** ALL STUDY GUIDES FOR CHAPTER READINGS ARE AT THE BOTTOM

Baroque Music Overview

Step 1

• Listen to the 3 examples below to answer the following questions

• Share your overall impression of the music of the Baroque Period. My impression is that music in the Baroque period began to become more complex, yet more structured. Composers were becoming more daring with their chord progressions, and pieces had more of a form than earlier pieces of music. 

• How does this music sound similar to the music of the Renaissance? The tonality is quite similar with the instrumentation, with the use of stringed instruments being highly prevalent. 

• How does this music sound different from the music of the Renaissance? Baroque music is more explorative in dissonant chords than Renaissance music, and is more symmetrical and planned out than renaissance. 

A. Canadian Brass

B.  Dido and Aneas

C.  Scarlotti Harpsichord

Step 2

• Describe the mood of the music represented here in Monteverdi's opera Orfeo

 This piece is very powerful as it has a strong bass drum line keeping the beat, with heavy brass. It remains pretty forte for the majority of the piece, and even when it gets lower and a bit quieter, and the voice comes in, it still is powerful with the lower bass lines. 

Step 3

• Describe the pitch geography and pattern of the bass line heard here in Pachelbel's Canon. The pitch geography of each line of the polyphony is very similar in terms of pitch geography, but compared to earlier music, the range of notes is a lot higher than older pieces. 

• Enjoy Pachabel's Rant

Step 4

• Why do you think this Trumpet Tune by Purcell  is used for so many wedding ceremonies? I think it is used because it has a very uplifting timbre, which has a steady beat that is probably easily to walk down the isle with. The trumpet is also a very noble instrument which has a sense of power that is able to uplift you, which is what you'd want for a wedding. 

Step 5

• Describe the emotional effect inspired by When I am Laid in Earth from Purcell's Dido and Aneas. This song is very gloomy and instills a sense of sorrow in the listener. Its use of harmonic minor makes this a very melancholy piece, and the legato phrases portray the sadness that the composer wants to inflict. 

Step 6

• Describe the texture(monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic) of this Old 100th Hymn from the Bay Psalm Book. It is homophonic, as it has the melody with supporting chords. 

Period Research

Step 1

• Gather resources of your own choosing to answer the following questions

1.  Provide approximate dates for the Baroque Period punctuated with notable world/historical events.

Baroque period- 1600-1750

2.  Define the term 'Baroque' and how this relates to the characteristics of music and art from this period. Baroque is relating to the highly decorated style in buildings, art, and music that was popular in Europe in the 17th century and the early part of the 18th century. Music during this time was getting more complex and structured, much like the architecture and sciences during this era. 

3.  List the Instruments for each family that comprise a Baroque Period Orchestra

A.  String: Violin, Viol, Viola, Violoncello, contrabass, lute, harp

B.  Brass: Trumpet, Horn, Sackbut 

C.  Woodwind: Flute, oboe, bassoon, recorder 

D.  Percussion: Timpani, Bass Drums,  

4.  Provide a bit of trivia regarding 

A.  Brass Valves: During this periods, the horns actually had no horns, and was just a singular coil of brass tubing with a mouthpiece. Trumpets, also, had no valves but only a mouthpiece where your embouchure would be the way to change pitches.  

B.  Trills and Ornamentation: A high percentage of trills in the music of a later Baroque composer, say Bach, therefore, begin on the upper (dissonant) note. In a substantial number of trills in the music of earlier composers (a guesstimate would be 40%), such as Buxtehude, the lower note is dissonant, therefore it would be usual to begin these trills on the lower note

Baroque Instrumental Music-Chapter 10

Step 1

• Read Chapter 10: "Baroque Instrumental Music" from Listen 8th ed. using the textbook or ebook

• Listen to chapter examples using the streamed format located in Launchpad

Step 2

• Create a study guide to include notes, special take aways, key ideas and fun facts

Baroque Vocal Music-Chapter 11

Step 1

• Read Chapter 11: "Baroque Vocal Music" from Listen 8th ed. using the text book or ebook

• Listen to chapter examples using the streamed format located in Launchpad

Step 2

• Create a study guide to include notes, special take aways, key ideas and fun facts

I'll be Bach

Step 1

• Describe the instrument timbres used in Alla Hornpipe from Handel's Water Music. The classic timbre in this excerpt is bright, uplifting, and bouncy. The blend of the strings and higher brass creates a rich sound, especially with embellishment of the timpani. 

Step 2

• Comment on the musical relationship between the soloists and orchestra in Winter from the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. Before the soloist comes in, the entire ensemble gives a nice crescendo into her solo, and they back of when it is her time to have the melody. The ensemble then comes in at full force when they all have the melody.  

Step 3

• Describe the types of orchestral instruments heard in Presto III from Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 Right off the bat, you hear an array of strings, including violins, violas, etc. You also hear a lively harpsichord, accompanied by a recorder. 

Step 4

• How does La Rejouissance by Handel set the mood for fireworks? The explosion of sound off the bat is symbolic for fireworks. When the orchestra got softer, less fireworks were shot and they were a lot smaller. When everyone comes in fortisimo, the fireworks go off like crazy, and are high in the sky. 

Step 5

• What occasion might Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by Bach be suited for and why? I picture this song to be at an Irish wedding because of its celtic roots. Maybe as a slow dance at a reception or something. 

• Enjoy this King Singer tribute to J.S. Bach 

Step 6

• How many times is the "A" theme heard in this Rondo from Vivaldi's Four Seasons? 7 Times 

(Hint: The A Theme is represented in the first 13 measures)

Step 7

• How many times is the subject heard in this Little Fugue in G minor by Bach? 10 times

(Hint: See Bach Fugue Subject  & Hear Bach Fugue Subject)

• Enjoy this Lady Gaga Fugue

Step 8

• Are the phrases in Autumn from the Four Seasons by Vivaldi mostly symmetrical or asymmetrical? They are mostly symmetrical 

(Hint: Use this Listening Calendar and Flowchart as a Guide)

HONORS TRACK

If it ain't Baroque

Step 1

• Provide a brief narrative about Handel's Messiah 

1. History.

     Handel was born in Halle, Germany, into a religious, affluent household. His father, Georg Händel, a celebrated surgeon in northern Germany, wanted his son to study the law. But an acquaintance, the Duke of Weissenfels, heard the prodigy, then barely 11, playing the organ. The nobleman’s recognition of the boy’s genius likely influenced the doctor’s decision to allow his son to become a musician. By 18, Handel had composed his first opera. Handel’s Messiah was originally an Easter offering. It burst onto the stage of Musick Hall in Dublin on April 13, 1742. The audience swelled to a record 700 people. 

1. Trivia: It was not originally a Christmas work, but actually written for Easter time. A lot of people also thought it was blasphemous at the time. Another notable aspect was that it was written very fast, only taking him about 3-4 weeks to complete the 259 page score. 

2. Popularity The messiah is one of the most famous and widely spread pieces in music history, and at the time it came out in 1742, around 700 people flooded to see it, which was a very large amount of people for this kind of event at the time. 

A.  Flash Mob

B.  Alaska

C.  Monks

Step 2

• Provide a brief narrative about the Harpsichord 

1. History: 

     The harpsichord was an important keyboard instrument in Europe from the 15th through the 18th centuries, and as revived in the 20th, is widely played today. "The earliest known reference to a harpsichord dates from 1397, when a jurist in Padua wrote that a certain Hermann Poll claimed to have invented an instrument called the 'clavicembalum';[1] and the earliest known representation of a harpsichord is a sculpture (see below) in an altarpiece of 1425 from Minden in north-west Germany. The idea of controlling a musical instrument with a keyboard was already well worked out for the organ, an instrument that is far older than the harpsichord. Another chain of development in the early harpsichord was a gradually increasing size. The psaltery was a hand-held instrument, far smaller than the fully evolved harpsichord. Also, early harpsichords were evidently small in both pitch range and string length. 

1. Makers 

Some notible makers from history and present day include Gottfried Silbermann, Frank Twombly Hubbard, Michael Mietke, Carey Beebe, and Burkat Shudi. 

1. Notable Performers:

Domenico Scarlatti, François Couperin, Gustav Leonhardt, Trevor Pinnock, Jean-Philippe Rameau, and Emilie Autumn, just to name a few. 

1. Notable Compositions 

Some examples include; Goldberg Variations, Italian Concerto, The Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, and the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5

A.  Original Baroque Partita in B minor 3. Courante R 114

Step 3

• Provide a brief narrative about the Pipe Organ 

1. History: 

     The organ is one of the oldest instruments still used in European classical music that has commonly been credited as having derived from Greece. Its earliest predecessors were built in Ancient Greece in the 3rd century BC. The word organ is derived from the Greek όργανον (organon), a generic term for an instrument or a tool,via the Latin organum, an instrument similar to a portative organ used in ancient Roman circus games. The Greek engineer Ctesibius of Alexandria is credited with inventing the organ in the 3rd century BC. He devised an instrument called the hydraulis, which delivered a wind supply maintained through water pressure to a set of pipes.The hydraulis was played in the arenas of the Roman Empire. The pumps and water regulators of the hydraulis were replaced by an inflated leather bag in the 2nd century AD, and true bellows began to appear in the Eastern Roman Empire in the 6th or 7th century AD. During the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the organ's tonal colors became more varied. Organ builders fashioned stops that imitated various instruments, such as the krummhorn and the viola da gamba. The Baroque period is often thought of as organ building's "golden age", as virtually every important refinement was brought to a culminating art. 

      2. Makers Builders such as Arp Schnitger, Jasper Johannsen, Zacharias Hildebrandt and Gottfried Silbermann constructed instruments that were in themselves artistic masterpieces, displaying both exquisite craftsmanship and beautiful sound in the renaissance and baroque periods. More resent makers include William Anderson, Fincham & Hobday, J. Lapon, Poul-Gerhard Andersen, and Charles S. Barker, to name a few.

1. Notable Performers: Don Airey, Gregg Allman, Tori Amos, Rod Argent, and Brian Auger. 

2. Notable Composition: Jehan Alain: Litanies, ésar Franck: Chorale No. 3 in A minor, Johann Kuhnau: Biblical Sonatas, Camille Saint Saens - Symphony No. 3 "Organ" - Finale, and Charles-Marie Widor - Symphony for Organ No. 5 in F Major - Toccata. 

A.  Toccata and Fugue in d minor by J.S. Bach