Handel

Terms associated... (cont)

recitativo secco - vocal declamation that follows the inflections of the text, often resulting
in a disjunct vocal style, found in opera, cantata or oratorio

recitativo accompagnato -

da capo aria - lyric song in ternary or A-B-A form, commonly found in operas, cantatas
and oratorios

word painting - an expressive device in which the meaning of the words is vividly
depicted throught the music

Johann Sebastian Bach

Date
1685-1750

Background/Life
-Born in Eisenach, Germany
-Born to family that supplised musicians to churches/ town bands for many generations
-Orphaned @ age 10
-Raised by older brother, prepared J.S. bach for family vocation
-Held posts as organist @ ardnstadt 1703-1703, Muhlhausen 1707-8
- @ 23 appointed as court organist and chamber musician to duke of weimar
- weimar period 1708-17
- first six children born in this period
-had at least 19 kids, 4 of which became leading composers of next gen
-duke of weimar didn't promote bach, thus bach decided to accept offer from prince of
Anhalt-Cothen
-spent 5 years in Cothen 1717-23; produced suites, concertos, sonatas
-Wife Died, married Anna Magdalena in 1721
-@ 38, appointed to one of most important positions in germany ; cantor @ st.thomas'
church in leipzig
-G.P. Telemann (much more famous than bach @ time )was considered for position but
declined offer
-in 1729, was director of collegium musicum in leipzig
-last expedition 1747 was to court of Frederick the Great @ Postdam, his son Carl Philipp
Emanuel served as accompanist to flute-playing monarch
- had gone through several operations for cataracts, stroke, finally stricken w/blindess
-regardless he persisted final task

Contributions/Key Works
- was one of the greatist religious artists in history
-produced works that spoke thourgh and entire faith (lutheran hymns ->chorales)
-was virtuoso organist
- the "choral prelude" was central to his output

The Well-Tempered Clavier

-most important work
-48 preludes and fugues in 2 volumes -> known as pianos old testament (new testament
beethoven's 32 piano sonatas)

Terms Associated with composer

pedal point - sustained note over which harmonies change.

tierce de picardie - common mannerism of ending a minor key work in the tonic
major(raised third).

subject - the initial statement of the main theme in a fugue, usually in the tonic key.

answer - the second statement of the main theme in a fugue, usually in the dominant key.

countersubject - reccuring counter-melody accompanying entries of the subject and

answer.

episode - passage w/in a fugue, frequently sequential in which neither subject nor answer
is present.
stretto - overlapping subject entries in close succesion. From the Italian stringere, meaning "to
tighten".