14 replies to this topic

[laurenp]

Things I need you to look for.
-Antecedent Errors
-Forms of the verb "To Be" (is, was, were, are, be, etc.)
-General fluency.

plzandthankyou.


I've been working on this for about 3 months, so It's imperative to my friggin life that this is absolutely flawless.

I thought "Hey, since my Invicta buddies have no life, maybe they'd like to help."

If you don't feel like proofing, I need some words of encouragement. Shiny ones, please.

[laurenp]

The term “baroque” originates from the Portuguese “barroco,” meaning irregularly shaped pearl. This definition, when applied to the term “baroque,” correlates with the departure from the symmetry and harmony of the Renaissance, to the drama and complexity of baroque compositions. Baroque-era compositions have influenced hundreds of years of European culture. These compositions reflect the major events, daily life, and citizen’s beliefs during the Seventeenth, and early to mid Eighteenth centuries.
The principal stylistic characteristic that distinguishes baroque music from former eras remains the polarization of voices, the shift from the complex sound and texture of five or more voices to simpler textures emphasizing only two parts: the bass line and the melody. (Libbey 39) In addition to the polarization of voices, famous compositional forms such as opera, symphony, sinfonia, minuet, concerto, cantata, oratorio, and sonata appeared in the baroque era.
Famous baroque composers include J.S. Bach, Joseph Haydn, Johann Pachelbel, G.F. Handel, Joseph Telemann, and Antonio Vivaldi. Each composer’s style varies greatly with the area of Europe in which they spent their lives. For example, Bach and Telemann, both born in Germany, known for their light and sempre staccato compositions, as well as their organized and repetitive use of thirds, have very similar composition styles. While Vivaldi, born in Italy, expresses dark, contemplative emotion in his works, but sacrifices organization.
All baroque music mirrors in some fashion Italian baroque compositions. Italian Opera remained the most popular form of music at the time. It spread around Europe, and each country added its own influences to baroque compositions, similar to American rock and roll today.
Baroque compositions, not only influenced by the area the composers inhabited, also mirrored the events affecting the lives of people in the time period. These events include divisions in Italy, the Thirty Years War, and the English Civil War.
During the baroque era, most of Italy remained ruled by Austria or Spain. Italy, the cultural center of Europe at the time, rested divided into several microstates. These microstates used as bargaining chips by the large European empires, symbolized supremacy for the empires that owned them. This state of affairs persisted until the unification of Italy in the nineteenth century. Italian divisions affected composers such as Vivaldi, Allegri, and Lully.
The Thirty Years War dug a bloody furrow across Europe between 1618 and 1648. The conflict began as a minor dispute within the Austrian Hapsburg Empire, where the citizens of Bohemia, (now the Czech Republic) rejected the Catholic emperor Ferdinand II and chose Fredrick the Elector Palatine as monarch. (Stanley 69) The religious overtones of the conflict soon triggered further violence. Protestant powers, Denmark and Sweden joined the conflict. The Danish soon fell to the Catholics, but the Swedish cut a band through the German provinces, causing Munich and Mainz to fall, and Vienna to come under threat.
A new element, added in 1635, when France became involved in the final stages of the conflict siding with the Protestants. This created more conflict, but soon restored peace. France’s influence finally brought an end to the hostilities, while establishing France as a leading force in European affairs. The Thirty Years War affected most European composers of the time period because of its widespread destruction.
The English Civil war began in 1642 when Charles I raised his royal influence in Nottingham. The split between parliament and Charles I caused the country to split in two, starting the English Civil War. The war ended in 1649, when Charles I, tried and found guilty that “he (Charles I) had traitorously and maliciously levied war against the present Parliament and the people therein represented,” faced execution on January 30th, 1649. The English Civil War affected early baroque composers, as well as composers such as Henry Purcell and Handel who lived in England later in the period.

[laurenp]

The baroque “rules” for the use of key signatures, still prominent today, change the mood and flow of music. The two main types of keys remain major and minor. Baroque music only featured key signatures with 4 or less flats of sharps, because the instruments of the time period did not have the acoustic properties of the multi-tone instruments today.
Major keys, usually associated with happy, upbeat music, appeared often in baroque dances, sonatas, and multi-movement works, as well as some concertos. A major diatonic scale consists of a series of eight notes separated by whole tones, except for the 3rd and 4th, and 7th and 8th tones. The keys of C and G major occur in compositions for royalty and the church, while the key of D major occurs mostly in civic pieces.
The name of a major key appears easily identified by its tonal center. The pitch that the ear appears drawn to in a certain key defines tonal center. For example, if a piano plays part of a major scale with seven out of eight notes, the scale will feel incomplete to the ear. The tonal center of a key, the 1st and 8th tones, appears to the listener, even if the listener does not realize it.
Like major keys, minor keys appear often in multi-movement works, but occur in these works to express sadness, pain, or fear. For example, the key of D minor occurred in works intended to express pain, because the instruments of the baroque era could not be tuned to comply with the requirements of this key. The extra effect of the out-of-tune instruments increased the emotions utilized by minor keys. Antonio Vivaldi wrote most of his most famous works in minor keys. A minor diatonic scale consists of seven pitches separated by whole tones, except for the 2nd and 3rd, and 5th and 6th tones.
A major factor affecting the use of key signatures and how performers of classical music play baroque pieces today remains temperament. The system of tuning which slightly compromises perfect intervals for other requirements defines temperament.
In today’s orchestras, string instruments tune to a pitch called A440, or concert A, but in the baroque era, strings tuned to a pitch called A415. The numbers 440 and 415 refer to the hertz level of the pitch. If one played the pitch A415 on a string instrument, the pitch would sound like A flat on a modern piano. Though tuning to 415 made baroque era strings sound more appealing, tuning a modern string instrument to A415 would alter the intervals needed to play in tune, making the instrument’s pitch unsatisfactory. String orchestras must decide whether to play baroque music authentically, with modern influences, or favorably to the ear.
A division of a musical line, somewhat comparable to a clause or a sentence defines phrasing. Phrasing, important in adding “flavor” to baroque music, involves using different dynamics and playing techniques to bring out certain parts of the music.
In baroque compositions, the theme, the melody upon which the entire composition derives from, repetitively occurs throughout the piece in many variations. The performers of baroque compositions must emphasize these variations in the theme using phrasing techniques such as messa di voce, the swelling and diminishing of sound used to give shape to a phrase, and tempo rubato, slight deviation from a strict tempo. These techniques prevent the pieces from sounding dry, and forced.
The Four Seasons were first published in 1725 as part of a set of twelve concertos entitled Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Test of Harmony and Invention.) The first four concertos identify as Le Quattro Stagioni , or The Four Seasons. Perhaps the most famous baroque era works, The Four Seasons (Le Quattro Stagioni), a series of violin concertos composed by Antonio Vivaldi in 1723, have occurred frequently in pop culture ever since their first recording in the early 1940s.
Each concerto from The Four Seasons, classified as program music, features the sounds, moods, and structure of the season it represents. Vivaldi wrote The Four Seasons to correspond with four Sonnets describing each of the seasons. These Sonnets develop the general allegro-largo-allegro pattern of movements within the concertos.
Allegro, from La Primavera (spring), the most famous piece within the repertoire, remains the most popular work of music in all of history. Allegro features birds singing in the crispness and clarity of a cloudless spring day, emphasized by clear chords, key adherence, accented legato bowing, trills, and dynamic contrasts. A “thunderstorm” follows the bird song, noted by a change of mood in the base line, the appearance of tremolo, and eventually a transition into a minor key. As the “thunderstorm” dies away, the trill of the violin “birds” restate the theme, ending the movement.
Largo, the second movement paints a peaceful day into its melody, only interrupted by a barking dog (a cello line, playing two strokes of warm tones every other measure.) Largo’s peaceful tone highlights the smooth, connected legato bowing, syncopation, and messa di voce within the movement. Unlike the first movement, Largo features dramatic accidentals.
Allegro Pastorale, the third movement, depicts a dance of celebration held by country folk to celebrate the new life of spring. In this movement, the light, airy feelings portrayed by the violin section in the first movement reappear, along with the trill of the bird calls. Allegro Pastorale shares qualities of the second movement as well, seen in the drift in and out of minor keys, and syncopation of bass line rhythm in various sections.
Allegro con Molto, the first movement of L’estate (Summer), begins with a melody illustrating the languor of a shepherd caused by heat. In the middle of the movement, the wind stirs, indicating a coming storm. The second movement, Adagio, depicts the distant lightning and rolling clouds of the approaching storm. These visuals are illustrated in the music by changes in articulation of bowings, from smooth, and connected legato to choppy, and rushed staccato.
The first and second movements serve as a transition from the light, airy Spring, to the third movement of summer, Presto. Presto, often referred to simply as “Summer Storm,” interprets a violent summer hailstorm, ruining the crop of the farmer. Presto accentuates Vivaldi’s love of tight, delicate harmonies used in a powerful way. Though very different from Spring’s Allegro, Presto remains one of the most favored movements in the repertoire. This movement, often played “con fuoco” (with fire) has many different stylistic variations, each with a different tone. Orchestras performing Presto must decide what aspects of the season they want to convey to the listener.
L’autunno (Autumn)’s first movement Allegro includes very similar melodies, transitions, and articulation as the third movement of Spring and the second movement of Summer. Vivaldi uses these similarities to make the transition between Summer’s Presto and a new, calmer, concerto. Allegro portrays another country dance celebrating a successful harvest and the restful weeks to come.
Autumn’s second movement, Adagio Molto, paints a picture of the sleeping town after the dance, and possesses similar properties to Spring’s Largo. Vivaldi’s description for this piece- “The drunkards have fallen asleep.” The dynamics in this movement never exceed mezzo-piano, but dip to Pianissississimo at points. Though the movement contains dynamic contrasts, the articulation style does not deviate from a slurred legato. Adagio Molto remains set apart from the rest of the concerti by its feature of the harpsichord.
The third and final movement of Autumn, Allegro, portrays a hunt. Heard throughout the piece, the calls and horns of the huntsman, illustrated in the harmonic lines, add life and liveliness to the movement. A chase ensues, hearkening back to the 14th-century tradition of the Italian genre called the “Caccia,” songs that glorified the hunt through vocal canons (literally one voice chasing another) (laco.org). This allusion to the Renaissance fabricates a regal and somewhat grandiose tone, evident in the blend of the harpsichord into the orchestra.
One of the most descriptive movements in the repertoire, Allegro con Molto from L’inverno (Winter) showcases brittle, fine-spun, yet dramatic harmonies, accentuated by powerful articulate and acoustic opposition. This movement also features playing techniques unique to Allegro con Molto, such as mortons, trills, and tempo rubato. Unlike the rest of the concerti, this movement possesses a strong accented beat, like a shivering man rhythmically stomping his feet to keep warm. The melody progresses from prominent, almost violent phrases representing a whipping blizzard wind, to a delicate, quiet, and sharp phrase symbolizing an icy rain. These techniques utilized by the performers of this movement create a realistic image of a winter storm in the mind of the listener.
The second and third movements of Winter, Largo and Allegro, depict the warmth of a fire after a long, freezing walk, and the mysterious peace of a mid-winter night. Allegro bears much similarity to Summer’s Adagio in mood and tone, while Largo creates a new mood, with pizzicato and a light, yet warm, violin solo. Allegro, though not as well known as Allegro from Spring or Summer Storm, provides a perfectly engineered end to the series of concerti, because it ties elements of all four concerti together into one, which still remains descriptive of the season it represents.

[laurenp]

The Four Seasons only scratch the surface of Vivaldi’s many works. Over his compositional lifetime, Vivaldi wrote over 500 concerti, 46 operas, 90 sonatas, and various other sinfonia and chamber music.
Vivaldi began his career in music while employed at Ospedale della Pietà. Often termed an “orphanage,” this Ospedale served as a home for the female offspring of noblemen and their numerous dalliances with mistresses. The anonymous fathers ensured that the school remained well funded, the ladies cared for, and the music standards among the highest in Venice. Vivaldi’s career as a violin teacher explains the patterns within his compositions, as they often served as five-finger exercises for his students.
Another famous baroque composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, remains harshly compared to Vivaldi, in terms of popularity, originality, and style. An intellectual battle rages on between intellectuals in the Vivaldi versus Bach debate. Both composers changed the course of baroque music, and therefore all of orchestral music in the future, but wrote composed with very different styles, influences, and techniques.
Born into a musical family, Bach received his first exposure to music from his father. After his father's death in 1695, Bach moved to Ohrdruf, where he lived and studied organ with his older brother Johann Christoph. He also received an education at schools in Eisenach, Ohrdruf, and Lüneburg (bachcentral.com). Bach first held permanent positions at Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, where he performed, composed, taught, and developed an interest in organ building.
From 1708 to 1717, Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Weimar employed Bach first as a court organist, and after 1714, as a concertmaster. During this period, he composed many of his best organ compositions, and as concertmaster, the court required him to produce a cantata each month. While in Weimar, Bach gained exposure to various Italian compositions, including many Vivaldi concertos.
The difference in Bach and Vivaldi’s musical beginnings marks some of the major differences in their compositions.
Bach’s works tended to adhere to baroque guidelines and reflect other compositions, but possessed concepts that were obsolete during the time period. Strongly influenced by Vivaldi, many of Bach’s pieces feature a similar syncopation to Vivaldi’s works, but possess a certain regal quality. Bach utilized different temperaments in his compositions, almost unheard of at the time. When tuning his organ, Bach tuned the thirds slightly sharp. Though this altered the pitch of a chord, it insured that the circle of fifths remained justly tuned. Bach’s complex tuning system, just one way he influenced classical music, has affected the way instruments are tuned today.
Vivaldi, on the other hand, composed completely new pieces which alluded to the coming classical era. He preferred composing dramatic, emotional pieces-often in minor keys, or containing a transition from a major key into that key’s relative minor- with tight harmonies. Disregarding whether the piece fit the modern definition of a concerto, Vivaldi’s works often featured one instrument, usually a violin.
The similarities and differences between Bach and Vivaldi’s works remains best seen in their concerti, particularly in Bach’s Brandenburg concerti, and Vivaldi’s Dresden concerti.
As previously stated, Bach spent most of his career employed by the church, but the Brandenburg Concertos belong to the other side of his life, which he spent working at courts such as Cöthen or seeking titles from the Dresden or Weißenfels court. Bach felt he deserved a court post - perhaps because the ostentatious but often cruel rule of German princes accorded with the strong sense of superiority he felt over his fellow musicians.
Bach probably wrote the Brandenburg Concertos when in Cöthen, but Bach named the set after the Margrave of Brandenburg, to whom Bach presented an elegant manuscript in the hope of a reward or title in the court.
Bach first encountered Vivaldi’s concertos at Weimar in 1713, where he transcribed some for organ (aam.co.uk). He also gained exposure to Vivaldi’s work while in Dresden, which Bach regularly visited after 1718. Bach often copied Vivaldi’s harmonic drive in his own compositions, but given the Dresden connection, the similarities between Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 and Vivaldi’s Dresden Concerto in C major (RV 192) appear more striking.
Though many similarities arise in the Dresden and Brandenburg concertos, these concerti also highlight the differences in composition style between the two composers.
Like Vivaldi’s Dresden concertos, the Brandenburgs use several soloists and revel in a multiplicity of textures. Bach, however, blurs the distinction between tutti and soloist not just in texture, but also in theme. Whereas Vivaldi gives different themes to orchestra and to soloists, Bach lets material from the opening tutti blend into the solos. He maximizes the use of his opening motifs while also varying them, resulting in every bar possessing something new, blended with familiar elements; a delightful play of similarity and difference.
Bach composed with French, German and Italian inspiration, but throughout his concertos, one finds the same emotion that expresses itself in Vivaldi’s concerti; an expression in the composer’s play with textures, and the performers’ superb negotiation of tricky passages-a sheer joy that makes for exhilarating listening (Academy of Ancient Music).
Though Bach and Vivaldi’s compostions foreshadowed the coming eras of classical music, today’s composers often apply modern concepts to famous baroque works through a process called arrangement. The selection and adaptation of a composition or parts of a composition to instruments for which it was not originally designed defines arrangement (VT Music Dictionary).
Today’s composers add modern concepts to older repertoire by adding harmonies, enhancing articulation, and developing themes. Adding these concepts must be executed without drastically altering the melody, chords, or theme. This proves difficult for most composers arranging a piece, but the outcome emerges as something familiar with a fresh and new twist.
Baroque compositions span only 150 years of classical music. To experience classical music in its greatest glory, one must journey through the eras- Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist, 20th Century, and Modern. Within each era, one finds concepts and influences that allude to other eras, and a mosaic of melody, harmony, and wordless emotion.
The influence of baroque compositions occurs in works throughout the eras. Bach’s developments in temperament, new developments in music theory, and the history that influenced baroque compositions left their mark on the coming eras of classical music.
As an artist paints his emotions on to canvas, a composer paints his emotions into silence. Music has, and always will play a part in the day to day lives of the people of the world. The events and compositions of the baroque era revolutionized what is perhaps the most inescapable and natural art form-music.





(Headache yet? Good, cuz I'm done)

[Lucas Perry]

Firstly, why is your teacher making you write something so intricate...in high school?

I'll read it later, got my own paper to work on.

[Evil Rudekker]

You mean people write on topics besides geography?

[Unknown98]

We were just studying the renassiance.. looks good, but I just scanned it.. so I probally missed any grammer errors. It's very long...

[Shotgun Willy]

can you maybe attach the word doc? that might make it easier to read for me...

[Unknown98]

Ye good idea.

[Evil Rudekker]

OK, I pasted this into word. You'll be hearing from me later

[Lord Tyr]

tl;dr...... lol

[laurenp]

Yup!
All righty, if you have any word docs (E.G. Rud) You can E-mail me at nine_in.the_afternoon@yahoo.com

[laurenp]

And Rud, I'd work to integrate that first half a little more, but I can't. I have to follow my outline, you see.

[Timitz]

So how did the paper do?

On a side note I always loved Baroque music.
Baroque "art" and architecture on the other hand...
Aside from Cariavaggio, the Baroque era always reminded me of what it would look like if a pimp got money. Overly gaudy and super tacky.

[laurenp]

I turn it in thursday. I could've turned it in today but was too lazy to print the works cited. I ran it by my gifted teacher (who one time, while editing one of my essays just crossed an entire page out and wrote "No") and my orchestra teacher, and they both said it looked good. So YAY!


As do I.