The baroque solo concerto

Hello, and welcome to today's music lesson. I'm Ms. Matsel, and I'm gonna be your teacher today. Let's get started. Today's lesson outcome is, I can identify key features of the Baroque solo concerto. And let's look at some keywords for today's lesson. Concerto. That's a composition for a solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment. Tutti. Surpasses the whole ensemble plays. Continuo. A section of the Baroque orchestra that play accompaniment. It normally includes harpsichord and a bass-stringed instrument, for example, the cello. Ritornello. A recurring passage in a piece of Baroque music. Terraced dynamics. That's sudden shifts in dynamics. Today's lesson on the Baroque solo concerto is in two parts. Part one is instrumentation and melody in the Baroque concerto, and part two is texture and structure in the Baroque concerto. Let's get started with part one, instrumentation and melody in the Baroque concerto. The concerto is a type of composition for a solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment. It was an important part of Western classical music through the Baroque, classical, and romantic periods. Over that time, it evolved and developed, but remained a distinct and important genre that many great composers explored. Many typical features of the Baroque solo concerto. Remember, the Baroque period is around 1600 to 1750, are also typical a Baroque music generally. Have a listen to this clip, what typical Baroque features can you hear in this example? Pause and have a listen. You might have heard a small orchestra made up of strings with harpsichord, extended melodic lines with sequences, ornamentation, sudden contrasts in dynamics and texture, simple diatonic harmony. The instrumentation of the Baroque solo concerto includes a Baroque orchestra. This usually consists of a small string orchestra with continuo. Continuo is the accompanying section of the orchestra, including harpsichord, which is usually playing some chords, cello playing the bass notes, and sometimes lute. A lute is similar to a guitar. Sometimes, some woodwind or brass instruments are included, such as recorder, flute, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, and horn. Occasionally, timpani are used, but this is rare in concertos. Can you identify the solo instrument in these different concerto examples? Have a listen to the three different examples. What did you think the solo instruments were? For the first one, it was the violin, the second was the cello, and the third was the recorder. The most common solo instruments are violin, recorder, and cello. Oboe, flute, and trumpet were also occasionally used. Concertos are an opportunity for soloists to demonstrate their technical skills. The solo parts are often technically challenging and complex. Music that is written to show off skill is called virtuosic music. Have a listen to this clip. What makes this solo part seem virtuosic? Have a listen. What did you hear? It was using fast scalic runs and arpeggios, fast rhythmic patterns and ornaments, and that makes it sound really complex to play. Melodies in Baroque concertos are often long and flowing. This recorder melody continues for more than eight bars. Pause and have a listen. The melodies are often based on short motifs or themes that have then developed. How has this short motif been extended to create a longer melody? Pause and have a listen to it. That example was based on a sequence, repetition of an idea at higher or lower pitch. This is very common in Baroque concertos. Have a listen to the sequences in this oboe concerto. Melodies also use a lot of ornamentation. What ornaments can you hear in this melody? Pause and have a listen to it. This melody includes trills. Have a listen to the example of a trill. (bright fast-paced piano music) So, a trill is fast up-and-down movement on the note, and usually the note above. Turns, you can have a listen to what a turn sounds like. (bright upbeat piano music) And a turn is on the note above and below. So, in this example, you would play AGFG as a turn. And then mordents, have a quick listen to a mordent. (bright piano music) That's going to the note above once. So, GAG would be a mordent, as written there. Acciaccaturas, otherwise known as grace notes, are a common ornament, but they weren't heard in this particular clip. Terraced dynamics were also common in Baroque concertos. Rather than gradually changing between different dynamics, the music suddenly drops from forte to piano and vice versa. So, have a listen to an example of terrorist dynamics. And then you can hear more gradual dynamics. Let's do a check for understanding. Name two common solo instruments in Baroque solo concertos. You could have said violin, or recorder, or cello. I hope you got two of those instruments. What is the name for the accompanying section of the Baroque orchestra? Have a think. well done if you said continuo. Which is not a typical feature of melodies in the Baroque solo concerto? Is it A, short symmetrical phrases, B, long flowing melodic lines, C, ornamentation, or D, use of motives. Which is not a typical feature? Well done if you've got A, short symmetrical phrases is not a typical feature of melodies in the Baroque solo concerto. Let's do Task A. Have a listen to each example and answer the questions. For Example 1, we'd like you to describe three features of the instrumentation that are typical of the Baroque solo concerto, and name two types of ornamentation that are used in the example. For Example 2, the questions are, how would you describe the dynamics in this clip? And listen to the melody. Describe two features of it that are typical of the Baroque solo concerto. So, let's pause the lesson and have a listen to both of those examples, and have a go at answering the questions. How did you get on? So, for Example 1, you could have said it's a small orchestra. Mostly stringed instruments. It uses continuo, so harpsichord and cello. And it has a typical solo instrument, which in this case is the cello. For the question two, you should have said, two of trill, mordent, turn or acciaccatura, the grace note. For Example 2, the dynamics could be described as terraced dynamics. And for the features, you could have said, use of long, flowing melodic lines or use of sequences. Let's move on to part two of our lesson. Texture and structure in the Baroque concerto, Baroque solo concertos have varied textures and have a clear contrast between the solo and tutti sections. What happens when the solo instrument joins here? Pause and have a listen. In the solo section, the focus is on the soloist, with a simple accompaniment from the orchestra or just the continuo. In the tutti sections, so tutti is Italian for all, both the soloist and the orchestra play together, creating a much thicker texture. Many Baroque solo concertos use polyphonic textures with multiple melodies playing at the same time. Have a listen for the different melodic lines in this polyphonic texture. Pause and have a listen. Contrast can also be created through using different textures, including simpler homophonic textures where all of the parts play the same rhythm or there is a chordal accompaniment. This example uses melody and accompaniment, homophony, polyphony, and unison at different points. Can you work out the order? Pause and have a listen to the clip. You could have said, it starts polyphonic with multiple melodies. Then there's a brief section of homophony, including a unison line. It finishes with melody and accompaniment, that's melody-dominated homophony. The soloist and orchestra can also interact through use of imitation. This is where one instrument or group of instruments copies or imitates part of the melody medially. Have a listen to the imitation in this clip. Let's do a check for understanding. When the soloist plays together with all of the orchestra, what is that called? Is it A, tutte, B, tutta, C, tutto, or D, tutti? Well done if you've got D, tutti, which means all in Italian. Which two textures are the most common in the Baroque concerto? Is it A, unison, B, monophonic, B, homophonic, or D, polyphonic? Well done if you've got C and D, homophonic and polyphonic are the most common textures in the Baroque Concerto. A Baroque concerto is divided into three separate movements. Each movement has a single mood or style, and the three movements contrast with each other. The first movement is fast, the second is slow, and the final movement is fast. Have listened to examples of the three different movements. Baroque concertos can also use ritornello form. The ritornello is a passage of music that keeps returning throughout the movement, creating a sense of familiarity. In between each ritornello, different musical material is played, creating variety and contrast. This form might be written as ABACA, where the A sections represent the ritornello. When the ritornello returns, it could be identical or slightly different, but it should still be recognizable as the same basic material. And here you can listen to an example of a ritornello, the original ritornello, the contrasting section, and the returning ritornello. Pause and have a listen to those. Baroque concertos build contrast in a number of ways. Terraced dynamics, which is sudden contrasts in dynamics, tutti versus solo sections, polyphonic versus homophonic sections, ritornello versus contrasting sections, fast versus slow movements. Which movement is usually slow in a Baroque concerto? Is it A, the first movement, B, the second movement, or C, the third movement? Which do you think? Well done if you said B, the second movement is usually slow in a Baroque concerto. When is the ritornello heard? Is it A at the start of a movement, B, at the end of a movement, C throughout a movement, or D in the middle of a movement? Which of those is it? Well done if you said C, the ritornello is heard throughout a movement. Let's do Task B. So, we want you to listen to each example and answer the questions. For Example 1, the questions are, is the texture typical of a Baroque concerto? Justify your answer, making at least two separate points. And describe one feature of the melody that is typical of the style. For Example 2, the questions are, what word describes this section with the soloist and orchestra playing together? And this section returns throughout the movement, what is it called? And which movement could this clip come from? So, pause the video and have a go at Task B. How did you get on? So, for Example 1, you could have said something like this. So, yes, the texture is typical of a Baroque concerto. It begins with a polyphonic tutti section that uses imitation. Then in the solo section, there is a melody in the compliment, so a harmonic texture. Describe one feature of the melody that's typical of the style. And he could have said, use of sequences, ornamentation, virtuosic solo playing, or long, flowing the logic lines. For Example 2, you should have said that tutti was the word that describes the section you could hear. The section that returns is called the ritornello, and the clip could have been from the first or third movements because it was fast. Let's summarize today's lesson on the Baroque solo concerto. The Baroque solo concerto features many typical features of Baroque music. These include a typical Baroque orchestra with continuo, and melodic features such as ornamentation and imitation. Baroque concertos create contrast through use of tutti and solo sections, terraced dynamics, and contrasting textures. The three movements of a concerto contrast with each other, and often, one or more use ritornello form. This features a ritornello section that returns throughout. I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.