9 - Folder 3 - Early Baroque: Monody and Early Opera

Question 1

Approximately when was the Baroque Era?

Answer 1

The Baroque period lasted from about c. 1600 to c. 1750.

Question 2

Define Barroço and describe its connection to the naming of the Baroque Era.

Answer 2

i. Portuguese word meaning an oddly shaped pearl
ii. Used by generations after the Baroque era to denigrate the art and music of the period as gaudy, abnormal, overly ornamental, lacking refinement and balance

Question 3

Describe the use of the terms Prima prattica (first practice)and seconda prattica (second practice).

Answer 3

i. Terminology used in early Baroque to distinguish new style traits from those of the Renaissance
ii. Alternative terms used were stile antico and stile moderno
iii. There were many distinctions, but the most important stemmed from attitudes toward musical text setting

Question 4

Specifically describe Prima prattica (first practice).

Answer 4

1. Music was given priority over the text
2. Polyphonic textures made the words hard to understand
3. Strict rules of counterpoint restricted free expression of the text’s meaning

Question 5

Specifically describe Seconda prattica (second practice).

Answer 5

1. Text was given priority over the music
2. More use of homophonic texture (one melodic line with chordal accompaniment) to keep the words clear and understandable)
3. Relaxed the rules of counterpoint to allow greater freedom of expression in text setting

Question 6

Name three General Style Traits of Early Baroque Music.

Answer 6

a. More use of homophonic texture
b. Main melodic line is often highly ornamented
c. Use of basso continuo (or just continuo)

Question 7

Describe the basso continuo (or just continuo) and how it was technically recorded into written music.

Answer 7

i. harmonic foundation beneath the melody or melodies (homophony or polyphony)
ii. written on one staff in a kind of shorthand called figured bass

Question 8

What is figured bass?

Answer 8

Figured bass — bass notes with numbers underneath indicating intervals, chords, chord inversions

Question 9

In Early Baroque Music, the Continuo is considered one part, but is generally played by two instruments. What are these instruments (playing the bass line and chordal parts)?

Answer 9

1. Bass instrument playing the bass line — cello, viola da gamba (string instrument), bassoon, the orbo (bass lute)
2. Chordal instrument — harpsichord, lute, organ

Question 10

Describe the tonality of Early Baroque music. What happened to the Church Modes? What happened harmonically?

Answer 10

1. The church modes of the Middle Age and Renaissance were reduced to just two, which became major and natural minor
2. Increased use of tonal centers established harmonically (esp. with V–I cadential motion)

Question 11

What was the Doctrine of the Affections?

Answer 11

1. Baroque aesthetic principle

2. Held that emotional states (affections) can be depicted by composers using specific techniques and style traits

Question 12

At the emergence of opera, what is the intermezzo (or intermedio)?

Answer 12

i. Forerunner of opera during late Renaissance
ii. Short musical plays inserted between the acts of a spoken drama (intermezzo means intermission)
iii. common in aristocratic courts of northern Italy

Question 13

As Florence (Italy) was especially influential in the birth and development of opera, what is the The Florentine Camerata? 5 points.

Answer 13

i. A group of literary figures, philosophers, and musicians in Florence
ii. A specific example of an accademia
iii. Wanted to return to “perfect” marriage of music and text in ancient Greece
iv. Monody
v. Stile recitativo

Question 14

With The Florentine Camerata, what is an Accademia?

Answer 14

A scholarly or artistic social club in 15th–17th century Italy

Question 15

To the Florentine Camerata, what was the “perfect” marriage of music and text in ancient Greece?

Answer 15

1. They knew ancient Greek drama was sung

2. Mistakenly assumed it was homophonic (it was actually monophonic)

Question 16

What is Monody?

Answer 16

1. A specific kind of homophonic texture
2. Solo song, with simple harmonic accompaniment
3. NB: Do not confuse monody with monophonic; monody is, by definition, a type of homophony
4. Created and advocated by the Florentine Camerata

Question 17

What is the Stile recitativo?

Answer 17

1. Recitational (declamatory; speech-like) style of singing

2. Developed by Florentine composers in emulation of ancient Greek models

Question 18

Who were Members of the Florentine Camerata? Name 3 people.

Answer 18

1. Count Giovanni Bardi (1534–1612)
2. Vincenzo Galilei (d. 1591)
3. Giulio Caccini (1551–1618)

Question 19

Who was Count Giovanni Bardi (1534–1612)?

Answer 19

a. A leader and organizer of the group

b. Hosted many gatherings

Question 20

Who was Vincenzo Galilei (d. 1591)?

Answer 20

a. Father of the famous astronomer

b. Wrote the treatise Dialogo della musica antica e della moderna (1581), which outlined many of the Camerata’s ideas

Question 21

Who was Giulio Caccini (1551-1618)?

Answer 21

a. Composer and singer
b. Compiled Le nuove musiche (The New music) in 1602
i. Collection of monodies (solo songs, with homophonic chordal accompaniment)
ii. Works by Caccini and others
iii. Caccini’s preface describes various kinds of vocal ornaments in great detail(ornamentation was an important part of the new style)

Question 22

What were two of the earliest operas and who was their composer?

Answer 22

i. Dafne (1598) — now lost
ii. L’Euridice (1600) — earliest extant (surviving) opera
iii. Both composed by Jacopo Peri (1561–1633)

Question 23

Who was Jacopo Peri (1561–1633)?

Answer 23

1. Another composer and singer in Florence
2. Not a member of the Camerata, but closely aligned with their ideas and goals
3. Wrote detailed explanations of stile recitativo

Question 24

As part of opera’s beginning, describe Ottavio Rinuccini (1562–1621) author of Libretti (opera texts).

Answer 24

1. Poet and the first opera librettist

2. Member of the Florentine Camerata

Question 25

Describe the opera composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643).

Answer 25

i. Transitional figure between late Renaissance and early Baroque music
ii. One of the greatest and most influential composers in Western music history
iii. Worked for the Duke of Mantua (near Florence) from 1590 to 1612
iv. Maestro di cappella (choirmaster) at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice from 1613
v. Wrote extensively in secular and sacred genres, as well as the new genres of the Baroque

Question 26

Describe Montverdi’s l’Orfeo (1607).

Answer 26

i. Monteverdi’s first opera
ii. Produced for the Court of Mantua
iii. Libretto by the Mantuan poet Alessandro Striggio
iv. Based on a popular Greek myth about Orpheus, the singer (same basis as Peri’s L’Euridice)
v. Five acts, each with an aria by the main character Orpheus at its center

Question 27

Describe the music of Montverdi’s l’Orfeo (1607).

Answer 27

vi. Each act ends with a choral piece, conceived on the model of the chorus in Greek drama
vii. Solo singing is all monodic, with a mixture of recitative (speech-like) and aria (song-like) styles
viii. Ensembles (duets, trios, etc.) and choruses provide variety

Question 28

What are Ritornello (as displayed in l’Orfeo)?

Answer 28

ix. Ritornello (plural ritornelli)
1. Recurring instrumental sections
2. Used to punctuate scenes, provide contrast, mark structural junctures

Question 29

What did Montverdi specify in his operas (in l’Orfeo) to enhance the drama?

Answer 29

x. Monteverdi specified a variety of instruments in his score (not just strings)
xi. Used effectively to enhance the drama

Question 30

Name and describe two of Montverdi’s later operas.

Answer 30

i. L’Arianna (1608)
1. Also commissioned by the Duke of Mantua
2. Now lost, except for one aria
ii. L’incoronazionedi Poppea (1642)
1. Written for the public opera house in Venice
2. Monteverdi’s only surviving opera from his Venetian years