Notes from Monday, February 11 class session:

Preparation For Mon. Feb 11:
1. Complete the online eWorkbook assessment Quiz #5 (Renaissance) in WebCT/Vista/Blackboard by 12 Midnight Mon. Feb 11
(click here for instructions on how to log onto WebCT).

2. Read textbook Chapter 5 (Baroque)--pages 31, 32, 36 and 37 (Music Guides 12, 13, 20, 21)

3. Listen to "Classical Music Online" examples for Baroque Vocal Music.

4. Read Lecture Notes from Feb 4 and 6

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Music of the Early Baroque

(See Chapter 5 for details)

The following bold or bold/italic terms/works/composers were studied:

We Began Class Session by Finishing Discussion of Renaissance Vocal and Dance Examples

- See updated Lecture Notes from Feb 4 and 6 for details
- Discussion of John Dowland's "Flow My Tears/Lachrymae Pavane"; the Pavane and Galliard Renaissance dance pairs.

- Reviewed elemental differences between Weelkes' English madrigal "As Vesta Was From Latmos Hill Descending" and Gesualdo's highly-experimental Italian madrigal "Moro lasso..." (this shows the new Baroque style that was initiated by Monteverdi--see "seconda pratica," below)

The Seconda Pratica: The New Style of the Early Baroque

- The Baroque era was initiated by composers who used bold new ways of using dissonance, texture, vocal ranges, tempos, etc. to vividly express the meaning of the words )"word painting").

- Claudio Monteverdi called this daring new approach the "seconda pratica" (the "second practice" as compared to the traditional "prima pratica" ("first practice") seen in the sacred Renaissance vocal music of Palestrina with its smooth phrasing/texture, and its careful handling of dissonance.

- The seconda pratica was highlighted by shocking use of dissonance, sudden changes of rhythm/tempo, etc.--anything to vividly express the meaning of the words.

Opera

- Monteverdi opera L'Orfeo (1607) is one of the earliest experiments in this new style (see Music Guide 12/Chapter 5: "Tu sei morta" from L'Orfeo, an example of early Baroque opera that features a solo singer accompanied by a sparse basso continuo accompaniment.

- In "Tu sei morta" (which means "You are dead...") the main character of the opera, Orpheus shows his agony over the unexpected death of his bride, Euridice, shortly after they exchanged wedding vows. A good example of Monteverdi's daring approach to dissonance is heard at the very start of this example, when Orpheus starts on a Bb, then leaps down to the shocking unprepared disssonance of an F#, and finally resolves up to a G pitch. The F# clashes harshly with the G minor harmony of the accompaniment, and it creates a highly-unusual melodic leap of a written "diminished 4th" from the Bb.

L'Orfeo's melody: "Tu sei mor-ta"

Bb F# G

Accompaniment

Harmony: G minor --------