these are information given in our book and a similar format will be shown in my next entries
ch 19 german composers of the late baroque
late baroque = 18th century
leading composers
= came from German-speaking lands: Telemann, Handel, Bach family members, Haydn, Mozart
= synthesized/merged elements from Italian, French, German, and other national traditions
German-speaking central Europe was politically divided
= some rulers displayed power and wealth through patronage of the arts (Holy Roman Emperors in Vienna, electors of Saxony in Dresden, King Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia in Berlin.
= city governments employed musicians especially in Lutheran areas and town council was often responsible for hiring music directors for churches
Aristocratic musicians
= aristocrats pursued music avidly as composers and performers (Frederick the Great; Johann Ernst, prince of Weimer; Anna Amalia, princess of Prussia)
English Patrons
= Britain a unified kingdom but the monarch was weak due to revolutions in 17th century
= court musicians had low or unpaid salaries
= king had to allow court musicians to earn money outside official duties
= the presence of highly skilled, underpaid, underutilized performers in London led to the growth of the public concert
= the nobility supported music. many noblemen visited Italy to learn language, arts, culture. on their return to England, they emulated Italian aristocrats in employing household musicians and helping to fund Italian opera
= public concerts increased and became important part of musical life in Germany and England
= earnings from publishers were limited/a composer simply received a set fee from publisher for all rights to a score. copyright laws were weak. there was no notion of “composer” as a separate career
= all who composed music as a profession did so as musicians who also performed, copied, supervised, directed their own music and others’ music
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Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767)
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| hand-colored aquatint by Valentin Daniel Preisler, after a lost painting by Louis Michael Schneider, 1750 |
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| Telemann's signature |
= wrote in every genre, style
= he helped establish the characteristic German style of his time: a synthesis of German counterpoint with traits from other nations
= “What I have accomplished with respect to musical style is well known. First came the Polish style, followed by the French, church, chamber and operatic styles, and [finally] the Italian style, which currently occupies me more than the others do.”
= he was his own publisher in Hamburg
= he issued the first music periodical in Germany: Der getreue Music-Meister (The True Music-Master), which made his music and that of other German composers available to amateurs and student
= his preference for relative simplicity made him more popular in his time that J.S. Bach, but he was then ignored and belittled in the 19th century
= his music was gradually revived in the 20th century
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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
= renowned in Protestant Germany as an organ virtuoso, keyboard composer, writer of learned contrapuntal works
= focused on composing for professional performers…
= …so little of his vocal, chamber, orchestral music was published or circulated
= he embraced all major styles, forms, genres in his time except opera, blended and developed them
= some 18th century listeners found his music cluttered and old-fashioned by the time he died
= composed primarily to fulfill the needs of the positions he held
church organist = organ music
court organist = organ music
concertmaster = cantatas
court music director = solo, ensemble music, pedagogical works (he had no formal church music duties)
= anecdotes of him remind us that musicians were not free agents but were subject to the wishes of their employers
= Duke of Weimer would not let him leave so he imprisoned Bach for a month
= the employer of Christopher Graupner, council’s choice before Bach, refused to accept his resignation and instead increased his pay
= Bach learned composition primarily by copying or arranging the music of other composers (his career as cantor obliged him to teach Latin and music four house each day and to compose, copy, rehearse music for the church services)
= Bach focused on the genres used in Lutheran services: chorale settings, toccatas, fantasias, preludes, fugues
= he developed a personal and distinctive style marked by prolific imagination, mastery of counterpoint, virtuosity, extensive use of pedals.
= renowned improviser and often called upon to test new or rebuilt organs
= influenced by Vivaldi, he arranged several of his concertos for organ and harpsichord solo
= typical Vivaldi procedures: contrasting textures, sequences, circle-of-fifths progressions, clear tonal structure, returns of the opening material in new keys
= he compiled a manuscript collection: “Orgelbuchlein” (Little Organ Book)
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| a page in Orgelbuchlein |
= contained 45 short chorale preludes
= served in church
= pedagogical aid (guidance to the beginning organist on how to develop a chorale and to improve his pedal technique)
= harpsichord music
= includes preludes, fantasias, toccatas, fugues, and variation sets
= influence of French, Italian, German models
= “English Suites”, “French Suites”, “Partitas”
= each suite contains (just as in German Suites) the standard four dance movements (allamande, courante, sarabande, gigue)
= each of the English Suites opens with a prelude on keyboard (with Italian ensemble idioms)
= 2 books both titled “The Well-Tempered Clavier”
= best known keyboard works. consisting of 24 preludes and fugue pairs designed to demonstrate the possibilities of playing in all keys on an instrument tuned in near-equal temperament
= illustrates Bach’s fugal techniques: inversion, augmentation, stretto (overlapping entrances of the subject)
= orchestral music
= Brandenburg Concertos
= Bach’s best known orchestral works are the six Brandenburg Concertos = adopted the three-movement (fast-slow-fast order of the Italian concerto), triadic themes, steady driving rhythms, ritornello forms, overall style
= cantatas (Italian term. a sacred text for musical setting introduced by Lutheran theologian and poet Erdmann Neumeister)
= musical scheme incorporated past traditions: the chorale, solo song, concertato medium, and then added to these the operatic elements: recitative and aria
= Bach wrote cantatas as cantor and music director in Leipzig
= cantata cycles
= Leipzig churches required 58 cantatas each year
= Bach composed 3 to 4 complete annual cycles (about 60 cantatas each) between 1723-1729
= Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (1724) for the first Sunday in Advent illustrates Bach’s typical procedures
= Bach based opening chorus on the chorale melody (as cantus firmus in bass), the middle movements as recitatives and arias for soloists, and ended the work with a simple four-part harmonization of the chorale
= his other church music aside from cantatas: motets, Passions, Latin service music
= Bach spent most of his life teaching, wrote music for all levels of students, worked in positions that demanded new music, embraced genres and approaches, aspired to explore all possibilities of every music he encountered
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| J.S. Bach's harmonic and mathematical doodles on the bottom of BWV605 cantata |
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George Frideric Handel/George Friederich Handel (1685-1759)
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| Handel at age 68. Oil painting on canvas, entitled George Frideric Handel, created in 1756 by Thomas Hudson |
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| Handel's signature |
= German
= travelled comfortably among German, Italian, English-speaking cities
= had thorough education on organ, harpsichord, counterpoint, current German and Italian idioms from his German music teacher
= 3 years in Italy helped lay the foundations of his style
= learned how to create supple, long-breathed, rhythmically varied melodies from Scarlatti’s cantatas and operas (Handel’s Agrippina)
= matured as a composer in England (country then most hospitable to foreigners). he spent most of his mature life in London, becoming a naturalized British citizen, and wrote all his major works for British audiences
= master of all types of vocal and instrumental music
= invented the genre English oratorios for his Italian operas
= won international renown and his music has been performed ever since
= Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749)
= a wind band suite
= the Duke of Mantagu made clear to Handel that King George had a preference for only martial instruments and drums, and hoped there would be "no fiddles". Handel omitted the string instruments against his will
= "the Music for the Royal Fireworks is itself a political gesture, as was the event for which it was written. In 1748, England and France had signed the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle to mark the end of the War of Austrian Succession which involved just about everyone - the Prussians, the Spanish and the Austrians themselves, as well as the two signatories to the peace treaty. To celebrate the peace, a spectacular display was to be held in London’s Green Park and Handel, the King’s chosen composer was the man to write the music"
= its public rehearsal in 1749 attracted 12, 000 people
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| Caption reads: A Perspective View of the Magnificent Structure erected in the Green Park for the Royal Fireworks exhibited the 27 of April 1749 on account of the General Peace. Image supplied by Pains Fireworks |
= for the first time, a composer was working for the public, not just for a church, court, town council
= he was able to measure and serve the taste of the public because of his cosmopolitan and eclectic style that drew on German, Italian, French, and English music
= he enjoyed the generous support of his patrons (such as British monarchs) from his early years (in Italy) to the end of his life
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| Interior view of Hรคndelhaus (Handel House), Halle, Germany. Handel was born in this house in 1685 and lived there until he left Halle in 1703. Photo: Iqmanuelnavarro |
HANDEL in OPERA
= 36 years devoted to composing and directing operas
= first opera: Almira (1705)
= uniquely international: combined French overtures and dances, Italian arias and recitatives, German recitatives, counterpoint, orchestration, doubling of vocal line with one/more instruments
= Rinaldo (1711)
= first opera in Italian composed for London
= established his reputation in England
= London at the time was interested in Italian opera
= a Handel opera was staged almost every season
= the Royal Academy of Music
= established 1718-19 by about 60 wealthy gentlemen and with support of the king
= a joint stock company for producing Italian operas
= Handel was music director
= he traveled to recruit singers (recruits such as Senesino, Giovanni Bononcini, Francesca Cuzzoni, Faustina Bordoni)
= some of his best operas were composed for this company
= subjects of Handel’s operas were the usual ones at the time: episodes from lives of Roman heroes, tales of magic and adventure of the Crusades
= dissolved in 1729. the cause was mainly financial (rising salaries for singers). Handel and a partner took over the theatre and formed a new company, and had several great successes. His partner Senesino left (1733) and joined a different company and the two competed, spent so much on singers and staging (and so divided the public) that they both went nearly bankrupt
= recitative styles
= reinforced the rapid changes of emotion in a character’s monologue and it punctuated the singer’s phrases
= 2 distinct types
= one accompanied only by basso continuo later called the recitativo semplice/simple recitative and eventually recitativo secco/dry recitative (dialogues and monologues in speech-like fashion as much as possible)
= recitativo obbligato and later recitativo accompagnato/accompanied recitative (used orchestral outbursts to dramatize tense situations)
= arias
= solo da capo arias allowed characters to respond lyrically
= each aria represented a specific mood or affection (emotion), or 2 contrasting but related affection in A and B sections
= had to display the skill of performer and allocated according to the importance of the character
= the prima donna/first lady, the soprano singing the lead female role, normally demanded the most and best arias (hence the modern meaning of the phrase ^ - ^)
= sinfonias
= instrumental sinfonias marked key moments such as battles, ceremonies
= the orchestra is usually fuller than for Scarlatti operas, with more use of winds, as in French operas
= vocal ensembles larger than duets (like choruses) are rare
ORATORIOS
= 1730s, Handel devised a new genre that brought him greatest popularity and wealth: the English oratorio
= in his English oratorios, he continued aspects of Italian tradition (setting dialogues in recitatives and lyrical verses as arias. Italian oratorio was essentially an opera on sacred subject presented in concert usually in a religion building rather that stage), but Handel and his librettists brought into their oratorios elements foreign to Italian opera, taken from Grench classical drama, ancient Greek tragedy, German Passion, English masque and full anthem
= Esther - Handel’s first oratorio in English revised from a masque
= Handel fully committed himself to the new genre only after remarkable success
= Messiah - Handel’s most famous work
INSTRUMENTAL WORKS
= Handel made his reputation with vocal works but he wrote a great deal of instrumental music
= much were published by John Walsh in London, keeping Handel’s name before the public in their home music-making. there were also unauthorized prints by other publishers to which he received nothing
= most popular are his two suites for orchestra or wind, both composed for the king and intended for outdoor performance
= Water Music (1717), played from a boat on the River Thames during a procession
= Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749), to accompany fireworks set off in London park to celebrate the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle
Water Music
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AN ENDURING LEGACY
Bach
= only a few pieces were published in his lifetime, almost all for keyboard and the rest remained in handwritten copies
= Bach’s sons (Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Christian Bach) were influenced by him but went their own ways
= Mozart knew The Art of Fugue, Haydn owned a copy of the Mass in B Minor
= Bach was promoted by German musicians, in part for reasons of nationalism
= The Bach-Gesellschaft (Bach Society) founded by Robert Schumann and others published a collected edition of Bach’s works, completed by 1900
= by the late 19th century, Bach had reached godlike status, his music now everywhere
= three of Bach’s works: movements from Brandenburg Concerto, The Well-Tempered Clavier, and a violin partita were among the 27 pieces of recorded music placed on Voyager 1 and 2 (the first man made objects to travel in space)
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| Voyager 1, launch September 5, 1977 (left) and Voyager 2, launchedAugust 20, 1977 (right) |
Handel
= where Bach was resurrected, Handel never left
= his oratorios have been performed continually since they were written
= 25 years after Handel’s death, King George III sponsored a large Handel festival (1784), using the public’s affection for Handel to rebuild the kind’s reputation (after unpleasantness in American colonies)
= late 18th and 19th century, amateur choral societies sprang up in English and German-speaking Europe and Handel’s oratorios became the core of their repertoire. through this, Handel became the first classical composer, the first to attain a permanent place in the performing repertoire
= for many listeners today, Bach and Handel are the Baroque
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