The Baroque Concerto
Table of Contents
Section Page Number
Introduction 3
Emergence 3 - 4
Corelli 4 - 5
Torelli 5
Conclusion 6
Bibliography 7
Introduction
In simple terms, the word “concerto” translates into “concert.” Motets by Vidana, madrigals by Monteverdi as well as works by Corelli and Torelli are all described by their composers as ‘concertos’. The Baroque era was one in which many different styles of music had been formulated. These differing forms of music were influenced mainly by several factors. First and foremost would be the religious thinking and beliefs of this time, along with changing attitudes in politics. These two factors influenced the form of the Baroque concerto greatly. Baroque music mainly covers the times between 1580 to 1750.
The first instance that the word ‘concerto’ was printed was in 1587 i...
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... six concertos are stylistically advanced when compared to the first six of the set. This can be mainly accounted to the sequence of concertino and ripieno alternating and becoming one with the solo violin and tutti (Anderson 7). Finally, unlike what Corelli had used, Torelli favored the three-movement pattern, fast – slow -fast.
Conclusion
The music described as a concerto evolved into something that had the meaning of something different than what it was originally intended for. It contains qualities, which cause it to have a consistent popularity, which is basically caused by the constant integration of contrasting and to some extent combative forces within a coherent artistic framework.
Bibliography
Anderson, Nicholas. A guide to the Concerto. Oxford:
New York, 1988.
Hutchings, Arthur. The Baroque Concerto. Scribner and Sons, 1978.
Gleason, Harold and Becker, Warren. Music in the Baroque. Frangipani Press: Bloomington, Indiana, 1998.
A sinfonia (Italian for symphony) broadly refers to a number of instrumental works from the Baroque period, including symphonies, sonatas, canzonas, concerti, and Italian opera overtures. Even J.S. Bach titles his “three-part” inventions for harpsichord “Sinfonia”. Torelli’s Sinfonia in D (G.8) is a four-movement “concerto” for trumpet, strings and harpsichord continuo. Unlike a concerto grosso, where a main theme is presented and then reappears in fragments, the main themes of Sinfonia in D are developed rather freely. The second movement (Adagio) is a very short, slow, interlude without trumpet that introduces the third movement (Allegro). Hence, the program shows these two movements as “adagio-allegro” joined together.
<td width="50%">Baroque Concerto FormClassical Concerto Form Concerto grosso (use of string orchestra set against a number of solo instruments) is the most popular concerto form of this period. Other forms include The ripieno concerto and the solo concerto.Symphony form develops from baroque concerto forms and becomes the new form. Shorter movements than classical form.Concerto longer than baroque from. Fairly strict structure and prerequisites, e.g. Traditional ritornello form, virtuostic displays etc.More freedom and experimentation with traditional form. First movement has solo passages extending into long sections; alternated between four or five ritornello sections. First movement constructed in a variant of ritornello form with a double exposition. Violin is preferred concerto solo instrument although the harpsichord becomes more and more popular throughout the century.The newly prominent piano tak...
As the late Baroque period morphed into the new period known as the classical period, technological advances and new compositional techniques and ideas created new opportunities for the musicians of the period. The changes allowed for new performance techniques, forms, performance venues, and newly available compositional orchestrations to be improved and evolved into something new and improved for the new period.
This book by John Rupert Martin is a good introductory book in the understanding of Baroque artists and their tremendous variety. Martin defines the Baroque characteristics, but only very broadly leaving a significant amount of room for the reader to make his own deductions. In general, Martin believes that the typical definitions of the Baroque are "too restrictive and hence likely to create more problems of classification and interpretation than it solves." Even the time of the Baroque is left open to the reader when Martin says the Baroque is roughly comprehended by the seventeenth century. It is important to note at the outset that this is only a convenient approximation; for epoch as a whole can certainly not be fitted into such a strait-jacket." This helps to define the Baroque much more generally as a gradual change which can much easily be noticed from the present than the past.
Schulenberg, David. Music of the Baroque. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. ML193.S38 2001 c.2
The baroque has been called a theatrical style, one that deals in spectacle, grandeur, and dramatic contrast. Test these concepts in an essay that discusses the baroque as an expression of the Catholic Reformation, Protestant devotionalism, the Scientific Revolution, and the Age of Absolutism. Define your general statements with specific examples. The following essay will discuss the baroque period and how the Catholic Reformation, Protestant devotionalism, and the Scientific Revolution influenced it. The Baroque period generally refers to the years 1600 to1750. Classicism of the Renaissance has been replenished during the Baroque period. During the Baroque artistic period, the exploration of the fundamental components of human nature and the realm of senses and emotions were very crucial. The Baroque era was a very dynamic time that showed an abundance of radiance and color. Artists of this time were passionate and sensual. Their works were many times considered to have an overpowering emotional effect. The superficial form of light was fascinated during this period due to the thoughts of godlike sun or the truth of the Holy Spirit. The Baroque naturalism maintains the religious themes in content. The elements of perception in the Baroque art are how we perceived the natural human figures are in motion through space, time, and light. We present and analyze the extent of human actions and passions in all its degrees of lightness, darkness, and intensity. The scientific revolution also had a tremendous impact on art during this time. Scientists started to study the earth and it’s positioning in the universe. This was a time when the people started take more of an interest in astronomy and mathematical equations. During the time of the Catholic Reformation artists began to challenge all the rules that society has set for artistic design. Artist starting with Parmigianino, Tintoretto, and El Greco began to add a wide variety of colors into their paintings, challenging the way things have been done in the past. These artists also added abnormal figures or altered the proportions in paintings. This is displayed in Parmigianino’s painting, Madonna of the long neck. During this time the Catholic Church was in a transition period moving from their recent reputation and becoming a well-respected organization. During this reform, an autobiography written by Layola about Saint Teresa of Avila set a new tone for Catholics to follow. This influenced people to have a more spiritual outlook on life.
The Four Seasons composed by Vivaldi was one of the earliest examples of program music and was also the most famous of all his concertos. Vivaldi wanted to depict the various seasons in the four concerti in Italian. When you listen to the Four Season, you feel as though he has created a whole another atmosphere with its own feelings. He seems to have used only the four major instruments that are usually present in an orchestra, which are the violin, viola, cello and bass, to depict this atmosphere effortlessly.
This piano concerto adheres to the tradition way of composing a piece in this genre as it consists of three movements:
John Warrack, author of 6 Great Composers, stated, “Any study of a composer, however brief, must have as its only purpose encouragement of the reader to greater enjoyment of the music” (Warrack, p.2). The composers and musicians of the Renaissance period need to be discussed and studied so that listeners, performers, and readers can appreciate and understand the beginnings of music theory and form. The reader can also understand the driving force of the composer, whether sacred or secular, popularity or religious growth. To begin understanding music composition one must begin at the birth, or rebirth of music and the composers who created the great change.
Baroque era covers the period between 1600 and 1750 beginning with Monte Verdi (birth of opera) and ended with deaths of Bach and Handel. The term baroque music is borrowed from the art history. It follows the Renaissance era (1400-1600). It was initially considered to be a corrupt way of Renaissance by conservatives. The dominant trends in Baroque music correspond to those in Baroque art and literature. Some features of Baroque art included a sense of movement, energy, and tension (whether real or implied). Strong contrasts of light and shadow enhance the effects of paintings and sculptures. Opera is one of the types of music in the Baroque era. It represented melodic freedom. Baroque era was usually referred to as the thorough-bass period. In early Baroque era no tonal direction existed, but experiments in pre-tonal harmony led to the creation of tonality. [1] Baroque genre included instrumental suite, ritornello, Concerto grosso and chant. There were important composers of the Baroque period such as Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi William Byrd Henry Purcell and George Phillip Telemann. Starting in northern Italy, the hierarchical state -- led by either the urban bourgeoisie or despotic nobles -- replaced the fluid and chaotic feudal system of the middle Ages. [2] For this reason, some historians refer to the Renaissance as the Early Modern Era. Sculptors, building on the techniques of artists such as Giovanni Bernini (1598-1680), found ways to create the illusion of energetic and even violent movement in their works. Painters created larger and more crowded canvases. Virtuosity was used in all the arts. The arts became an important measure of learning and culture. Music moved from the science of number to an expressive art viewed as an equal to rhetoric.
Unlike the concertos of the baroque period, the classic era mainly emphasized the solo concerto. The choice of solo instrument, however, was somewhat broader then in the baroque era. There was more of a trend during the classical period towards keyboard concertos. This style was originated in North Germany, by C.P.E. Bach, and gradually spread to other areas. Mozart took the concerto to its greatest heights. "His incomparable ability to weave the complex strands of the concerto fabric without entangling or obscuring either soloist or orchestra has never been surpassed.
Petronio ultimately led him to becoming the most prolific Italian composer of baroque trumpet pieces. He contributed over three dozen pieces variously entitled sonata, sinfonia, or concerto, for one to four trumpets, to the collection of trumpet repertoire. All eight of his collections of concerts, sinfonias, and sonatas were published chronologically, making it easy to trace his progress as a composer and how he contributed to the concerto and concerto grosso genres over his career. Torelli’s works are well preserved and those that were not published remain in manuscript. Although Giuseppe Torelli built his career as a virtuoso violinist and composer of string chamber works he contributed immensely to the world of trumpet literature to the point where he has become a household name in the realm of modern trumpet
Baroque music is characterized by its development of tonality, elaborate use of ornamentation, application of figured bass, and the expression of single affections. A considerable philosophical current that shaped baroque music is the interest in Renaissance ideas that spawn from ancient Greece and Rome. Ancient Greeks and Romans considered music to be an instrument of communication that could easily stimulate any emotion in its listeners. Therefore, musicians became progressively knowledgeable of the power one’s composition could have on its audiences’ emotions. Because of this, one of the primary goals of baroque art and music was to provoke emotion in the listener, which is closely connected to the “doctrine of affections”. This doctrine, derived from ancient theories of rhetoric and oratory, was the theory that a single piece of art or a single movement of music should express one single emotion. Intrinsically, instead of music reflecting the emotions, composers aspired to cause emotions in the listener. Ma...
Sartorius, Michael. Baroque Music Perormance: "Authentic" or "Traditional": A discussion of the essential issues involved. Ed. Micahel Sartorius. n.dat. Baroque Music Pages. [17 October 2003] .
Antonio Vivaldi is a famous Italian baroque composer, known by most Suzuki violin students who study his concertos or by audiences everywhere who have heard and love his composition of the Four Seasons. Having grown up as students of the Suzuki Violin Method, we recognize this composer and have experience performing his pieces. In addition to his many concertos written for solo violin, Vivaldi composed many concertos intended to be performed by two solo violins, accompanied by a small orchestra. Because we are both violinists, we chose to analyze the second movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in A minor, RV 522, included in his L’Estro Armonico works.