Introduction to Music

Study Guide 2

The Baroque Period

 

As you have figured by now, we are looking at a different language.   Beyond the terms, the theory, and the history, the sounds of the music carry a language of its own. Your task is to figure out just exactly what the music is saying.   By doing so, you must be able to understand each piece and consider some of the following questions.

 

Giovanni Gabrieli: O Quam Suavis

 

Who wrote this work?

 

Where was this music composed and performed?

 

What is the texture of this piece?

 

How many musical ensembles are present in this piece and what are their types?

 

Describe the event for which this piece was composed?

 

 

The Coronation of Poppea

 

Who wrote this work?

What is the genre of this large work?

What part of the Baroque period does this work fall?

What is the plot of this work?

What is the text based upon?

 

CD TRACK 51: 

What is happening in this scene?

 

CD TRACK 53:

What is happening during the playing of this music?

 

What genre is this passage?

           

CD TRACK 54:

What type of music term describes the bass line in this introduction?

What type of vocal genre is this track?

What type of sound is used to paint the word “moro” (death) and “Peno” (grieving) in this example?

 

Dido and Aneeas, Act III, Dido’s Lament

Who wrote this work?

What is the genre of this large work?

What part of the Baroque period does this work fall?

What is the plot of this work?

What is the text based upon?

 

CD TRACK 66

What is the genre of this movement?

What type of accompaniment is used in this example

CD TRACK 67

What genre is this movement?

What type of bass line is used in this movement?

What compositional device does the composer use to amplify the text “l am laid, am laid in earth?” 

What do the musical notes of the melody do in this text?

STROZZI: Begli occhi

Who wrote this work?

What is the genre of this work?

What type of compositional term is used to “describe” the word “oh” in this example?

What type of compositional term is used to set the word “asperta.

What is this text about?

           

Bach: Cantata No. 80, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott.

 

Track 39

What is the genre of this movement?

What type of vocal piece is this movement based upon?

What is the texture of this piece?  Monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic        

Track 46

What voices are participating here?

What type of accompaniment is being used here?

                       

Track 48

What genre is this movement?

Is the choir singing in four parts or in unison?

What is the texture of this piece?  Monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic

When this piece was first performed, who else would have been participating in this music?

 

Track 50

What genre is this movement?

Is the choir singing in four parts or in unison?

What is the texture of this piece?  Monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic

When this piece was first performed, who else would have been participating in this music?

 

Handel: Messiah, Nos. 1, 14-18, 44

When was this work composed?

Where was this work composed?

How many major divisions are in this work and what are they labeled?

 

Track 7

What is the genre of this example?

What is the form of this example?

What is the difference between the first section of this form and the second section of this form?

What is the texture of the first section?

What is the texture of the second section?

What types of dynamics are present in the first section?

 

Track 9

What is the genre of this movement?

What is the type of accompaniment used in the first two lines of text?

How does that accompaniment style amplify or set the scene as portrayed in the text?

 

What other accompaniment style is found in this example?

How does this accompaniment style amplify the text?

 

 

Track 13

What is the genre of this movement?

What is the musical term for compositional technique found on the extended music on the word “rejoice.

 

Track 16

What is the name of this chorus?

What is historically important about this movement?

Describe how Handel develops his musical lines in this example?

 

Corelli: Trio Sonata, Op.3 No. 2, in D Major

What is the genre of this work?

Is this work inspired by the text of a poem?

Is this work considered ABSOLUTE or PROGRAMMATIC?

Who composed this piece?

How many players would be playing this piece and what instruments are used?

Is this a Sonata da Camara or Sonata da Chiesa?

What is unique about the fourth movement?

 

Vivaldi: Spring, from The Four Seasons

What is the genre of this work?

What is the key of this work?

Who was this work written for?

Is this work programmatic music or absolute music?

What text is this instrumental piece based upon?

Who wrote the text?

 

How does the composer describe spring?

How does the composer describe birds?

How does the composer describe thunder?

How does the composer describe a brook?

How does the composer describe the barking of a dog?

 

How does the composer use ritornello?

What does the ritornello describe?

Based upon masses of competing sound, what type of concerto is this piece?

 

Bach; Brandenburg Concerto No 2.

When was this written?

Where was the composer stationed at this time?

Is this work programmatic music or absolute music?

How is the ritornello used in this piece?

What are the solo instruments?

What are the two main types of concerto based upon the different masses of sound?

Based on masses of sound, what type of concerto is this piece?

What key is this work based in?

 

HANDEL: Water Music, Suite in D major, excerpts.

What was the purpose of this piece?

Where was this piece first performed?

What instrument was first left out of this performance and why?

Why would there be tons of dotted rhythms found in this piece?

Who wrote this piece?

 

 

Bach: Chorale Prelude, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott

What is the genre of this piece

When was this piece written and where was Bach working at the time?

What is this prelude based upon?

 

Bach: Prelude and Fugue in C minor, from the Well Tempered Clavier, Book I

What are the two genres found in this one piece?

What style is the prelude?

What style is the fugue?

How many voices are present in the fugue?

What instrument is present in this recording?

Be able to identify the subject, episode, and countersubject.

 

 

Terms to be chosen from in this test

 

Baroque

Polychoral

Antiphonal music

Responsorial Music

Motet

Polychoral motet

Orchestration

Harmony

Texture

The Octave

Half Steps

Whole Steps

Chromatic Scale

Sharp

Flat

Key

Solfedge

Mode

Major

Minor

Chromatic

Diatonic

Pentatonic

Tritonic

Heptatonic

Microtone

Raga

Transposition

Modulation

Triad

Tonic

Dominant

Subdominant

Primary Chord (Active Chord)

Secondary Chord ( Rest Chord)

Spiritual

Gospel music

Fuging tune

Heterophony

Lining out

Monody

The Florentine Camerata

Stile rappresentativo

Figured Bass

Basso Continuo

Major-minor tonality

Tonic and dominant relationships

Equal Temperament

Vigorous rhythm

Continuous Melody

Dissonance

Terraced dynamics

Castrato

Improvisation

The Doctrine of Affections

Internationalism

Exoticism

Opera

Recitative

Aria

Overture

Libretto

Librettist

Ritornello

Ground Bass

Tragedie lyrique

Jean Baptiste Lully

Masque

Oratorio

Cantata

Chorale

Martin Luther

Cothen

Leipzig

Weimar

St. Thomas Kirche

St. Mark's in Venice

Gabrieli

Monteverdi

The Organ

Manuel

Pedals

Great

Swell

Positive organ

Portative organ

Tracker Action Organ

Prelude

Fugue

Invention

Toccata

Fantasia

Symmetry

Bar form

Stolen

Abgesang

Chorale

Sinfony

Figured Bass

Primary Chords

Secondary Chords

French overture

Concerto

Concerto grosso

Solo Concerto

Tutti

Ripieno

Concertino

Clavichord

Plectrum

Concertare

Ritornello

Ground bass

Passacaglia

French overture

Italian overture

Chorale prelude

Chaconne

Fugue

Fugal voices

Subject

Answer

Countersubject

Exposition

Episode

Stretto

Fugato

Prelude

Fugue

Know all of the composers

 

General Concepts for Study and Correlation

You should be familiar with the music and the lives of the following composers.

Monteverdi

Gabrieli

J.S. Bach

G. F. Handel

Henry Purcell

Vivaldi

Corelli

 

 

You should be able to compare and contrast the music, style, and society of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

 

You should have a clear understanding of the Cantata, Opera, and Oratorio. You should understand the differences between these types of pieces and the shared components of these pieces.

 

You should understand the difference between Protestant and Catholic…. Lutheran and Catholic.

 

You should understand the different types of keyboard pieces and their function.

You should understand the building blocks of the concerto, the sonata, and the dance suite.

 

You should be able to trace the solo song from the troubadour song through Monody and the Opera Aria.

 

You should be able to compare the concerto of Bach with the concerto of Vivaldi