Religious Baroque Specifics

1640s

F natural b.3 bass

b.4 alto with end of prev phrase

b.18 alto G over chord change = 4-3 sus

alto b.21

1610

‘Sancta Maria Ora Pro Nobis’ b.36

1608

b.11

b.104

b.174-175

‘vivifica nos’ b.157

Monteverdi’s 1607 opera ‘Orfeo’

‘nigra sum’ b.40 bass E, vocal line F

‘nigra sum’ b.27-31 ‘surge’ (arise) uses ascending scale

simple continuo accompaniment in ‘nigra sum’

1723

‘magnificat anima mea’

‘fecit potentiam’ b.28 stop on dim chord, b.29 aug chord reflect words ‘the conceit in the hearts of the proud’

‘suscepit israel’

‘quia respexit’

1666

Gabrieli and Monteverdi

b.16 introitus tenor Eb above alto D

‘Eli’ + ‘Mein Gott’ 3 times

‘er hat gesagt’, they sing in canon a maj2 apart, tenor 1 begins a tone higher than tenor 2 but switches to a tone lower half way through

1727

‘Kommt, ihr Tochter’

children sing a chorale melody in G major

‘So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen’

Palindromic tonal structure (Bm, Em, A, D, G, D, Am, Em, Bm)

two choruses split antiphonally at b.86 G section

‘Erbarme Dich’

descending basso continuo throughout aria reflect tears

‘Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden’

chorale is reharmonised to phrygian with more chromaticism, sung immediately after Christ’s death

1685

verse anthem

mixture of older mixolydian and new C major

‘Hearken, O Daughter’ Queen should forget her family and think only of her duties to the King, shown in use of minor keys, chromaticism (b.319-320) and false relations

1682

minor 3rd on ‘O Lord’

full anthem

1688

verse anthem

strings are homophonic at beginning, bass soloist starts solo with fourth intervals

2 choirs, 8 soloists, strings and organ

to celebrate the coronation of James II

English cadence b.98

‘At His Right Hand’

‘glorious’ often in pairs and 3rds and 6ths (b.119)

‘wrought gold’ is melismatic (b.126)

verse anthem

b.84 tenor

b.95 emphasis on ‘fretting’ from tied notes causing suspensions

b.75 melismatic ‘hope’

1660-1680s

three high voices and continuo

whenever Louis XIV attended mass at Versailles

petit motet (less than 2 minutes)

simple but melodic, syllabic setting, dotted rhythms

1713

grand motet

starts with solo voice, multi-sectional (influence of Rameau’s opera writing), mix of lyrical sections and complex counterpoint

SSATBB, 2 flutes, string ensemble, continuo

1742

Oboes, bassoons, two trumpets, timpani, strings, continuo

‘Ev’ry Valley’ b.25 ‘low’ sung to a low note

in the style of a french overture, slow section with dotted rhythms followed by a faster fugal section. dominant pedals at separate points in both G major and E minor creates tension

‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive’ alto, sung with free rhythm dictated by accents of the words, accompaniment is simple and chordal, melody shows speech by using few pitches

‘He was despised’, falling melody (‘a man of sorrows’ b.22-23), awkward intervals (1st violins b.22), dramatic silence b.66

‘And with his stripes’ 1st subject features agonised dim 7th leap of ‘his stripes’ which makes it easily identifiable to the listener

‘The Trumpet Shall Sound’ obbligato trumpet with space left to hear soloist (contrasts Bach Erbarme Dich continuous obbligato)

1645

Six voices and continuo, soloists and chorus SSSATB

alto opening ‘cum vocasset in proelium’

‘Fugite, fugite, cedite, cedite impii’ fleeing shown through fast-rising scale

‘Heu, heu mihi filia mea, hui!’ features chromaticism and dissonance to reflect Jephte’s lament

they suited the smaller acoustics of court chapels like Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace

cori spezzati, composers travelled all over Europe to hear music there, introduced instruments, especially wind, into church music

very few instruments used, mainly prima prattica, influenced by music of Palestrina

Polyphonic, controlled dissonance only, modal effects, avoids lavish ornamentation, acapella, music dominates the text

text dominates music, bolder use of harmony, word painting, dotted rhythms, syncopation, more elaborate writing for solo voices

wanted to undermine influence of Italian music, expanding French political and economic supremacy into the arts

dance as the epitome of aristocratic art

one of the first French musicians to become famous all across Europe