General Music Cycle 7 Mr. Hamilton Period 3A

The Baroque Period (1600 – 1750)

Royalty, wealthy families, and large churches hired composers of the baroque period to provide music for special occasions or for entertainment. Operas, ballets, and instrumental compositions were written for the world at large. Large religious choral works – Masses and cantatas – were written for use in churches. For contrasts in tone color composers used a wide variety of instruments such as the organ, violin, flute, oboe, trumpet, and harpsichord.

Most baroque music has steady, rhythmic patterns. Each section of a larger composition conveys a single mood or emotion. Improvements in instruments made more complex music possible. Two of the most famous composers of all time, Johann Sebastian Back and George Frederick Handel lived during this period and produced some of the finest examples of baroque music.

Characteristics of Baroque Music

Steady rhythms Single mood in each section of a musical composition Wide variety of instruments used for contrasts in tone color

Sacred Secular

Instrumentation Any Instrumentation Any Instrumentation

Texture Mostly Homophonic Mostly Homophonic

Mass Opera Song Forms Cantata Ballet Oratorio Concerto

Baroque Period Composers

Johann Sebastian Bach George Frederick Handel Antonio Vivaldi

Baroque Concerto

“Spring” (First Movement) from The Four Seasons, by Antonio Vivaldi

The CONCERTO was one of the most important instrumental forms used in the baroque period. In a concerto, one instrument or group of instruments is set against the orchestra.

The Four Seasons is a group of violin concertos written around 1725 by the Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi (1675-1741). Each concerto is accompanied by a poem, also written by Vivaldi, describing that season. This is a very clear example of PROGRAM MUSIC, music that tells a story or describes a scene.

One of the musical characteristics emphasized in the baroque concerto was contrast. In a style typical of the baroque, Vivaldi used two contrasting groups of instruments, contrasting melodies, and abrupt contrasts of loud and soft.

“Spring” begins with the main theme played by everyone. This section is called the RITORNELLO. The ritornello is when everyone plays the main theme of the music. The contrasting sections, called EPISODES, are played by the solo or small ensembles. The music played suggests musical descriptions of spring, such as birds, murmuring waters, lightning and thunder.

Listening Map of “Spring” (First Movement) from The Four Seasons

1. 2. 3.

Ritornello in Major Solo and Concertino Ritornello in Major Tutti Bird Calls Tutti

4. 5. 6.

Murmuring Stream Ritornello in Major Solo/Tutti Tutti Tutti Lightning and Thunder

7. 8. 9.

Ritornello in Minor Solo and Concertino Solo, Concertino and Tutti Tutti Birds Return Ritornello in Major