HUM 112 Week 1 Discussion
HUM 112 Week 1 Discussion
“Baroque Style” Please respond to the following, using sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:
•Listen to one (1) composition that demonstrates the qualities of the Baroque musical style. It may be from the Explore Websites below or from this week’s Music Folder below. Identify your choice, and describe it by. Explain what you like or admire about the work. Compare it to a modern soundtrack or song that evokes a similar mood.
Week 1 Explore:
Monteverdi and Vivaldi
•Monteverdi’s Orfeohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ll_u870PG8 (lyrics with translation: http://introtomusicdeanza.wordpress.com/class-resources/examples-baroque/)
•Vivaldi’s “Spring” from Vivaldi: A Man for All Seasons at http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/104868631/vivaldi-a-man-for-all-seasons and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFHPRi0ZeXE (background and lyric translation at http://www.baroquemusic.org/vivaldiseasons.html)
Music Folder
•HUM112 Music Clips for Week 1:
This weekthere are several musical compositions mentioned. These (or decent equivalents) can be found on YouTube. Watch and give them a listen. Here below is some background and description of each–and the link to the YouTube (and sometimes other helps).
1. Gabrieli: Ricercar a 4 del duodecimo tuono (p. 694)selection from this at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cihvujvb_pQ
The Italian word “Ricercar” means to search out or pursue. But, it was used as a label for an instrumental musical composition of the late 1500s and early 1600s that explored a certain tone or motif. In this case, it was Gabrieli’s musical exploration of the 12th mode or tone, which was the key or tonic note “C” in his system.
2. Monteverdi: “Tu se’ morta” from Orfeo. selection of this at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ll_u870PG8(lyrics with translation: http://faculty.deanza.edu/mitchell/music1/stories/storyReader$40)
The song title means “You are dead”. This selection is a recitativo from the opera called Orfeo, written in 1607. The main character, Orpheus or Orfeo, has just learned of the death of his beloved Eurydice. The story comes out of ancient Greek myth and drama. For the whole opera from a great production in Barcelona, Spain, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mD16EVxNOM .
3. Vivaldi: Spring, I from The Four Seasons selection of this at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFHPRi0ZeXE(background and lyric translation at http://www.baroquemusic.org/vivaldiseasons.html)
This selection is from the first concerto in a set offour concertos related to the theme of the four seasons. Vivaldi composed this in 1723.He also wrote a brief poetic sonnet at the start of this first concerto.
4. Bach: Contata BWV 78 – Jesu, der meineSeelehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIWJOKmsgLs
5. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto 2, 3rd movementhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1BEDBsSDJw
6. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Part IIFugue in D minorhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbvTPW1_Yxw; Clavier originally simply meant any instrument with claves or keys. In the early 1700s, this could include the harpischord, the clavichord, or the instrument that would eventually evolve into the modern piano. J. S. Bach (1685-1750) lived in a period when he made much use of the clavichord and eventually early forms of the piano. The piano was invented by Cristofori in the early 1700s; it was developed as a major advance on the clavichord. Pieces like the “Well-Tempered Clavier” were probably played mostly on the clavichord by Bach, though he clearly intended it as music for a variety of instruments. Bach’s work here is baroque music at its best.
7. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minorhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FXoyr_FyFw
