Why do we call Western art music “classical” music? What does “classical” mean?
Why are composers motivated to write music for worship? Why are composers motivated to write music for dancing?
What are some of the genres you know? What are some of the forms you know?
Can music express more than one emotion at a time?
Concerto: From "concertare": a competition or battle. A soloist or group of soloists vs. another group (eventually, the orchestra). Solo concerto: for single instrument plus orchestra. Concerto grosso: for small group of instruments and larger group of instruments (in practice, this applies to the Baroque era only).
Doctrine of Affections: The principle that in Baroque music, each movement/aria will reflect only one emotion. Based on an understanding of the time that people could only experience one emotion at a time.
Fugue: A compositional principle or form that includes a subject, an answer (at the fifth or fourth), and countersubjects. Typically for 2-5 voices, all of which must state the subject. A genre emblematic of the Baroque period, but continues to be used to this day.
Lament Bass: A descending chromatic figure in the bass line of a piece of music, usually signifying death or grief. Famously used in "When I am Laid in Earth" from Dido and Aeneas by Purcell.
Monody: A texture in which solo singing is paired with an accompaniment (lit. "singing alone"). Thought to be the texture of choice of Ancient Greek dramas, and therefore used extensively in the early Baroque period.
Opera: Literally "work" (as in, "a work of art"). Descended from madrigals, morality plays, and Greek dramas,
Oratorio: A large-scale composition similar to opera, on a sacred topic, without use of sets or costumes. Innovated as a way of performing within opera houses during penitential seasons such as Advent and Lent.
Programmaticism: The use of extra-musical descriptors that guide a listener's interpretation (e.g. The Four Seasons)
Rage Aria: A Baroque aria from an opera or oratorio that uses fast, repeated figures in the orchestra to depict anger. Typically in "da capo aria" form (e.g. "Empio, dirò, tu sei").
Giovanni Gabrieli: Sonata pian' e forte (1597)
Terraced dynamics
Cori spezzati (split choirs)
Designed to be performed at St. Mark's in Venice
Early example of writing specifically for brass instruments
Barbara Strozzi: "Lagrime mie" (1659)
An example of monody (voice with one instrument)
Based on Ancient Greek textures
Examples of text painting ("lagrime" = tears, "respiro" = breath, "opprime il core" = oppresses my heart)
Henry Purcell: "Thy Hand Belinda... When I am Laid in Earth" from Dido and Aeneas (1689)
Based on Virgil's Aeneid
Dido's death scene
Text painting in recitative
Lament bass in aria
Bach: Prelude and Fugue in C Minor from Well-Tempered Clavier Book I (1722)
Bach composed 48 sets of Preludes and Fugues in total (2 per key)
Possible to play in all keys thanks to "well-temperament" -- all keys sounded different, but no key sounded terrible (no "wolf-tones")
Antonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (1725)
Set of 4 violin concertos
An example of programmatic music (e.g. birds, chattering teeth)
Poems accompany the music
Georg Frideric Handel: "Empio dirò, tu sei" from Giulio Cesare (1724)
Example of a "rage aria" from a "serious opera" (opera seria)
[A] section, contrasting [B] section, [A] section repeated with ornamentation
Important men in 18th century Italian opera had high voices, so Julius Caesar is a countertenor
Georg Frideric Handel: "He Smote All the First Born of Egypt" from Israel in Egypt (1738)
From an oratorio based on the Book of Exodus
Use of text painting
Staging was not permitted; music provides the drama and imagery