MUAR 211 Week 5 February 5-9, 2018

Baroque & Handel Continued 05/02/18

18th Century Opera

▪ Different from other opera we learned
▪ Overture: first thing you hear in an opera
→ Binary form: first and second halves
- The second half is polyphonic
▪ Opera is one of the richest human artifact
→ Rich in interpretation  you can learn a lot from an opera
▪ Lots of breaks in the action, unlike older opera
→ Wasn’t dramatically continuous
→ 19th century opera was all about that continuous drama
▪ It was about the singers and the singing

▪ Ex: Giulio Cesare

→ Handel’s Italian opera for the English
→ Julius Caesar is a conqueror in Egypt, a heroic character
- Similarly, the English were starting to conquer other countries as well
- Handel wouldn’t present colonialism as something bad
→ Fanfare that introduces Caesar  very brassy
→ When Julius Caesar comes in, he sings an aria
- Melodic
- Melismatic
- Homophonic
- Repeats music

→ Why is Caesar played by a woman?

- This is a castrato role: castrati were the rockstars of the day
- Castrato: a man whose testicles had been removed before his voice changed
with puberty
• This procedure often didn’t work (their voice would still change)
• They often ended up growing tall with a large chest cavity and
sometimes larger than normal
- So now it’s played by a woman, since we’re not allowed to castrate people
anymore
- Back then, women characters were often played by castrati

→ Da capo aria: go back to beginning

- Allows singer to improvise and do things to show off their skills

→ Giulio Cesare (end of Act I)

- Vengeance aria
MUAR 211 Week 5 February 5-9, 2018

Review for Exam 1 07/02/18

Cello Suite – Bach

▪ Genre (of piece): suite
▪ Genre (of movement): gigue dance
▪ Won’t ask for texture

Brandenburg Concerto – Bach

▪ Genre: concerto grosso
▪ Concertos have orchestras
▪ 3 soloists: violin and 2 recorders
▪ Strong bass part: basso continuo
▪ Ensemble: violin, 2 recorders, orchestra
▪ Keyboard: harpsichord
▪ Form: ritornello form

Alleluia! – Hildegard
▪ Texture: monophonic
▪ Responsorial
▪ 12th century
▪ Genre: plainchant
▪ Latin
▪ Function: proper of the mass

Tres douce dame que – Machaut

▪ Has a beat
▪ Ensemble: Solo voice + harp
▪ Texture: polyphonic (2 melody lines)
▪ French
▪ Style: ars antiqua
▪ Genre: ballade

Dido and Aeneas – Purcell

▪ Genre of piece: opera
▪ English
▪ Ensemble: soprano + basso continuo in first half, soprano + orchestra in second half
▪ Starts off as recitative, turns into aria

Difference between a jongleur and a troubadour?

▪ Jongleurs were not necessary literate, they were just travelling musicians who played
instrumental music.
MUAR 211 Week 5 February 5-9, 2018

Julius Caesar - Handel

▪ Entire piece: Italian opera
▪ This particular movement: soprano aria
▪ Ensemble: soprano + orchestra

Cantata – Bach
▪ Don’t need to know separate movements
▪ SATB choir + basso continuo  polyphonic (imitative)
▪ Other movements are not polyphonic
▪ Arias are homophonic by definition

Key (not on exam)

▪ Can affect what kind of emotion evoked in a piece
▪ Major keys: sound bright and happy
▪ Minor keys: dark and sad
▪ Difference between major and minor very small