several movements for solo voice(s), instruments, and perhaps also chorus. Depending on the text, cantatas are categorized as secular or church cantatas.
    • Cantata is a general name for a piece of moderate length for voices and instruments
    • They are not sacred music, but in Germany church cantatas were written to be performed during Lutheran church services
    • Chorale - German for hymn; also used for a four-part harmonization of a Lutheran hymn, such as Bach composed in his Cantata No. 4 and other works
    • Before 20th century, opportunities for women were limited
    • Music provided exceptions for women, such as theater
    • Gapped chorale - a setting of a chorale melody in which the tune is presented in phrases with “gaps” between them, during which other music continues in other voices or instruments

 

I'll be Bach

Step 1

Describe the instrument timbres used in Alla Hornpipe from Handel's Water Music

The opening strings are very light yet almost tangy (like a pastry with any orange flavoring) and bright. The following trumpets almost have the same feeling except a more metal and brassy tone (like chocolate that has a slight taste of the metal wrapping in it?). Lastly, the horns that follow after that have a very hollow and open feeling tone (gives me major chocolate bunny vibes, but the ones that are hollow of course). The transition from strings, to a higher sounding brass, and finally a lower sounding brass provides diversity in sound between all of the groups.

 

Step 2

Comment on the musical relationship between the soloists and orchestra in Winter from the Four Seasons by Vivaldi

In most if not all of the soloist's parts, she is either playing entirely alone or has a gentle accompaniment from the harpsichord. In a few parts, some parts of her playing are joined by accented notes from the rest of the strings. The most amazing thing to me is watching the entire orchestra stop in the beginning as she plays her solo, and immediately starts after again. It ends in a big finale where all of the strings and the soloist are playing with high intensity. The second part has similarities to the first: soloist playing with gentle harpsichord accompaniment. The orchestra plays some pizzicato notes below her solo. The third part starts with her playing a solo all by herself, and eventually she is joined by the entire orchestra. Throughout all of these, there isn't exactly a counter-melody or anything that would drastically draw your interest to any other parts, they are primarily playing accompaniment.

 

Step 3

Describe the types of orchestral instruments heard in Presto III from Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4

The opening features a harpsichord and violins, then towards 0:25 there is the entrance of a recorder. There are no brass or percussion (besides the harpsichord) instruments featured in this piece at all. There are probably a decent amount of violins/cellos, a singular soloist recorder, and a singular harpsichord.

 

Step 4 

How does La Rejouissance by Handel set the mood for fireworks?

The beginning is very intense, loud, and brassy; just like how one pictures fireworks. It is followed by a more peaceful repeat from the winds in a very calming yet upbeat tone. The repetition of the quick and upbeat melody allows for the fireworks to be viewed in a very cheery tone. Since the piece is very quick, it fuels your adrenaline along with the fireworks.

 

Step 5

What occasion might Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by Bach be suited for and why?

I could definitely picture this piece being played as people are praying within a church. The piece is aimed in more the religious rather than secular aspect, so I can only really picture it being used in churches. It also gives me a very strong Celtic-wedding vibe, if people wanted to go towards that. But due to its religious intentions as well as the very peaceful feeling yet slight intensity to it, I definitely could picture people inside of a church worshipping or praying.

 

Step 6

How many times is the "A" theme heard in this Rondo from Vivaldi's Four Seasons?

If including all parts and variations: 10 times.

 

Step 7

How many times is the subject heard in this Little Fugue in G minor by Bach?

Between all of the different parts and variations, it was difficult to tell, but I counted 15 times.

 

Step 8 

Are the phrases in Autumn from the Four Seasons by Vivaldi mostly symmetrical or asymmetrical?

Symmetrical

HONORS TRACK

If it ain't Baroque

Provide a brief narrative about the Pipe Organ 

History

We can see traces of the pipe organ all the way back in Ancient Greece in 3rd century BC, in the water organ. The water organ had wind supply created by the weight of displaced water in an airtight container. This switched to the creation of wind from bellows in 6th or 7th century AD. In the 12th century, the organ started changing into a complex instrument producing different timbres, and a pipe organ with lead pipes was sent to the West for Pepin, King of Franks, in 757. His son Charlemagne requested a pipe organ for his chapel in 812, which started the use of pipe organs in Western European church music. The first organ with record in England was built in Winchester Cathedral in the 10th century, with 400 pipes, needing 2 men to play it and 70 men to blow it. It is stated that it could be heard throughout the city. The modern classical organ developed its sounds by the 17th century. The pipe organ was considered the most complex man-made device until the telephone exchange in the late 19th century.

Makers

Australia - Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd, William Anderson, Johnson & Kinloch, Samuel Joscelyne

Canada - Juget-Sinclair, Louis Mitchell, Legge Organ Co. Ltd, R. A. Denton & Son

Germany - Jürgen Ahrend, Michael Becker Orgelbau, Peter Breisiger, Elias Hößler, Johann Friedrich Wender, Arp Schnitger

Switzerland - Arno Caluori Orgelbau, Armin Hause Orgelbau, Orgelbau Graf, Manufacture d’argues St. Martin S.A.

United Kingdom - Peter Jones Ogran Builder, Lammermuir Pipe Organs, Michael Macdonald Organ Builder, F. Booth & Son Ltd.

United States - Estey Organ (FROM BRATTLEBORO VERMONT!), Abbott & Sieker, Balcom and Vaughan, Parkey Organs, Wissinger Organs

Special Instrument Features/How it Works

The pipe organ is played by sending pressurized air through pipes selected via the keyboard. Each pipe is an individual pitch, so they come in sets called ranks based on their timbre and volume. The majority of organs have multiple ranks which can be played simultaneously through stops (controls). It has multiple controls: usually multiple keyboards and a pedalboard which is played with the individual's feet. This makes it very unique from every other piano/harpsichord out there.

Notable Performers

Charles-Marie Widor, Marcel Dupré, Carol Williams, Jean Alain, Marie-Clair Alain (siblings), Daniel Roth, Jimmy Smith, Charles Tournemire, Shirley Scott

Notable Compositions

Robertsbridge Codex - Written to be played on any keyboard instrument; one of the oldest sources

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Claudio Merulo, Antonio de Cabezón, Juan Cabanilles - Some of the earliest harpsichord composers

Johann Sebastian Bach, George Fredric Handel - Composed great organ music and 1st organ concertos

Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3, Joseph Jongen's Symphonie Concertante for Organ & Orchestra, Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Organ, Strings and Tympani, and Frigyes Hidas' Organ Concerto.