Louis XIV
used the arts as propaganda
absolute monarch so music under his reign reflected his personality and policies
called himself the “Sun King” after Apollo
he constructed the immensely vast palace in Versailles which proclaimed his power and kept aristocracy under his control
Three types of music at court
music of the royal chapel, music of the chamber, and music of the great stable
music of the royal chapel
singers, organists, and other instruments who performed for religious services
music of the chamber
string, harpsichord, and flute players who played for indoor entertainment
music of the great stable
wind, brass, and timpani players who played for military and outdoor ceremonies
they sometimes they joined the other to add color
called Great Stable because they were on horseback while they played
Vingt-quater Violons du Roi
24 Violins of the King
played in 5 part texture: 6 soprano violins (tuned like modern violin), 12 alto and tenor violins (tuned like modern viola), 6 bass violins (tune a whole tone lower than modern cello)
Who is responsible for creating modern oboe?
wind players and instrument makers of French court
Jean Baptiste Lully
Louis XIV’s favorite musician for 30 years until he messed with page boy
After Cardinal Mazarin unsuccessfully tried to bring Italian opera to France, Lully blende ballet elements with opera to create comedies-ballets (with Moliere)
born in florence
enforced unified bowing
conducted with a long staff or cane: this modeled king’s absolute power as conductor
tragedie en musique
later called tragedie lyrique
new French form of opera
Lully and his librettist Jean-Philippe Quinalt reconciled the demands of drama, music, and ballet
Quinalt
his 5-act dramas combined serious plots from ancient mythology or chivalric tales with frequent divertissements
divertissements
“diversions”
long interludes of dancing and choral singing used by Quinalt in his 5-act dramas
an extended episode that appeared at the center or the conclusion of each act of a French opera
ouverture
French word for “opening”
opened each opera of Lully
marked the entry of the king when he was present and welcomed him and audience to the performance
French overture
2 sections each played twice
1st: homophonic and majestic
2nd: fast and begins with a fugal imitation
ex: Lully’s Armide
airs
leading genre of vocal chamber music in France
less elaborate, no virtuosic display, little text repetition
songs with a rhymed text and regular meter and phrasing, often in the meter and form of dance
scored for one to three voices with lute or continuo accompaniment
style luthe
lute style in which you struck one note at a time and sketched in melody, bass and harmony
this was imitate by French harpsichord players
sometimes called modern term “style brise” (broken style)
notes inegales
“unequal notes”
practice of alternating longer notes on the beat with shorter off-beats
created triplets and dotted figures
form of expression and elegance
over-dotting
practice related to unequal notes
dotted not is held longer than its notated value, according to performers taste and the following note is shortened
unmeasured prelude
in suites that began with a prelude in the style of a toccata or other or other abstract work
non-metric notation allowed rhythmic freedom, as if improvising
allemande
French for “German”
highly stylized dance in binary form in moderately fast quadruple meter
popular during Renaissance and Baroque
often appeared as first dance in a suite
courante
French for “running” or “flowing”
dance in binary form in compound meter at modeter tempo with an upbeat
standard movement in a suite
sarabande
originally, a quick, lascivious style of dance from Central America accompanied by guitar and procession
evolved to slow, dignified dance in triple meter with emphasis on second beat
standard dance in suite in binary form
gigue
French for “jig”
originated in British isles
stylized dance movement of standard Baroque suite
in binary form, compound meter 6/4 or 12/8
two sections usually both began with imitation
zarzuela
Spanish genre of musical theater
light, mythological play in a pastoral setting that alternates between sung and spoken dialogue and various types of ensemble and solo song
devised by Hidalgo
sacred villancico
work composed in imitative polyphony
most vibrant genre of Spanish sacred music
scored for one or more choirs, soloists with choir, or solo voice with continuo
in vernacular, not Latin
brought the concertato medium unto church
agrements
Brief ornaments used in 17th century French opera to adorn cadences and other important notes
grand motet
sacred concerto for solists, double chorus, and orchestra
Denis Gaultier
leading lute composer of the French Baroque
dramatic opera
spoken play with an overture and four or more masques or substantial musical epoisodes
Purcell
wrote Dido and Aenaes
The English Dancing Master
collection of and instructional treatise on traditional English country dances published by John Playford
La purpura de la rosa
first opera performed in the Americas
tiento
A Spanish improvisatory style for organ, often featuring imitation