Chapter 9 Baroque Instrumental Music

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Chapter 9Baroque Instrumental Music

• Concerto and Concerto Grosso Bach

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Key Terms

• Concerto
• Concerto grosso
• Concertare
• Movement

• Ritornello form
• Ritornello
• Cadenza

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Concerto and Concerto Grosso

• The most important orchestral genres of the
  Baroque era
• Latin concertare to contend
• Concerto signifies a contest between
• Soloist orchestra (concerto)
• Group of soloists orchestra (concerto grosso)
• Virtuoso brilliance of solos orchestras power,
  stability

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Johann Sebastian Bach(1685-1750)

• Came from family of musicians
• Early positions as church organist
• Soon took prestigious court positions
• 1723Cantor Director musices, Leipzig
• Prolificwrote in almost every late Baroque genre
  except opera
• Lutheran church musiccantatas, passions
• Organ musicfugues, chorale preludes
• Keyboard musicWell-Tempered Clavier, suites
• Orchestral musicconcertos, suites

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J.S. Bach
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Bachs church in Leipzig
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Baroque Orchestra
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The Concerto Grosso

• Concerto for a group of solo instruments
  orchestra
• Otherwise similar to solo concerto
• Three movements FastSlowFast
• Ritornello form often used in fast movements
• Emphasis on contrast (contest) between soloists
  orchestra

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Bachs Brandenburg Concertos

• Set of six concertos written before 1721
• Beautiful manuscript copy sent as gift to the
  Margrave of Brandenburg
• Bach may have been looking for a job
• Each concerto uses different group of solo
  instrumentsoften unusual combinations
• Often dazzling tone colors
• Imaginative contrasts between soloists orchestra

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Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5

• For three solo instrumentsflute, violin,
  harpsichordand orchestra
• Some soloists do double duty
• Solo violin also leads orchestra in ritornellos
• Harpsichord also provides continuo chords
• Uses standard three-movement format
• I Fast II Slow III Fast
• 1st movement in ritornello form
• 2nd movement uses reduced instrumentation only
  soloists continuo

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Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, I (1)

• Allegro movement in ritornello form
• Extended movementnearly ten minutes
• To sustain interest, Bach introduces
  progressively more dramatic contrasts
• Bright, vivacious ritornello theme
• Homophonic feeldominated by melody
• Complete theme used only at beginning end

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Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, I (2)

• Bright, vivacious ritornello theme (cont.)
• Divides into three subsections (a, b, c)
• Complex, irregular rhythms, melodic contour,
  phrase lengths (especially b c)

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Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, I (2)

• Solo episodes provide contrast
• These sections feature the three solo instruments
  with continuo accompaniment
• Solo sections use rich, imitative polyphony
• Progressively more dramatic contrasts (especially
  central solo cadenza)
• Many concertos feature a cadenza
• Cadenza improvised passage for soloist
• Typically used near end of 1st movement
• A cadenza this long was unusual in 1721

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Conclusions

• Concerto the most significant Baroque orchestral
  genre
• Usually feature one or more soloists
• Contest between soloist(s) orchestra
• Three movements, FastSlowFast
• Differ in tempo, mood, key or mode, form
• Fast movements often use ritornello form
• Bachs music is more sophisticated complex than
  Vivaldis