Part Five: Ars Nova, Renaissance and Baroque Music

Project 1: Musical Instruments in the Baroque eras

The Baroque era refers to the period between 1600 and the beginning of the 18^th century.  In addition to times of great musical change, demonstrated in the works of composers such as Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, it was also a time a great scientific innovation with the likes of Copernicus and Galileo making major discoveries about the planets and the cosmos.  (Baroque Music: n.d.)

Baroque music (n.d.), continues to write that the musical characteristics of the period include contrast in dramatic elements, the use of basso continuo and the invention of the separate melody and harmony (previously a melody and accompaniment or duet of melodies).   It also proved to be a powerful time for the opera genre, with opera houses opened in Vienna at the beginning of the 17^th century.  In addition Winternitz (n.d.) describes a number of musical forms that were developed during this period including the sonata, oratorio and cantata.

It seems that this was a time of great orchestral change too.  Hugill (n.d.) describes the Baroque orchestra as consisting of: two flutes,
two oboes,
two oboes d'amore (lower range early oboe),
two oboes da caccia (oboe shaped like a hunting horn),
three trumpets,
two corni da caccia (hunting horns),
timpani and strings
continuo (bassoon, cellos, string bass, and organ).  Hugill goes on to write that the consistent feature of the Baroque orchestra was the large string section, enhanced by the double bass and the use of continuo (improvised harmony based on figured bass).  However, most importantly he adds,

“The essence of Baroque orchestral music was polyphonic counterpoint, i.e. music composed in lines, horizontally. The addition of figured bass began a move towards a more verticalised approach to composition which was bass driven and homophonic. The next major development in the orchestra derived from this change in style.”

Having studied the harpsichord, piano and wind sections in previous OCA modules, the main focus of this portion of my studies is listening to pieces heavily featuring the string and brass families during the Baroque period.  I hope that this will help to give me a clearer understanding of how they have developed since this period.   My reflections on these pieces can be found on my listening log. 

Strings in the Baroque Period

O’Rourke-Jones & Summers (2013:90) describe the string family as being a very prominent part of Baroque music.  They list a vast array of instruments that made up the string family at this time, some of which are obsolete today, such as the kit violin and baryton.  Baroque-Music.com (n.d.) also describe the viol, a bowed instrument slightly resembling a guitar as being a signification part of the string section, as well as the lute and harp. 

 

My research into Baroque music suggests that the violin was a great inspiration to composers such as Vivaldi and Tartini during this period.  Both wrote a number of pieces for the instrument including Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (1723) and Tartini’s Sonata in G minor (1713).   The OCA course material also describes how Arcangelo Corelli was a prominent figure in the teaching of the violin, training a new generation of players. 

Burkholder et al., (2010) attribute the popularity of the violin to its ability to “imitate the expressivity and virtuosity of the singing voice”.  They further write that Cremona, Italy was a hub to many developments in the crafting of the instrument, thus elevating violin making to a level which has never been surpassed.

O’Rourke-Jones & Summers (2013:90) describe the importance of families such as the Amatis and Stradivaris as playing a crucial role the development of the violin.  It seems that the viola too saw a surge in popularity during the Baroque period, with the Amatis and Stradivaris families producing instruments which varied in size according to the register that was required, (OCA course material).   The cello, which started as the bass violin, also appeared in scores by composers such as Monteverdi, but suffered intonation problems due to thick gut strings (OCA course material).  

Cyr (2012: 31) writes that the 24 Violons du Roi, an influential string ensemble founded at the court of King Louis XII, adopted a wide range of instruments, meticulously balanced into outer parts; for dessus and basses, and inner parts; reserved for instruments tuned in fifths, ranging in size and register. 

Brass in the Baroque Period

Baroque-music.com (n.d.) writes that the main components of the Baroque brass section consisted of the trumpet, sackbut and horn.    The course material includes the trumpet and trombone as particularly prominent members of the brass section, with composers using them to mimic the feeling of being on a hunt and hearing the hunting horn. 

The Baroque trumpet would have had no slides, no key or values and would have been given different registers dependent on the length of the instrument (O’Rourke-Jones & Summers: 2013:241).  Hand stopping is described as being a technique popular in the era, whereby the player would position their hand within the bell to create different pitches. 

Georg Phillip Telemann, George Frederic Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach are all notable Baroque composers who made use of the Baroque ‘natural’ trumpet, employing virtuoso trumpeters such as Gottfried Reiche.  Telemann’s concerto’s for trumpet and horn provide an excellent example of the instrument's limitations in comparison to the instrument we know today. 

The OCA course material writes that the slide trombone too has been a vital part of the brass section since the 15th century.   It seems that the instrument underwent a great many changes during this period, much like many instruments I have studied so far.   Pieces such as Giovanni Gabrieli’s Canzon II a 4, Ch.187 (1608) and Heinrich Shutz’s Fili Mi Absalon (1629), demonstrate the use of both the trumpet and trombone in the early Baroque period.

Renaissance Instruments

The Renaissance period is a term used to describe the cultural movement spanning the 14th to 17th century.  During this period choral music was particularly popular and composers began to explore the complexities of using music to further enhance the emotion expressed through vocals.  Shepherd (n.d) writes that:

“Renaissance music is very emotional music, although to us it seems to be much calmer.  This is because the emotion is expressed in a balanced way, without extreme contrasts of dynamics, tone color, and rhythm.”

Shepherd goes on to suggest that this sense of ‘balance’ resulted in a very polyphonic texture, meaning that many melodic and harmonic lines could be played in unison.