12/13 Session 16
Textbook: Read Chapter 11 (pp. 169-181);
Complete Assignment (see below), which focuses on the Most Important Information: 175-181
Workbook: Complete Lesson 13
Quiz: Textbook Website Quiz, Chapter 11


Assignment

1. Identify when the Classical style was born, its city of greatest development, and the ruler under whom it thrived.

2. Discuss how the development of the public concert during the Classical era altered the social and economic nature of Western European art music.

3. Briefly describe the two concepts considered essential to the Viennese Classical style.

4. Briefly explain the two new ways in which composers used dynamics in the Classical style.

5. What instrument became a favorite in the Classical period? Why?

6. Contrast the Baroque approach to melody with the Classical approach.

7. Why did Classical composers use repetition in music?

8. Briefly describe how Classical composers made the ends of themes and phrases clear.

12/6 Session 15
Textbook: Read Chapter 10 (pp. 154-168);
Complete Assignment (see below)
Listening: p. 158-159, p. 161-163, p. 165-167, p. 167-168
Workbook: Complete Lesson 12
Quiz: Textbook Website Quiz, Chapter 10


Assignment

1. Describe how a Baroque composer might have “painted” the following words musically, to heighten musical expression: “rejoicing,” “victory,” “high.” Refer to as many musical elements as you can in your answer.

2. Describe coloratura singing.

3. Define libretto. What is the term for one who writes libretti?

4. Define castrato. Briefly describe the role, purpose, and lives of castrati.

5. Describe the role and importance of the choir in sacred Baroque music.

6. Define oratorio. List the features of a typical oratorio.

7. Explain how Handel changed the genre he composed in when the public’s tastes changed.

8. Briefly explain the career opportunities for women in the Baroque era. How did music offer opportunities for women to work? What were the advantages and disadvantages of such careers?

9. How is Messiah different from other works in this genre? Describe the different roles of the chorus in Messiah.

11/29 Session 14
Textbook: Read second half of Chapter 9 (pp. 139-153);
Complete Assignment (see below)
Listening: p. 139-141, p. 146/147, p. 150-153
Workbook: Complete Lesson 11
Quiz: Textbook Website Quiz, Chapter 9

Assignment

1. Briefly discuss the career of Johann Sebastian Bach. Include a discussion of the patronage system.

2. Describe the character and tempo of each of the three movements of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5.

3. List the three main compositions written by Bach at the end of his life and explain the purpose of each.

4. Why would one refer to fugues as “free,” and in what possible context?  Are “free” fugues rare or commonplace?

5. When shorter dances like the gavotte and minuet were paired to create an A B A form, what was the B section called, and why?

6. Discuss how Bach achieves variety in his Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D.

11/21 (Sunday) Session 13
Textbook: Read first part of Chapter 9 (pp. 132-139)
Complete Assignment over those pages (see below)
Listening: p. 134/135, 138/139
Workbook: Complete Lesson 10


Assignment

1. Describe the character and tempo of the movements of a typical concerto.

2. Define movement. Describe the way in which various movements in a work can contrast with each other.

3. Discuss the work of Antonio Vivaldi in terms of what types of pieces are his most famous, for whom his pieces were written, how they are organized, and for what genres and instruments he composed.

4. Describe the scheme of the movements of the Violin Concerto in G, La stravaganza. Refer to tempo, form, and mood in your answer.

5. Explain variation form. Why did Baroque composers emphasize the bass line?

6. Explain how the third movement of Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in G, La stravaganza, is unusual with regard to internal form.

11/15 Session 12—Late Baroque
Textbook: Read Chapter 8 (115-131);
Complete Assignment 8 (see below), which has a focus on the Most Important Information: 123-130
Workbook: Review, Page 15
Quiz: Textbook Website Quiz, Chapter 8

Assignment

1. Define baroque. What is the source of this word?

2. Describe the scientific approach to emotional expression in music in the late Baroque era.

3. Describe the way the career of a composer was viewed in the Baroque era. Name and describe the three main institutions where a Baroque composer could make a living.

4. How did Baroque composers and performers use dynamics?

5. Is it generally easier to sing typical Baroque melodies, or to play them on instruments? Explain.

6. Briefly describe the functions of the left and right hands of a continuo keyboard player.

7. What two nonmusical factors were influential in making Baroque forms so clear and regular? In what ways?

8. Characterize the Baroque depiction of emotion in music. Was it realistic or exaggerated? Explain how.

11/8 Session 11—Baroque Opera; Monteverdi, Purcell
Textbook: Read Chapter 7 (100-107);

Complete Assignment over specified pages
Listening: p. 102-104, p. 107
Workbook: P. 14 (Ear Training Unit 2—MP3)
Quiz: Textbook Website Quiz, Chapter 7

 

1.       Define opera. Explain why it is referred to as the most characteristic art form of the Baroque era.

2.       Explain why opera provided the perfect opportunity for individual emotional expression.

3.       Define and contrast recitative and aria. How are they different musically? What are their different dramatic purposes?

4.       Name the Baroque composer who is known as the first master of opera. Where did he work? How was his music regarded during his lifetime?

5.       Summarize the plot of The Coronation of Poppea. What is the specific plot situation of the portion of this opera in your listening selection?

6.       What are the background and plot of Dido and Aeneas? What is the literary source for this work?

 

1.     Which country was the musical leader in the early Baroque period? What was the state of the art of music in this country at that time?

2.     Explain how seventeenth-century Venetian composers expanded on the echoing semichoir technique of sixteenth-century composers.

3.     Name the two important composers who worked at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice around 1600. Describe their acoustical innovations.

4.     For which festive day in the Church year was “O magnum mysterium” composed? Summarize the text.

5.     Define, compare, and contrast basso continuo and ground bass.

6.     What instrument did Frescobaldi play and whom did he influence?

 

1.     Define motet as known to sixteenth-century composers.

2.     What is a madrigal? When did the madrigal become popular? Are madrigals generally sacred or secular?

3.     What gives the madrigal “As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending” by Weelkes a modern feel? Explain the musical causes for the difference between the mood of this music and that of Josquin.

4.     What are three instruments that date from the sixteenth century? Which one was originally from the near East?

5.     What is the most widespread of Renaissance instrumental genres? Name and describe two types of compositions within this genre.

6.     What tendency does “Kemp’s Jig” illustrate in the evolution of musical dances? Explain.

 

1.     Renaissance means “rebirth.” What was reborn during the Renaissance and what was the source of the inspiration for the Renaissance?

2.     What is polyphony? What is homophony?

3.     Define Gregorian hymn and name an example of one.

4.     Define chanson. Is a chanson sacred or secular?

5.     What is the Mass? What was the goal of Renaissance composers regarding the Mass? Name the five parts of the Mass.

Due approx. 10/11
Textbook: Read “Global Perspectives” (pp. 73-75)
Listening: p. 75, p. 76, p. 77
Workbook: Complete Lesson 6