Sunday, April 17, 2011

About Baroque Music, Vivaldi

The typical baroque concerto was a multimovement work for an orchestra and one or more soloists, and had three movements: a fast, intro tempo; a slow, short tempo in the middle; and a fast, final tempo.


Baroque music featured an equal importance on instruments and vocals, an up until then uncommon practice. Improvisation was very common in baroque music, especially in accompaniment, and dance suites became important features. The fugue became an important instrumental and choral form. The concerto grosso featured a two or three soloists on different instruments who opposed the orchestra, and the solo concerto featured a single soloist opposing an entire orchestra. Baroque music also featured a single, important, high-pitched voice with an accompaniment supporting it.


Harmonic rhythm is how the length of time between chord changes creates a rhythm. Chords tend to change on the first beat of a measure, hence having a harmonic rhythm helps guide musicians by providing some semblance of a meter.


Program music is characterized as music that has a nonmusical addition to it, such as a poem, picture, or other literary work.


The Ospedale della Pieta was once an orphanage for girls, but became the most top-notch music school in northern Italy. The girls of this hospital perform concerts for the public at religious services, and wield surprising good vocal and instrumental skill.

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