University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

Literature and Styles in Music I

670-351

Early Baroque Church Music

I Music for the Catholic Church

A. Some composers for the Catholic Church continue more conservative "Stile Antico" based on Palestrina's style (as later codified by theorist J.J. Fux in his treatise Gradus ad Parnassum, 1725)

B. Even in Catholic Church music, elements of "Stile Moderno" increasingly widespread

Continuo system and monody typical
Major-minor tonality replaces modality
"Grand Concerto" emerges
- application of Baroque "concertato" principle (deriving from Venetian polychoral style) to large, diverse ensembles
  - Most famous example: Orazio Benevoli's Festival Mass for the Consecration of the Salzburg Cathedral, composed for 2 eight-part choruses, each associated with 3 different instrumental combinations and employing its own bas (total of 53 different parts)
  - Concertos for smaller ensembles more typical
    - example: Viadana's One Hundred Church Concertos for solo voice(s) with basso continuo (1602)
    - Monteverdi's Vespers (1610) epitomizes the combination of new and old elements in Catholic Church music
      - uses traditional psalm tones along with recitative (monody), concertato effects etc.
    - Allessandro Grandi (ca. 1575-1630) also known for "motets" on traditional texts, incorporating stylistic elements from the concertato, monody and bel canto styles

C. Development of the Oratorio

Emilio de Cavalieri's Representation of the Soul and the Body ("La Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo") (1600), composed for "devotional service," was probably staged and often considered first oratorio (although sometimes de
- includes "modern" elements such as monody, airs, choral pieces etc. typical of later oratorios
- By the middle of the 17th century, the term "oratorio" is applied to a dramatic work with a sacred subject matter for soloists, chorus and orchestra
  - Language may be either Latin ("oratorio latino") or Italian ("oratorio vulgare")
  - Action usually narrated (by narrator called "Testo") or suggested rather than directly presented
  - Chorus used for dramatic purposes, interacting with individual characters (soloists) and commenting on events
Giacomo Carissimi: most famous composer of Latin oratorio
- Major oratorio: Historia di Jephtha (1650)
- Similar works with soloists and small ensembles referred to as "cantatas," e.g., The Judgment of Solomon

II Lutheran Church Music

A. German musicians continue to be greatly influenced by the Italian style

monody and concertato techniques incorporated
use of Lutheran chorales sometimes occurs
even the most conservative polyphonic styles (i.e., the polyphonic "Chorale Motets") are influenced by Venetian polychoral style

B. "Concertos" for Small Ensembles increase in popularity

C. Major German composers:

Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630)
- Opella Nova: Geistliche Konzerte (subtitled "in the customary Italian manner")
  - based stylistically on Monteverdi's concertato madrigals
  - duets and solos based on chorale texts
  - chorale melodies (when used) treated freely--fragmented and embellished
  - continuo always present; one or two solo instruments optional
  - occasionally orchestral sinfonia and chorus is used
Heinrich Schutz (1585-1672; Student of Gabrieli)
- versatile composer, but mostly vocal oriented
- cosmopolitan absorption of difference stylistic elements:
  - Gabrieli's polychoral style
  - drama of Florentine monody
  - emotional quality of concertato madrigal
  - seriousness of German motet and Passion (although often avoiding traditional Lutheran chorale melodies)
  - Major works:
- Psalmen Davids (1619)
  - "Grand Concertos" for 2 or more choruses and soloists, featuring concertato use of instruments, large-scale homophonic effects of polychoral style, and bel canto lyricism from soloists
- Cantiones Sacre (1625)
  - Old-fashioned contrapuntal style enlivened with rich chromaticism and word-painting
- Symphoniae Sacrae (Sacred Concertos)
  - Concertato motets for up to 6 voices with continuo
  - Use of "progressive" Italian devices, including free dissonance treatment, vocal ornamentation etc.
- Kleine Geistliche Konzerte (1636, 1639)
  - Motets for 1-5 voices plus instruments and continuo
- The Seven Last Words (1645)
- Christmas Oratorio (1644)
  - narrator, soloists, chorus, orchestra
- Three Passions
  
  Last Update 11/3/98
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