Baroque Vs. Classical Era Music
Classical Characteristics continued
- Concertos
- 3 Piece movements
- Designed for 1 instrument
- Improvised
- Overtures
- 1 piece movements for orchestra
- Usually introductions
Classical Instruments Continued
Classical Orchestral Characteristics
- Bassoons
- Trumpets
- Horns
- Trombones
- Timpani
Baroque Instruments Continued
Classical Orchestral Instruments
Baroque Orchestra Composers
- Very tonal- major minor key
- Age or reason
- expressed emotional restraint/balance
- Homophonic texture
- Melodies were smooth
- Rhythm was not complicated
- 1st and 2nd Violins
- Violas
- Cellos
- Double basses
- Flute
- Oboe
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1685-1750
- German composer
- Known for outstanding technique and fugues
- George Frideric Handel
- 1685-1759
- German composer
- Known for Oratorios and Italian Operas
Baroque Orchestral Instruments
Classical Composers Continued
- Harpsichord/Organ
- Cello
- Violin
- Beethoven
- 1770-1827
- Classical and Romantic composer
- "Freed music from restraint of classicism"
Baroque Characteristics Continued
Classical Orchestra
- Continuo was an important part of Baroque music
- Involved 2 instruments: Keyboard (organ/harpsichord) and bass instrument (cello)
- Bass line played simple, continuous noted bass line
- Keyboard played an improvised harmonies based of chord symbols
Baroque Orchestral Characteristics
Classical Orchestral Composers
- Very elaborate and artistic
- Focus on Homophonic texture
- One predominant melody with an accompaniment or harmonic background.
- Word painting (conveying moods or meanings with musical changes)
- 1750-1820
- More woodwind and Brass instruments than Baroque era
- Homophonic texture
- Symphony became more popular
- Concerts for middle class started to appear
- Concertos and Overtures became popular
- Mozart
- 1756-1791
- Austria
- Over 600 Compositions
- Operas
- Symphonies
- Piano/Violin
Baroque Orchestra
Works Cited
- 1600-1750
- This was the period where opera began until Bach (famous composer) died.
- Small orchestras (25 or less instruments) performed for entertainment
- String focused orchestras with keyboard accompaniment
Classical Examples Continued
Beethoven- Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, op. 13
"Baroque." The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide. Abington: Helicon, 2015. Credo Reference. Web. 11 May 2016.
"The Baroque and Classical Period Orchestras." Working and Developing in a Musical Ensemble. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2016.
- Shifts in major and minor tonalities
- Contrasting moods
Willoughby, David. The World of Music. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1999. Print.
Baroque and Classical Music
Importance of Classical and Baroque music
- Two types of orchestral music
- They share many similarities but have distinct differences
Classical Orchestral Examples
- Both of these forms gave way to many of out types of music
- Allowed Composers to try new things and develop new ways of creating music
- Types
- Instrumental
- Vocal
- Choral
- Opera
Baroque Era
Baroque Orchestra Examples
Classical Era
- Gave the beginnings of opera
- Figured bass may have led to walking bass line
- Proliferation of Keyboard works
- New techniques
- Development of sonata, symphony, and string quartet
- Led to new ways of creativity in music
- Laid groundwork for modern age music
Conclusion
Classical Examples Continued
- Different types
- Keyboard works
- Chamber works
- Orchestral pieces
- Large choral works
- Operas
Haydn-String Quartet in C major, op. 76, no. 3
Baroque Examples Continued
Objectives
- Polyphonic and Homophonic Texture
- Flowing melody
Bach's Fugue in C minor, No. 2 form The well Tempered Clavier
- Has a 5 note motive
- Polyphonic Texture
- Very complex melody
- Baroque and Classical era music have been identified as similar in many ways
- Certain characteristics such as texture, melodies, and rhythm set them apart as categories
- Each era was a great step in the evolution of music and has lead to music today
- Understand the difference between Baroque and Classical orchestra
- See the significance for each type of music
Baroque Examples Continued
Vivaldi- 4 Seasons spring
- First type of Concert music
- Use of cello and Harpsichord
- Use of text painting