Solo Sonata & Sonata Types
Identify the composer who wrote more than 550 harpsichord sonatas.
Domenico Scarlatti
Name the two opposing sound groups in a concerto grosso.
The small group, called the concertino, and the larger group, called the tutti or ripieno.
Name the composer of The Well-Tempered Clavier.
Johann Sebastian Bach.
Name the composer of Dido and Aeneas.
Henry Purcell.
Name the period that began shortly before 1600 and ended with Bach’s death in 1750.
The Baroque period.
What does Essercizi, Scarlatti’s name for his works, mean?
“Exercises” or “diversions.”
What was the favorite Baroque ensemble combination for sonatas?
Two violins and continuo.
What German Protestant hymn tune often unified Bach’s sacred cantatas?
The Lutheran chorale.
What is an oratorio: a staged opera, a large vocal-instrumental work usually without staging, or a dance suite?
A large vocal-instrumental work usually performed without scenery, costumes, or acting.
What musical element describes an instrument’s tone color?
Timbre.
What form typically has two repeated sections, with the second sometimes recalling ideas from the first?
Binary form. In rounded binary form, the second section brings back ideas from the opening.
Name the typical movement sequence of a Baroque solo concerto.
Allegro–Adagio–Allegro.
Name Handel’s famous oratorio that closed his final series of performances.
Messiah.
What was the name of the French opera form combining dance scenes, choruses, courtly love, and heroic adventure?
The tragédie lyrique.
What doctrine describes a Baroque movement built around one main emotion?
The doctrine of the affections.
Give two techniques Scarlatti used to explore the harpsichord’s possibilities.
Any two: runs, scale passages, hand crossing, high-low register contrasts, repeated notes, trills, or arpeggios.
Why is the term “trio sonata” potentially misleading about the number of performers?
“Trio” refers to the three musical parts or staves, not necessarily three performers. Continuo could involve both a bass instrument and a keyboard player.
Name Bach’s Leipzig position and one major responsibility he held there.
Bach was cantor at St. Thomas’s Church in Leipzig. He supervised music for the city’s main churches, trained choirs, and composed music for services and special occasions.
What role did Handel give the chorus in his oratorios?
Handel made the chorus—the people—a central part of the drama. The chorus could begin action or reflect on it.
What practice allowed Baroque performers to add embellishments not fully written in the score?
Improvisation, including adding embellishments to the written music.
Explain how Scarlatti’s rounded binary forms related to the later sonata-allegro form.
Scarlatti’s rounded binary sonatas brought back opening-section ideas in the second section. This form helped pave the way for sonata-allegro form, which was emerging.
Contrast the solo concerto with the concerto grosso.
A solo concerto contrasts one solo instrument with an accompanying instrumental group. A concerto grosso contrasts a small group of instruments, the concertino, with a larger ensemble, the tutti or ripieno.
Compare Bach’s and Handel’s principal vocal traditions, naming one example for each.
Bach’s vocal music was strongly connected to Lutheran sacred traditions, including his church cantatas and Passions. Handel became known for oratorios such as Messiah. Both composers wrote major vocal works, but their traditions and examples differ.
In Dido and Aeneas, why does Aeneas leave Dido, and how does the opera end?
Aeneas leaves because the gods have commanded him to continue his journey to Italy, where he is destined to found Rome. The opera ends with Dido’s death and a chorus mourning her, as cupids scatter roses over her tomb.
Explain how Baroque instrumental music’s approach to line differed from the late Baroque practice of choosing instruments for their timbre.
Baroque composers often thought in terms of musical lines, so the same line might be played by different instruments. Late Baroque composers increasingly selected specific instruments for their distinct timbres and strengths. This shift helped give rise to orchestration.