Amy True Dr.

Rumpf Listening and Literature 11 March 2013 Ten Things to Know About the Baroque Era 1. King Louis XIV a. Was a part of nearly every well-known composers career b. Established the French school of Ballet c. Known for his grandeur and his elegant palace of Versailles, which was done in signature Baroque style architecture 2. The Three Factors of Baroque a. Political: Monarchies such as Louis XIV and Louis XV firmly established a lavish musical life b. Economic: Colonization created an upper class, which supplied cities with operas c. Curiosity: People relied less on the Catholic Church to answer their questions and more on inductive reasoning. When applied to music, new techniques and materials to create music were invented. 3. Instrumentation and Performance a. Newly perfected violins replaced the viols b. Brass instruments did not have valves, which limited them to playing only in one key c. Castrati: artificial male sopranos d. New dynamics such as piano and forte were used, but not often e. Tempo markings such as allegro were used, but had imprecise meanings 4. Florentine Camerata a. Intellectuals who gathered in Florence, Italy (the place the Baroque era began) who wanted to create theatrical pieces where words would dictate the music and rhythm. They believed this was the role of music in the tragedies of Ancient Greece. 5. Doctrine of Affections a. Defined the role of music as the arousal and sustaining of feelings. b. This is seen through improvisation, which every musician was required to know. c. Through heavy ornamentation, such as trills and mordents. This is seen in the music of composers like Elisabeth de la Guerre. 6. Johann Sebastian Bach a. Without Bach, the Baroque Era would never have been the same. His death was so influential to the era that the era ended when he died. b. His first job was playing for the Duke of Weimar at a young age c. He composed in every form of music except for opera

7. Jean Baptiste-Lully a. Heavily influenced the French Overture b. Established a monopoly in France over all operas, and any group of musicians was limited to two singers and eight instrumentalists, otherwise they would have to have his permission. 8. Arcangelo Corelli a. Earliest Baroque composer b. Heavily influenced the development of the violin c. Shaped the concerto grosso d. Taught Vivaldi and was friends with Handel: he had influenced much of Baroques finest composers 9. Georg Telemann a. He was one of the top leading composers at the time b. He wrote a cantata every two weeks, and at the age of twelve composed his first opera. c. More popular than Bach d. Embraced simple music with less texture 10. Elisabeth de la Guerre a. Wrote the first opera by a woman in France b. Wrote some of the earliest examples of trio sonatas c. Lived in a convent, so she wrote mainly religious music. d. Was influenced by the people of many different backgrounds who stopped there on their pilgrimages. i. This was seen in her music such as the slides from one note to another in a Spanish style, or percussion reminiscent of the Russian dances.