Chapter 10
Instrumental Music
1600-1750
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instruments of the Baroque Era
The Violin
• Baroque violin was similar to the modern
violin but differed in ways that gave it a
sweeter, more rounded tone
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instruments of the Baroque Era
Winds, Brass, and Percussion
• the transverse flute (standard today)
became increasingly prominent but the
recorder predominated
• the oboe emerged as a successor to the
shawm
• the bassoon evolved out of the curtal
• the clarinet developed from the chalumeau
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instruments of the Baroque Era
Winds, Brass, and Percussion
• the trumpet evolved out of the cornetto
• the trombone developed out of the
sackbut
• timpani were often used with trumpets
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instruments of the Baroque Era
Keyboard Instruments
• the clavichord was valued as an
expressive instrument
• Italian harpsichord (single manual, or
keyboard) and Flemish harpsichord (two
manuals)
• virginal and spinet - smaller versions of
the harpsichord
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instruments of the Baroque Era
Keyboard Instruments
• fortepiano - allowed hammer to strike
string with variable force then fall away
without ricocheting so string freely
vibrated
• organ might have three or four manuals,
pedal division, and more than 60 speaking
stops
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instruments of the Baroque Era
The Orchestra
• emerged gradually
• an ensemble of players with more than one
to a part (at least in the string section)
• churches: size of ensemble varied according
to their importance and resources
• court orchestras rose to special
prominence in France and Germany
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instruments of the Baroque Era
The Public Concert
• a concert taking place outside the church
or theater and open to the public remained
an unusual phenomenon
• notion of a permanent municipal orchestra
did not yet exist
• amateur societies occasionally offered
public performances
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Sonata
• sonata vs. cantata
that which sounded vs. that which was sung
(Bonds p. 265)
• term sonata was broadly used for instrumental
works of all kinds
• had no fixed number or order of movements
• trio sonata acquired a relatively fixed form with
three notated parts: two high voices above a
basso continuo
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Sonata
• Isabella Leonarda Sonata Duodecima Op. 16, No. 12 (1693)
- from prominent family in the Piedmont region
- entered a convent
- she worked in the music education of the women and
girls at the convent
- this piece is a Solo Instrumental Sonata
- various tempos help us break the piece into
movements
- closely related keys of Dm are used throughout
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Sonata
• by middle of 17th century, a distinction emerged
between two different types of trio sonatas:
- sonata da camera (chamber sonata) consisted
of a collection of dance movements (suite)
- sonata da chiesa (church sonata) was suitable
for performance within the liturgy
- see Bonds p. 266
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Sonata
• the term sonata also applied to works for
solo instrument (including sonatas for solo
instrument with basso continuo)
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Concerto
• the term concerto had a wide range of meanings
• applied to works in which any number or combination of
diverse musical forces work together or “in concert”
• genre highlighted the contrasts within its performing
forces
• several subcategories:
- concerto grosso
- solo concerto
- ripieno concerto
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Concerto
• Corelli Concerto Grosso in F, Op. 6, No. 2 (ca. 1685)
- concerto grosso
- ripieno = strings and basso continuo
- concertino = two solo violins and basso continuo
- four movements
- 1st, 3rd, & 4th have sub-sections
- 1st -- alternates vivace fanfare with imitative allegro
- 2nd -- brief allegro
- 3rd -- Grave to Largo
- 4th -- binary form allegro
Sunday, October 21, 12
Antonio Vivaldi.
This caricature captures a certain levity
and mischievousness that characterizes
a good bit of Vivaldi’s music - which
despite its conventional surface is never
predictable.
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Concerto
• Vivaldi Concerto in Am, Op. 3, No. 8, I.
- considered a “solo” concerto though it is for two violins
- uses a “ritornello” form
- listen for alternation of performance forces -- tutti vs.
solo
- 3 main Ritornello ideas (see Bonds p. 269)
- A1 = mm. 1-4
- A2 = mm. 4-8
- A3 = mm. 9-12
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Suite
• grouped dance movements in sets of two, three
or even more pieces
• groupings went by different names depending on
locale
• keyboard suite known as:
• partita in Germany and Italy
• lesson in England
• ordre in France
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Suite
• number of movements is variable, most
consist of four to six dances of varying
tempo, meter, and character
• basic framework might consist of two
moderately fast movements, followed by a
slow movement and at the end, a lively
dance in triple meter
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Suite
• variation suite presents a series of
contrasting dances based on one basic
thematic idea
• suite was a favorite medium for program
music (instrumental music meant to
express a nonmusical story or idea)
• see Bonds p. 273 for table of traits found in
various suite movements
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Suite
• Couperin Piéces de clavecin, Book 1 (1713)
- Second ordre (second suite)
- we have only two movements from the
second ordre
- Courante = triple meter; fast; with pickup
- Sarabande = triple meter; slow; no pickup
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Suite
• Jean-Féry Rebel “Le cahos” from Les élémens, I.
- Orchestral Suite
- program music (tells a story w/out voices)
- most program music tells some kind of a story or
represents some “extra musical” idea, person or
event (see Bonds p. 273 for more)
- Note the figured bass in measure 1(it is all of the
notes of the D-Harmonic Minor scale)
- is this a kind of musical chaos?
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Other Keyboard Genres
• four broad categories: free, vocal based,
dance based, and variation
• free genres have no preexisting material
and adhere to no particular pattern or
structure (toccata, canzona, fantasia,
prelude, canon, ricercar and fugue)
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Other Keyboard Genres
• Frescobaldi Toccata IX (1627)
- representative of the toccata genre
- rapid passagework
- free form
- highly episodic
- sounds improvised
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Other Keyboard Genres
• Buxtehude Praeludium in Gm (ca. 1675-89)
- prelude and fantasia were interchangeable
terms in the Baroque, referring to pieces
that adhere to no fixed structural pattern
- multiple sections which may involve rapid
passagework or imitation
- may sound improvised
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Other Keyboard Genres
• large percentage of keyboard music was
based on the principles of dance - often
using binary forms
• variations on bass line patterns (ground
basses) were popular in both vocal and
instrumental music
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Other Keyboard Genres
• fugue emerges in the 17th century as an imitative
genre based on a single musical idea (called a subject)
• fugue relates to canon in that it is highly imitative
• opening section of a fugue is called the exposition
• other sections are episodes and middle entries
• J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier consists of two
books of Preludes & Fugue in each key
• See Bonds p. 282 for more on temperament
Sunday, October 21, 12
Splitting the difference.
This view of a virginal shows several of the Ab and Eb keys are actually
divided into two separate keys, making them capable of playing thirds.
(See page 281)
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Other Keyboard Genres
• J.S. Bach Well-Tempered Clavier
- Prelude and Fugue in C
- Prelude and Fugue in C# minor
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Other Keyboard Genres
• the most important vocal-based keyboard
genres were founded upon chorale
melodies
• chorale preludes served as instrumental
introductions to congregational singing of a
chorale in church
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Other Keyboard Genres
• Pachelbel Chorale Prelude on the Magnificat peregrini toni
(POP 69)
- written in the late 17th century
• J.S. Bach Chorale Prelude on Meine Seele erhebt den
Herren (BWV 648)
- written in 1748
• Both use the same tune
• Chorale Prelude is an instrumental introduction to the
congregational singing of a chorale in church
Sunday, October 21, 12
Instrument Genres of the Baroque Era
Other Keyboard Genres
• Variations forms
- many Baroque period variations forms use a
reoccurring sequence of chords or a reoccurring bass
line (basso ostinato)
- Bonds p. 284 for passacaglia, chaconne, and passamezzo
- J.S. Bach “Goldberg Variations”
- explores variation and canon
- listen to both Glenn Gould and another
interpretation (Gustav Leonhardt is on my Spotify)
Sunday, October 21, 12
