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Summary of Baroque Characteristics
- Basso continuo (two principal contours -melody and bass polarity- with the intervening space filled in by improvised harmony) - single unifying element in Baroque music. While the treble expresses the mood, the bass supports the melody
- Figured bass
- Unbroken lines with long phrases and well-spaced cadences
- Unchanging affekt
- Fast harmonic rhythm
- Series of first inversion chords, series of suspensions, seventh chords on any degree of the scale, Phrygian cadence, hemiola, circle-of-fifths, sequence, tierce de Picardie, lack of dynamic markings and performance directions, only rarely distant modulations (usually to one degree flat or sharp)
- Contrast /the pursuit of striking effect (stile concertante): like solo-tutti alternation of the concerto grosso
- Expressive use of dissonance (the dissonance treatment is a major stylistic difference between Renaissance and Baroque)
- Contrapuntal independence of voices and instrumental parts, a turn to chordal harmony from intervallic harmony
- Instrumental music dominating vocal music: new instrumental genres
- Improvisation (as in the realization of figured bass) and ornamentation (particularly in France)
- Interchange of idioms (especially between vocal and instruments; Vivaldi, JS Bach)
- Fully established tonality in late Baroque
- Homophony: In late Baroque music homophony was held in check by the fast-moving continuo. In the relation between melody and chord progression, the consideration of the latter began to weigh more heavily (a process finally led to the homophony of the Mannheim school). The continuo-homophony differs from the plain homophony of the Mannheim school in its fast harmonic rhythm, and its energetic and sweeping rhythmic patterns that prevailed in both melody and bass
- Variation: variation appears so consistently as an element of Baroque music that the whole era may justly be called one of variation
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The Italian word “concertare” has two meanings. It means to struggle or fight; it also means to cooperate. Both these contrary meanings are present in a concerto, in which a group of solo instruments (concerti or concertino), supported by a continuo group, is contrasted with an entire orchestra, known as concerto, ripieno, or tutti. Sometimes soloists and orchestra all play together, sometimes separately. Sometimes they play contrasting music, sometimes the same. This dramatic balance and contrast of opposing forces is the essence of the concerto.
The earliest instrumental concerto form emerged at least as early as the 1670s and was of Roman origin. One of the pioneers was Alessandro Strandella (1644-1682), who experimented with a contrasting, antiphonal scheme between small and large groups within the instrumental sections of his oratorios. E.g. San Giovanni Battista. The precise disposition of players in the concerto grosso is not possible to determine, but Stradella almost certainly wrote for violins, divided violas, cellos and a larger bass stringed instrument. The transition to the more modern ensemble of violins in two parts instead of divided violas dates from the late 1670s or early 1680s. Stradella’s sinfonie a più istromenti has what are probably the earliest examples of string concertino contrasted with string concerto grosso in a purely instrumental context.
By the late Baroque period, the concerto form had become established. There are usually three movements, in the pattern of fast-slow-fast. The first movement is usually an Allegro, whilst the second movement usually has an expressive, slow melody that sounds like an opera aria. The third movement is a little faster and livelier that the first.
The first and third movements of a Baroque concerto are in ritornello form, which exploits the contrast between the solo instruments and the orchestra in a highly organized way. Ritornello is the Italian word for something that returns, and the ritornello in a concerto is an orchestral passage that constantly returns. Between appearances of the ritornello, the solo instrument plays passages of contrasting material, which are known as episodes.
At the beginning of a movement in ritornello form, the orchestra plays the entire ritornello in the tonic key. During the body of the movement, the ritornello often will appear only in partial form and will be in different keys, but at the end, the ritornello would return in its entirety in the tonic key.
Brandenburg Concerto No.2- First Movement (BWV 1047)
Instruments:
The first movement features three rhythmic motives, which combine to form the ritornello:
a.
b.
c.
Structure:
- Bars 1-8. Ritornello in F Major (twice)
- Bars 9-12. Violin solo followed by a ritornello
- Bars 13-16. Duet between violin and oboe, followed by ritornello
- Bars 17-20. Duet between flute and oboe, followed by a part of the ritornello
- Bars 21-22. Duet between trumpet and flute
- Bars 29-30. Solo concerti, accompanied by continuo
- Bars 31-32. Trumpet trills over a part of the ritornello in D minor
- Bars 40-47. Dynamic changes between soft and very soft, followed by ritornello in B major
- Bars 50-55. Dynamic changes alternating between soft and loud
- Bars 60-67. Duet between flute and violin, joined by oboe and trumpet.
- Bars 68-69. Ritornello in C minor
- Bars 77-81. Sequence between trumpet and oboe, modulating through keys
- Bars 82-83. G minor, all instruments playing imitative parts.
- Bars84-93. Section in G minor. Highly imitative
- Bars 94-102. Section in A minor, monetary shift to D minor. Basses and trumpet in close imitation
- Bars 103-106. Reiteration of first theme in unison. (F major)
- Bars 107-112. Final episode, counterpoint activity in trumpet and basses
- Bars 113-114. Return to original texture in C major.
- Bars115-end. Return to F major. Last return of ritornello.
Four Seasons Winter- First Movement (Op.8 No.4, RV297)
Instruments:
Sonnet Lines:
Frozen and shivering in the glittering snow,
In the rude howling of a horrid storm,
One moves at a run, stamping one’s feet the
While
One’s teeth chatter in the extreme cold
Structure:
The movement makes a tiptoeing tentative start with staccatos and shivering little trills. (A section)
The solo violin’s entry (B section) brings no comfort but the bluster of a “horrid storm”.
These two ideas then alternate until the ‘running’ section begins, loudly.
A brief return to the A section in bar 39, leads into the chattering teeth at section D, with rapid repeated notes for the soloist placed ‘icily’ in a high pitched register.
Finally, the whole orchestra joins in on the chattering music to provide a strong ending to the movement.
References:
A Guide to the Concerto- Edited by Robert Layton
Dictionary of Music and Musicians- Edited by Stanley Sadie
Baroque Music- Claude V. Palisca
The New Oxford History of Music- Concert Music 1630-1750, Volume VI
The Great Composers- their Lives and Times, Volume 4 and 5.
Understanding Music- Jeremy Yudkin
http://members.tripod.com/~dorakmt/music/baroque.html
A Guide to the Concerto- Edited by Robert Layton
http://members.tripod.com/~dorakmt/music/baroque.html
Understanding Music- Jeremy Yudkin
