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Period: 1567 to
Claudio Monteverdi
Train in the Renaissance style, Monteverdi used dissonances in his music (madrigals) for text expression. -
Period: to
Francesca Caccini
Caccini was the first woman to compose operas. She sung roles in several early operas and was praised for her soprano voice. She was bought out by the Medici family and became the highest paid musica in Italy. -
Concerto
There are 3 types of Concerto:
Solo Concerto: An orchestral work for a solo instrument + orchestra. Usually 3 movements: Fast-Slow-Fast.
Concerto Gross: Similar to the solo concerto, except the soloist is a small group of solo players called the concertino.
Ripieno Concerto: No small groups. The entire ensemble functions as one with different soloists and groups of instruments performing the concertino function. -
Invention of Opera
The invention of Opera is accredited to Italian composers Giulio Caccini and Jacopo Peri. -
Equal Temperament
An adjusted (tempered) tuning: all half steps are an equal distance apart -
Opera
As a musical genre, Opera is a drama sung throughout, accompanied by instruments and theatrically staged. -
Monody
A new singing style, Monody is a sung melody, in Italian text, with basso continuo. -
Oratorio
An oratorio was an extended musical drama with a religious subject that was not staged. -
Sonata
A chamber piece for a solo instrument and keyboard or solo keyboard, violin being the first type of solo sonatas. There are two types of Sonata, Sonata da camera (sonata for the chamber or room) and Sonata da chiesa (church sonata). -
Trio Sonata
Two treble lines and basso continuo. Arcangelo Corelli was the master of Trio Sonata. -
The Baroque Suite
A Baroque set of dances, usually contrasting in character – usually all in the same key . Suites could be created for chamber or orchestral ensembles – even for solo players. -
Cantatas
Cantatas up until the 1630s contained simple arias, strophic variations, and passages of monody. In the 17th century, an Italian cantata was a vocal work for a soloist and basso continuo. They became particularly popular in mid-baroque. -
Period: to
Early Baroque
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Period: to
The Baroque Period
Throughout the Baroque period, harmonies, forms, and textures tended to be more free and unlike the Renaissance, polyphony and homophony were of equal importance. With the rise in popularity of the virtuoso, ornamentation, often improvised, became prominant. Rhythm became more definite and functional harmony was established. -
Period: to
Barbara Strozzi
Strozzi studied under Francesce Cavalli at the Accademia degli Unisoni. She did not write opera but her songs and cantatas are very dramatic. -
First Public Opera Theater
The first public opera theater opened in Venice in 1637, the Teatro de San Cassiano. -
Aria
Aria is a self-contained piece for solo voice, accompanied by instruments. It often exists within a larger genre, such as in an opera, oratorio, or cantata -
The Coronation of Poppea
Composed by Monteverdi, this early opera was based on mythology. It premiered in Venice -
Passacaglia
Passacaglia is a Baroque form that draws upon the principle of the ground bass. The bass melody in a stately triple meter, usually 4 to 8 measures long while the theme is repeated over and over in the bass serving as a foundation for a set of continuous variations on top -
Chaconne
Chaconne is related to the passacaglia. A harmonic progression is repeated instead of an actual melody. -
The Fugue
The Fugue is both a form and a genre. Based on the principle of imitation, Countersubjects, answers to the subject, and alterations to the subject make up the remainder of the fugue.
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Period: to
Middle Baroque
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Period: to
Arcangelo Corelli
Corelli was a particularly influential Italian composer known for his sonatas and concertos featuring heavily ornamented violin compositions. -
Period: to
Henry Purcell
Purcell assimilated the musical styles of Europe through Italian operatic style, grand aspects of French music, and the lyric melodic quality of English songs. He wrote incidental music for plays. -
Period: to
Elizabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre
She was called “the wonder of our century.” and was a renowned haprsicordist. -
Invention of the Telescope
Isaac Newton invents a reflecting telescope. -
Period: to
Francois Couperin
Couperin was a French composer and keyboardist. He created both sacred and secular works as well as chamber music and 27 orders of keyboard works. -
Bieber's, Sonata No. 1
Sonata No. 1 is a Mid-Baroque violin sonata. The opening Praeludium is for violin and basso continuo; the violin part uses a virtuosic style similar to that of solo vocal singing -
Period: to
Antonio Vivaldi
Considered the greatest master of the Baroque concerto, Vivaldi wrote nearly 800 concertos of various types. He was the music director at the Pieta, an orphanage for girls in Venice for the majority of his career. He also composed many operas, much sacred music, and many instrumental works. -
Period: to
Georg Philip Telemann
Teleman composed more than 125 orchestral suites and
helped establish the French-style orchestral suite in Germany. -
Period: to
Jean-Joseph Mouret
Mouret was one representative composer from this French court: served the son of King Louis XIV . He composed operas, suites, and “grand divertissements [entertainments]” . -
Period: to
Domenico Scarlatti
Scarlatti served Portuguese and Spanish royal families . He
had a progressive style; aware of his modern flare . He
wrote over 500 sonatas for harpsichord, operas, cantatas, and keyboard exercises. -
Period: to
G. F. Handel
Handel was a German composer living in England writing Italian music. He has two very popular orchestral suites; Music for the Royal Fireworks and Water Music. -
Period: to
J. S. Bach
Bach is undisputedly the greatest master of the fugue. The German composer wrote a ton of music in all genres except opera. He was an Organ virtuoso and composed for many churches in Leipzig to where he worked for 27 years. Bach had to compose a cantata for the Sunday church services to which at least 200 are extant, but he wrote many more, -
Period: to
Late (High) Baroque
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Water Music
Composed by Handel and performed for a royal party on the Thames River in London on July 17, 1717. -
Le Quattro Stagioni
Composed by Vivaldi, The Four Seasons is a cycle of four violin concertos. Each concerto is accompanied by a poem that we believe he wrote. -
Messiah
The only Oratorio composed by Handel that is not in the Old Testament. Was originally a fund raiser for an orphanage and incidentally became the only oratorio that is still being performed throughout time.