🎼Music History – 1600 to 1750 Unit 2 – Early Baroque: Opera and Monody's Rise

Key Concepts and Terminology

• Monody a style of music featuring a single melodic line accompanied by basso continuo
• Basso continuo a continuous bass line played by a keyboard instrument (harpsichord) and a low melodic instrument (cello)
• Recitative a style of singing that imitates the natural rhythms and inflections of speech
  • Used to advance the plot and convey dialogue in opera
• Aria a self-contained piece for solo voice with instrumental accompaniment expressing a character's emotions
• Libretto the text of an opera or other vocal work
• Castrato a male singer castrated before puberty to preserve his high vocal range
• Florentine Camerata a group of intellectuals, musicians, and poets in late 16th-century Florence who sought to revive ancient Greek drama

Historical Context and Cultural Influences

• Early Baroque period (1600-1650) marked by a shift from Renaissance polyphony to a new focus on solo singing and instrumental accompaniment
• Rise of humanism during the Renaissance emphasized individual expression and emotions
• Invention of the printing press facilitated the dissemination of musical scores and ideas
• Patronage system wealthy aristocrats and the Catholic Church sponsored composers and musicians
• Doctrine of the affections belief that specific musical devices could evoke particular emotions in the listener
• Influence of ancient Greek drama on the development of opera
  • Florentine Camerata sought to revive the style of ancient Greek theater

Pioneers and Notable Composers

• Jacopo Peri (1561-1633) composed the first surviving opera, "Dafne" (1597), and "Euridice" (1600)
• Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) a key figure in the transition from Renaissance to Baroque music
  • Composed the groundbreaking opera "L'Orfeo" (1607) and several other important works
• Giulio Caccini (1551-1618) a member of the Florentine Camerata and an early proponent of monody
• Alessandro Grandi (1586-1630) an influential composer of solo songs and small-scale sacred works
• Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) a German composer who studied in Italy and brought Italian Baroque style to Germany

Evolution of Musical Forms

• Emergence of opera a dramatic work combining music, singing, and staging
  • Developed from the Florentine Camerata's attempts to revive ancient Greek drama
• Cantata a multi-movement work for voice and instruments, typically on a secular text
• Oratorio a large-scale religious work for chorus, soloists, and orchestra, usually performed without staging
• Madrigal a polyphonic vocal composition, often on a secular text, that became more expressive and dramatic in the early Baroque
• Instrumental forms (sonata, canzona, toccata) began to evolve and gain importance

Characteristics of Early Baroque Style

• Emphasis on solo singing and instrumental accompaniment, moving away from Renaissance polyphony
• Basso continuo provided a foundation for harmonic and rhythmic structure
• Affective text setting composers sought to express the emotions and meaning of the text through musical devices
• Use of ornamentation (trills, turns, mordents) to embellish the melodic line
• Tonal harmony began to replace modal harmony, with a clear sense of key and cadences
• Rhythmic flexibility and use of rubato to enhance emotional expression
• Contrasting sections and sudden changes in texture, dynamics, and mood

Innovations in Vocal Music

• Development of recitative a speech-like style of singing used to advance the plot in opera
• Aria a more lyrical and expressive solo piece showcasing the singer's virtuosity
• Use of castrati male singers castrated before puberty to preserve their high vocal range
  • Castrati were prized for their power, agility, and emotional expressiveness
• Expansion of vocal ornamentation and improvisation
• Introduction of the da capo aria a three-part form (A-B-A) with the repeated first section ornamented by the singer
• Emergence of the stile concitato an agitated style used to depict intense emotions like anger or excitement

Impact on Instrumental Composition

• Instrumental music began to gain importance and independence from vocal music
• Composers wrote pieces specifically for instruments, showcasing their unique capabilities
• Basso continuo provided a foundation for solo instrumental works (sonatas) and small ensembles
• Instrumental genres (canzona, toccata, ricercar) evolved and became more expressive
• Virtuosic instrumental writing emerged, exploiting the technical possibilities of instruments
• Instrumental music used to accompany and enhance dramatic action in opera

Legacy and Influence on Later Periods

• Early Baroque innovations laid the foundation for the development of opera and oratorio throughout the Baroque era
• Monody and basso continuo became essential elements of Baroque musical style
• Emphasis on solo singing and virtuosity influenced the rise of the star vocalist (prima donna) in later opera
• Affective text setting and the doctrine of the affections continued to shape Baroque music
• Tonal harmony and the major-minor system became firmly established
• Instrumental forms and genres continued to evolve and gain prominence
• Influence on later composers (Handel, Bach) who refined and expanded upon early Baroque techniques and styles