Baroque General
What are the tempo markings of a baroque multi-movement work?
Fast-Slow-Fast
What sect of Christianity did Bach practice?
Lutheran
Handel's "Cara Sposa" is a Da Capo Aria, what does Da Capo mean?
To the head (meaning a long form ABA')
While not as known as Bach for his fugal writing, Vivaldi did write some fugues. What is the main theme of the fugue called? How does the opening of a fugue start?
The main theme is called the subject. A fugue starts with the subject played in one voice, followed by another voice entering with the subject (although the subject can be transposed in the second entry)
When was the first public Opera house built? When was it built?
Venice, 1637
What does "baroque" mean?
highly decorated
Bach's works often feature thematic development. What is thematic development?
Taking a small musical idea and building an entire work out of it
Handel's music features heavy use of ground bass figures? What is a ground bass?
A repeating bassline
What was Vivaldi's nickname?
The red priest
What is a castrato?
Castrated male singer
What is a continuo?
A driving (motoric) accompaniment part
Bach often wrote fugues. What type of texture do fugues feature?
Polyphonic texture
Where did Handel spend most of his life?
England/London
Vivaldi's music features a number of sequences. What is a sequence?
A repeated musical pattern that repeats material at increasingly higher or lower pitches
What are the two types of pieces in Opera?
recitative and aria
What is figured bass?
The numbers that appear above a bass, telling the players what notes to play above the bass
When does Bach die? Why does this matter?
1750, end of the Baroque era
What was the first Italian opera composed for the London Stage?
Rinaldo
What form is Vivaldi considered a pioneer of?
Concerto
Who wrote the first opera that is still regularly performed? What is the title of this opera?
Monteverdi's L'Orfeo
What are terraced dynamics?
Sudden ("subito") shifts between loud and soft sections
What does a work's BWV tell us?
When it was composed in relation to other works in Bach's catalog
Hallelujah comes from what work? What type of work is it?
Messiah, an oratorio
Vivaldi's music is often programmatic. What does that mean? What is an example of a programmatic piece written by Vivaldi?
Music that attempts to tell a story, The Four Seasons.
How is opera different than oratorio?
Opera is secular and has significantly more staging