BAROQUE
FORMS OF THE BAROQUE
Opera – combined the recreation of Greek drama with music and elaborate court entertainment
using music, drama, dance, scenery, special stage effects and elaborate costumes. Supported by 3
different groups”
1. Court and nobility (in box seats)
2. Wealthy merchants
3. Upper middle class
1st opera house was in Venice, Italy; leading composer – Monteverdi
France – Lully established French Grand Opera in Paris in the 1670’s. Supported by
Louis XIV. Style characteristics:
1. 1st full orchestra in opera ( woodwinds and brass added to strings.)
2. Extensive use of chorus and ballet
3. Prologue and 5 acts
4. Stories concerned with love, glory and duty
5. Dignified, conservative and aimed at a small artistic audience
6. Much of the music based on dance rhythms.
Germany – 1st opera house built in Hamburg in 1678
England and the rest of Europe – Italian opera dominated with Handel as its principal composer
(30 operas in Italian for English audiences.) English opera evolved from “masques” – court
entertainment with elaborate costumes, staged dances and scenery. Semblance of a plot,
dialogue, solo songs with orchestra accompaniment usually based on classical myth and history.
Kings and Princes were portrayed in a noble light and virtue had its proper reward.
Structure of an Opera
Recitative – heightened speech – sung in a conversational manner, it furthers the plot and comes
in 2 types:
Secco – lightly accompanied, usually by harpsichord or organ
Accompagnato – full orchestral accompaniment
Aria – the main unit in a large vocal work; lyrical and flowing, it expresses the characters
feelings and is more dramatic. During the Baroque period the most prominent form was the Da
Capo aria (ABA form). Da Capo means “from the beginning” in Italian. This type of aria was
used extensively by Handel and Bach.
If the chorus was used it was only in a minor way and not important to the plot.
Types of Opera
Opera Seria: succession of arias linked by recitatives. Heroic topics. Cast: hero –
Castrato and heroine – soprano (prima donna = first lady)
Opera Buffa: comic opera – more humorous, no castrati, faster paced, less grandiose,
Concerned ordinary people and bumbling servants. Plot – lovers separated
By misunderstanding.
Singspiel – German version – play with music, sung and spoken
Opera comique – French version
Ballad Opera – “pop” tunes with rewritten lyrics sung by actors
Other Types of Vocal Music
Oratorio – Sacred counterpart to opera, means – prayer hall. Arose at the time of the
Counter-reformation. Not part of the liturgy. It originated in Rome in the mid 17th C.
Works based on Bible stories or historic Biblical characters. Almost like an opera but
no stage, costumes or scenery and chorus has a more important role.
Musical structure:
Recitative – narration (solo)
