11.1 - Recap of Baroque Music

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Introduction to Classical Music

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Yale University

Introduction to Classical Music

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Using a simple and enjoyable teaching style, this course introduces the novice listener to the wonders of classical music, from Bach fugues to Mozart symphonies to Puccini operas.

À partir de la leçon

The Baroque Era

Novelists, poets, painters, mathematicians, and even geologists talk about "fugue-like" structure in their media and disciplines. But what is a fugue and how did we get it? To find out, we enter the world of Baroque music and famed master of the fugue, Johann Sebastian Bach. First, we'll get a chance to "live" during the Baroque period by taking a detailed look inside the life, career, and even home of Bach-- explore where and how Bach and his family lived, discuss Bach’s music, and talk about the techniques of Baroque music as a whole. Next, Bach’s music will then be compared and contrasted with that of his exact contemporary and fellow German, George Frideric Handel. One might say that Bach was an idealist and Handel was a realist when it came to music, so we’ll look at how these personality traits informed each composer’s musical style. Finally, we'll wrap up the module with an introduction to music of the Classical Period, and who better to lead the way than the inimitable Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?

11.1 - Recap of Baroque Music8:50

11. 2 - Handel's Early Life & Arrival in London5:42

11.3 - Royal Connections: Water Music and Fireworks12:46

11.4 - Opera Seria: Julius Caesar18:44

11.5 - Oratorio: Messiah13:19

Rencontrer les enseignants

Craig Wright
Henry L & Lucy G Moses Professor of Music
Department of Music

[MUSIC]

Welcome back.

Before we continue with our enjoyment of the music of Bach and Handel, let's take

a minute to review what we've discovered thus far about Late Baroque music.

Here we were coming out of the Renaissance and into the Baroque.

Renaissance music, by way of review, was chant inspired.

Imitative polyphony was the basis of the style.

Most of the music was religious music.

It was predominately vocal music.

It was performed a cappella.

Which, if you'll remember, was music performed without instruments.

And we had these three types of music, or three genres of music,

Mass, Motet, and Madrigal.

When we come into the 17th century with the Baroque period, we have the genres of

concerto grosso, fugues, and cantatas, and oratorios and operas, that sort of thing.

It's predominantly instrumental.

Violin becomes the leading instrument,

the melodies generally are long asymmetrical.

Strong bass line is set by a basso continuo, and

the harpsichord is part of that basso continuo.

Rhythms are repetitious, music chugs along,

even drives along in an energetic fashion.

And there is a single ethos for mood.

Once a mood is set in a piece it doesn't change,

it stays there from beginning to end.

Let's turn now to a slide of some music of this period, music of Handel.

It's his famous Largo.

Actually it's an aria out of his opera, Xerxes, written in 1738.

Let me play you a bit of it.

[MUSIC]

Well the tempo is consistent, there's a slow beat here.

The beat is consistent in its duration, the dynamic level is constant.

And the music moves on inexorably, sort of non-stop.

One mood, beginning to end.

Now some music of Bach, a violin concerto, but

done in the style that we might call Bach rock.

Two performers on the Chinese Erhu.

In what way is this music Baroque?

In what way is it not?

[MUSIC]

When you hear the long music aligned, that melody is still going on.

Why it works, in part, is because of Baroque rhythm.

It's usually driving and consistent.

And so, usually, pounding, driving, consistent music,

in the rhythm of much rock music.

And a lot of pop music, generally.

So this Bach cover works.

And, by the way, that's a mark of genius.

A mark of Bach.

A work that can transcend time.

This work by Bach was written almost 300 years ago, and it transcends place.

It was written in Leipzig, Germany, and

now it's being performed by this group in China.

[MUSIC]

Now let's have some fun.

Quick test.

We'll listen to some music and see if you can identify, generally,

our mystery piece.

So it's your job to identify what this piece is, or

at least identify generally what it is.

By way of analogy, let's pretend that you've walked into an art museum.

You're standing at the door of a gallery, a room labeled 18th century European art.

In the distance you see a picture, you don't know who the painter is,

who the creator is, and you have only a dim idea of what the painting is about.

So you need to ask yourself some questions, and

that's what we're going to do here.

Only we are engaging, for the first time,

an unknown musical work as we walk into our 18th century musical museum.

On the screen, you see a series of questions here about our mystery piece.

So ask yourself, what are the instruments playing here?

Specifically, what instruments are they that are playing?

In what order do they enter, high or low?

What type of texture do they create?

What form, or genre, are they creating?

What happens to the rhythm as each voice enters?

What's the psychological impact as the piece progresses?

So let's listen to it here once.

[MUSIC]

Okay, so let's stop there, and that was hard, particularly beginning.

So let's go back to the beginning, we'll do just that much again.

Second pass, give you a second attempt here.

[MUSIC]

Okay, let's phase that out then.

And we'll go on, in effect, to the answers here.

What instruments are playing?

Well of course, the strings.

Now the next question is difficult.

In what order do the voices enter, in terms of high and low?

Well, alto, or second violin.

Then soprano, that was the really hard part, first violin.

Then the tenors, and then the bass.

What type of texture do they create as they enter?

Well, polyphonic texture, what genre, more in the sense form are they creating?

Well, a few, you've heard the imitation there with the voices entering singly.

What happens to the rhythm as each voice enters?

Well, the durations

become shorter [SOUND].

What's the psychological impact as the piece progresses?

Well it gradually grows in speed, and in force.

And finally, the question we didn't ask you, who might the composer have been?

Well, reasonable guess here would have been Bach or Handel.

As we leave this segment,

let's end with a rehearing of this fugue by George Frederick Handel.

This was a piece by Handel.

[MUSIC]

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