OPERA IN THE BAROQUE ERA

Opera was born in Italy. Its way was prepared by musical discussion among a small group of nobles, poets, and composers who began to meet regularly in Florence around 1575. This group was known as the Camerata (Italian for fellowship or society)

The Camerata wanted to create a new vocal style modeled on the music of ancient Greek tragedy. Since no actual dramatic music had come down to them from the Greeks, they based their theories on literary accounts that had survived. It was believed that the Greek dramas had been sung throughout in a style that was midway between melody and speech. The Camerata wanted the vocal line to follow the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech. Because it was modeled after speech, the new vocal style became known as recitative (recited). It was sung by a soloist with only a simple chordal accompaniment. The new music was therefore homophonic in texture. Polyphony was rejected by the Camerata because different words sounding simultaneously would obscure the all-important text.

Much baroque opera was composed for ceremonial occasions at court and was designed as a display of magnificence and splendor. The subject matter was drawn from Greek tragedy and ancient history. Not only were aristocratic patrons of the baroque fascinated by the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome, but they identified with Greek and Roman heroes and divinities. Opera did indeed reflect the creative urge of composer and librettist, but it also was a way to flatter the aristocracy. The radiant appearance of Apollo (the god of poetry, music, and the sun) might symbolize a prince’s enlightened rule.

The first public opera house opened in Venice in 1637; now anyone with the price of admission could attend an opera performance. Between 1737 and 1800 there were seventeen opera houses in Venice alone, as well as many in other Italian cities---ample evidence that opera had been born in the right place at the right time. Hamburg, Leipzig, and London, had public opera houses by the early 1700’s, but, on the whole, public opera outside Italy took longer to develop.

Venetian opera became a great tourist attraction. An English traveler wrote in 1645 about the opera and its “variety of scenes painted and contrived with no less art of perspective and machines for flying in the air, and other wonderful motions; taken together, it is one of the most magnificent and expensive diversions the wit of man can invent.” The stage machinery of baroque opera bordered on the colossal; stage effects might include gods descending on clouds or riding across the sky in chariots, ships tossing, boulders splitting. And set design was an art itself. Painters turned backdrops into cities with arches and avenues that stretched into the distant horizon.

Baroque opera marked the rise of virtuoso singers. Chief among these was the castrato, a male singer who had been castrated before puberty. (Castration of boy singers was common in Italy from 1600 to 1800; it was usually done with the consent of impoverished parents who hoped their sons would become highly paid opera stars)
A castrato combined the lung power of a man with the vocal range of a woman. His agility, breath control and unique sound (which was not like a woman’s) intrigued listeners. With their soprano or alto vocal ranges, they played male roles such as Caesar and Nero---baroque audiences evidently were more interested in vocal virtuosity than dramatic realism. Some baroque operas cannot be performed today, because contemporary singers aren’t able to manage the fiendishly difficult castrato parts.

During the late baroque, operas consisted largely of arias linked by recitatives. These recitatives were usually accompanied by a basso continuo, in which case they are called secco recitatives. At emotional high points and moments of tension, however, they might be supported by the orchestra; they are then called accompanied recitatives.

All action stopped during the aria, when the singer faced the audience, expressed the feelings of the character, and displayed vocal virtuosity. By combining virtuosity, nobility, and extravagance, baroque opera perfectly expressed the spirit of a grand age.


text from Music an Appreciation by Roger Kamien

BAROQUE MUSIC 1600-1750

The two giants of Baroque music
were George Frederic Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach . Bach’s death in 1750 marks the end of the period. The Baroque period can be divided into three phases: early (1600-1640), middle (1640-1680) and late (1680-1750). The Baroque music best known today comes from the later period but the earliest was one of the most revolutionary periods in music history. Monteverdi (1567-1643), for instance, strove to create unprecedented passion and dramatic contrast in his works. In Italy, especially, music was composed for texts conveying extreme emotion, and the text ruled the music. With this stress on drama and text, it is not surprising that Italian composers of the early baroque created opera---a drama sung to orchestral accompaniment. Their melodic lines imitated the rhythms and influences of speech.

Early baroque composers favored homophonic texture over polyphonic texture typical of the Renaissance music. They felt that words could be projected more clearly using just one main melody with a chordal accompaniment. But note that this new emphasis on homophonic texture characterizes only the early baroque; by the late baroque period, polyphonic texture returned to favor.

To depict the extreme emotions in their texts, early baroque composers used dissonance with a new freedom. Never before were unstable chords so prominent and emphatic. Contrasts of sound were stressed---one or more solo singers against a chorus, or voices against instruments. In Renaissance choral music, instruments---if used at all---duplicated the singer’s melody. But in the early baroque, voices were accompanied by melodic lines designed for instruments.

During the middle phase of the baroque, the new musical style spread from Italy to practically every country in Europe. The medieval or church modes---scales that had governed music for centuries---gradually gave way to major and minor scales. By about 1680 major and minor scales were the basis for most compositions. Another feature in the middle baroque phase was the new importance of instrumental music. Many compositions were written for specific instruments, the violin family being the most popular.

We will focus mainly on the late baroque period which produced most of the baroque music heard today. Many aspects of harmony---including the emphasis on the attraction of the dominant chord to the tonic---arose in this period. During the late baroque, instrumental music became as important as vocal music for the first time. Baroque will pertain, for this class, to the late period.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BAROQUE MUSIC

Unity of Mood

A baroque piece usually expresses one basic mood: what begins joyfully will remain joyful throughout. Emotional states like joy, grief, and agitation were represented and these moods were called affections. Composers molded a musical language to depict the affections; specific rhythms or melodic patterns were associated with specific moods. This common language gives a family resemblance to much late baroque music.
The prime exception to this baroque principle of unity of mood occurs in vocal music. Drastic changes of emotion in a text may inspire corresponding changes in the music. But even in such cases, one mood is maintained at some length before it yields to another.

Rhythm

Unity of mood in baroque music is conveyed, first of all, by the continuity of rhythm. Rhythmic patterns heard at the beginning of a piece are repeated throughout it. This rhythmic continuity provides a compelling drive and energy---the forward motion is rarely interrupted. The beat is emphasized far more in baroque than in most Renaissance music, for example.

Melody

Baroque melody also creates a feeling of continuity. An opening melody will be heard again and again in the course of a baroque piece. And even when a melody is presented in varied form, its character tends to remain constant. There is continuous expanding, unfolding, and unwinding of melody. This sense of directed motion is frequently the result of a melodic sequence, that is, successive repetition of a musical idea at higher or lower pitch levels. Many baroque melodies sound elaborate and ornamental, and they are not easy to sing or remember. A short opening phrase is often followed by a longer phrase with an unbroken flow of rapid notes.

Dynamics

Paralleling continuity of rhythm and melody in baroque music is continuity of dynamic level; the volume tends to stay constant for a stretch of time. When dynamics do shift, the shift is usually sudden, like physically stepping from one level to another. This alternation between loud and soft is called terraced dynamics. Gradual changes in dynamics are not prominent features of baroque music. The main keyboard instruments of the baroque were the organ and harpsichord, both well suited for continuity of dynamic level. These instruments weren’t capable of paying a crescendo or decrescendo. A third keyboard instrument, the clavichord could make gradual dynamic changes but only within a narrow range from very soft to moderately soft.

Texture

Late baroque music is predominantly polyphonic in texture: two or more melodic lines compete for the listener’s attention. Usually, the soprano and bass lines are the most important. Imitation between the various lines, or voices, of the texture is very common. A melodic idea heard in one voice is likely to make an appearance in the other voices as well.
However, not all late baroque music was polyphonic. A piece might shift in texture, especially in vocal music, where changes of mood in the words demand musical contrast. Also, baroque composers differed in their treatment of musical texture. Bach leaned toward a consistently polyphonic texture, whereas Handel used much more contrast between polyphonic and homophonic sections.


Chords and the Basso Continuo (Figured Bass)

Chords became increasingly important during the baroque period. In earlier times, there was more concern with the beauty of individual melodic lines than with chords formed when the lines were heard together. In a sense, chords were mere by-products of the motion of melodic lines. But in the baroque period chords became significant in themselves. As composers wrote a melodic line, they thought of chords to mesh with it. Indeed, sometimes they composed a melody to fit a specific chord progression. This interest in chords gave a new prominence to the bass part, which served as the foundation of the harmony. The whole musical structure rested on the bass part.
The new emphasis on chords and the bass part resulted in the most characteristic feature of baroque music, an accompaniment called the basso continuo, or figured bass. This is made up of a bass part together with numbers (figures) which specify the chords to be played above it. The continuo---to use the common abbreviation---is usually played by at least two instruments: an organ or a harpsichord, and a low melodic instrument like a cello or bassoon. With the left hand, the organist or harpsichordist plays the bass part, which is also performed by the cellist or bassoonist. With the right hand, the keyboard player improvises cords or even a melodic line, following the indication of the numbers. These numbers specify only a basic chord, not the exact way in which the chord should be played. Thus the performer is given a great deal of freedom. (This shorthand system is similar in principle to the chord indications found on the modern song sheets from which jazz pianists improvise.) The basso continuo offered the advantage of emphasizing the all-important bass part, besides providing a steady flow of chords. Practically, the use of numbers, rather than chords with all their notes written out, saved time for busy baroque composers. It also saved paper at a time when paper was expensive.

Words and Music

Like their Renaissance predecessors, baroque composers used music to depict the meaning of specific words. Heaven might be set to a high tone; and hell to a low tone. Rising scales represented upward motion; descending scales depicted the reverse. Descending chromatic scales were associated with pain and grief. This descriptive musical language was quite standardized: a lament for a lost love might call forth the same descending chromatic scale used to depict suffering in the Crucifixus of the mass.
Baroque composers often emphasized words by writing many rapid notes for a single syllable of text; this technique also displayed a singer’s virtuosity. The individual words and phrases of a text are repeated over and over as the music continuously unfolds.

THE BAROQUE STYLE

Though the word baroque has at various times meant bizarre, flamboyant, and elaborately ornamented, modern historians use it simply to indicate a particular style in the arts. An oversimplified but useful characterization of baroque style is that it fills space---canvas, stone, or sound---with action and movement. Painters, sculptors, and architects became interested in forming a total illusion, like a stage setting. Artists such as Caravaggio, Gentileschi, Bernini, Rubens, and Rembrandt exploited their materials to expand the dramatic potential of color, depth, and contrasts of light and dark; they wanted to create totally structured worlds.

Such a style was very well suited to the wishes of aristocracy, who also thought in terms of completely integrated structures. In France, for example, Louis XIV held court in the Palace of Versailles, a magnificent setting that fused baroque painting, sculpture, architecture, and garden design into a symbol of royal wealth and power.

The aristocracy was enormously rich and powerful during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. While most of the population barely managed to survive, European rulers surrounded themselves with luxury. There were many such rulers. Germany, for example, was divided into about 300 territories, each governed separately. Kings and princes proclaimed their greatness by means of splendid palaces and magnificent court entertainments like balls, banquets, ballets, operas, and plays. Indeed entertainment was a necessity; most courtiers did no real work and tried to avoid boredom as much as possible.

The baroque period is also known as the "age of absolutism" because many rulers exercised absolute power over their subjects. In Germany, for example, the duke of Weimar could throw his court musician, Johann Sebastian Bach, into jail for a month because Bach stubbornly refused to leave his job.

Along with the aristocracy, religious institutions powerfully shaped the baroque style. churches used the emotional and theatrical qualities of art to make worship more attractive and appealing. During the baroque period, Europe was divided Catholic and Protestant areas: France, Spain, Italy, and the Austrian Empire were primarily Catholic, while England, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and parts of Germany were Protestant.

The middle class, too, influenced the development of the baroque style. In the Netherlands, for example, prosperous merchants and doctors commissioned realistic landscapes and scenes from every-day life.

It is also helpful to think of the baroque style against the backdrop of scientific discoveries during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The works of Galileo (1564-1642) and Newton (1642-1727) represented a new approach to science based on the union of mathematics and experiment; they discovered mathematical laws governing bodies in motion. Such scientific advances led to new inventions and the gradual improvement of medicine, mining, navigation, and industry during the baroque era.

Text from Music An Appreciation by Roger Kamien