Baroque Instrumental Music

Higher

Basso Continuo

• Most Distinguishing features• Continually played throughout music• Bass line – Cello, or bassoon• Chord playing instrument –

harpsichord, organ or lute• Improvise chords• Filling out Harmonies

Concerto Grosso

• Italian for big concert• Musical material is passed

between 2 sections• Concertino (soloist group)• Ripieno (full orchestra)

This contrast of small group This contrast of small group to large group and one to large group and one thematic group against thematic group against another is very characteristic another is very characteristic of Baroque ideology — of Baroque ideology — similar to terraced dynamics similar to terraced dynamics where the idea is significant where the idea is significant contrastcontrast

Concerto Grosso

TrumpetTrumpet

RecorderRecorder

ViolinViolin

OboeOboe

StringsStrings

ContinuoContinuo

ConcertinoConcertino

RipienoRipieno

Ritornello

• A recurring passage• Always played by tutti (full

orchestra)• Often heard in different keys• Most common in solo concerto

Tutti

Solo

Tutti

Solo

Tutti

Suite

• A collection of pieces of music – dances

• Instrumental or Orchestral• Usually in the same key

Fugue

• Contrapuntal piece• Based on a theme (Subject)• Subject is imitated throughout piece• Exposition exposes Subject• Subject is played in Dominant (Answer)• Episode is music between playings of

Subject

To fully understand

Fugue we will need to do

more work on

this.

Passacaglia

• Based on variations over a ground bass

• 3/4 time• Usually in a minor key

Chaconne

• Based on variations over a short chord progression

• Usually in a major key

Chorale Prelude

• Based on a Chorale melody• Organ• May contain Theme and Variation• Homophonic

Chorale Prelude Continued…• Example: Look at A, this is the melody

of the Chorale ‘Wachet Auf’

• Now look at B, this is built up from the idea given in the original Chorale and is now a piece for organ – A Chorale Prelude.

Overture

• Signalled opening of Opera and Oratorio

• Orchestral work

Ornaments

Listen

Acciaccatura

• A crushed dissonant note of the shortest possible duration played before or after the main note or chord and immediately released.

Appoggiatura

• A musical ornament (chiefly from the 18 century) of an auxiliary note falling or rising to a harmonised note. There are two possible ways of writing this as you can see from the examples below.

Trill

• Rapid and repeated movement between two adjacent notes

Turn

• Four notes which turn round the main note with the note itself, the note above the note itself, the note below.

Mordent

• An ornament or grace note consisting of a single rapid alternation of the principal note, a note a semitone lower and the note itself.

• There is also an inverted mordent.The principal note, a note a semitone higher and the note itself.

TextureContrapuntal – is the term used to describe the texture of much Baroque music. ‘contra’ means against, and you will find the various parts of the music moving ‘against’ each other. Contrapuntal music has two or more melodies played at the same time. They will however, still harmonise.

Polyphonic – means many sounds and is another way of describing music which has more than one melody which fit together.

Homophonic – is the opposite of polyphonic.

Homophonic music has one main tune, which is accompanied

by bass and harmony parts.