The Most Influential Composers of the Baroque Era
Introduction
“Other than that commonality, and the fact that they shared the same incompetent eye doctor, their careers could not have been more different,” (94 Wright).
Craig Wright blatantly states in the opening paragraph that even though these great musicians came to being in the same year, 1685, they are nothing alike. This blog takes an even deeper dive into the lives of some of the greatest musicians to ever step foot on earth. Bach was a musician from birth as “There were musicians in the Bach family going back seven generations,” (Johann). Bach was taught by his father as a violinist and he sang in choirs. However his life took a turn for the worse when his mother and father died, yet he continued his music in his brother's care. “Bach was hired as an organist in a church in Arnstad, Germany, which gave him time to practice on his favorite instrument and to develop his talent,” (Johann). Bach’s way with music gave him the ability to pursue music full time and stay in work. Yet he never reached fame like Handel; he only got notability and credit for his great pieces of music. The other side of this coin of musicians is Handel. Born to “Georg Handel, a distinguished barber-surgeon, and his mother, Dorothea,” Handel had little connection to music at home (CMUSE). Handel’s father believed that there was no money to be made by music and forbade his son to pursue it. Luckily Handel’s mother in secret allowed Handel to partake in music and Handel self taught himself many instruments. Handel got his music training by playing the court organ at a Duke's house and the Duke telling Handel’s father that Handel should take formal music training. With this now found music freedom Handel bloomed into the musician he was destined to be. In the end even though both Handel and Bach had different starts to music they both found ways to be great musicians.
Bach and the Fugue
The late Baroque era (1710 - 1750) saw the popularization of a musical form called the fugue. A Baroque fugue is a form of music in which one voice presents a theme, called the “subject,” and then “flies away,” hence the latin word fuga, meaning flight (Wright). This form of music is made up of many different elements, including the subject, answer, exposition, episode, pedal points, and more. As a general idea of what a fugue is, it is a piece of music that begins with simple themes and slowly gets more complicated as more voices join in, eventually resulting in a mass of free form polyphonic counterpoint. For an in-depth explanation of the various elements of the fugue, click on this link. It is easy to assume that because the form was popular during the late Baroque era, that it was created during this time period. However, that is not the case. The fugue is linked to older forms of music including imitative polyphony and canons that were popular during the renaissance (Estella). The fugue takes these renaissance ideas and explores them in great detail. A virtuoso on the organ, Johann Sebastian Bach is considered to be the “father” of the fugue. Bach became such a great composer and organist, that he could sometimes improvise/compose fugues on the spot during a performance. Bach died having composed 1,175 works, 48 of them being fugues. Bach’s 48 fugues are known as “The Well Tempered Clavier,” and are still today a standard for aspiring pianists and organists to learn (Classicalfm.com).
Click here to watch a performance of one of Bach’s most famous fugues, BMV 578 in G minor.
Click here to listen to the same fugue with a helpful visualisation that shows the different elements of the fugue.
Bach in the Church
“Most important, in this final movement of the cantata the members of Bach’s congregation joined in the singing of the chorale tune. Martin Luther had ordained that the community should not merely witness but also participate in communal worship. At this moment, all of the spiritual energy of Leipzig was concentrated into this one empathetic declaration of faith” (Wright, 94).
Johann Sebastian Bach was extremely influential in the Lutheran Church during his time. He didn’t travel too far outside the radius of his country, and his many musical works heavily inspired the music used during the church services. Bach is most famous in the church for his Cantatas. A Church Cantata is a multi-movement sacred work that lasts about 20 to 30 minutes. Each Cantata consists of recitatives, arias, and choruses that are accompanied by a small orchestra. Bach’s pieces were known across 18th century Germany as the soul of the Lutheran Church. The most well-known part of a Church Cantata collection is the use of Chorale, which is a spiritual song sung by multiple voice parts. The most common structure used in a Chorale melody is an AAB format, made up of those 3 respective phrases. Underneath the tune, you have what’s called Walking Bass, which uses notes on the ascending and the descending scale, set to quarter notes. This is what keeps the steady beat and what drives the song forward until its end. As the Chorale became more and more developed, Bach started using four-part voice leading to enrich the harmonies and maintain a polyphonic structure. As for the orchestra, Bach would have them “double up” on the four voice parts to highlight each unique melody, and of course to add more color to the sound. This was the general foundation of the music in the Lutheran Church during and after Bach’s time. Along with the performers onstage, the congregation also joined in the worship, which was a newly sacred tradition in the church. As stated in the quote above, Martin Luther’s declaration that church-goers should be able to participate welcomed a whole new reform of crowd engagement that was really meaningful to the people. Bach’s Cantatas included this new kind of participation, so that’s truly one of the major reasons why Johann Sebastian Bach’s music was so influential, especially in relation to the church.
Here is a media example of a Bach Church Cantata: “Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir”.
It is so beautiful! Again, what makes this example a Cantata is its use of a Chorale chorus, a small orchestra, and it’s a little over 20 minutes in length.
Getting a Handel on the Opera
Handel was born in 1685 in Halle, Germany and his father had the intention of making him a lawyer. Handel led a much different life, travelling from country to country following his passion and desire for music. He finally settled in prosperous London to earn a buck or two by composing his exquisite Italian opera’s. He was employed by King George 1 and the succeeding English monarchs to create festival music such as Water Music (1717) and Music For Royal Fireworks (1749). He is most well known for his famous Italian operas such as Giulio Cesare, Alcina, and more. These works are characterized by the use of high soprano and male castrati voices. He uses tenor voices in his later operas, but mostly sticks to higher voices because of their perceived high value in British society. The included example is a piece from the opera seria Rodelinda called “O,Where are you, dearest beloved?” sung by the incredible countertenor Iestyn Davies. Handel loves to use the operatic style called Da Capo Aria. This musical form consists of a soloist accompanied by an orchestra, and an ABA form. Typically the soloist improvises off of the melody to flaunt their gift because the voice is the most important element of Handel's operas. He constructed over 40 operas and only the best singers of their day were casted for his operas. His work is revered even to this day by experts and music enthusiasts alike. Handel’s impact on opera society and western music is evident. https://youtu.be/AdNd57flrTg
Handel and the Oratorio
Handel became famous largely because of the oratorios he created, one of the most well-known being the Messiah. Surprisingly this masterpiece was made in only a short amount of time: three weeks. The aspects of the Messiah that makes it famous include three separate sections. Prophecy and his coming of his incarceration, his passion and resurrection, and the Christian victory over death. The first section he wrote had important emphasis in Matthew’s gospel. It basically said there are prophecies in the bible that consist of long-term and short-term fulfillments. The second section, his passion and resurrection were found in Matthew 16 in the bible. It mentions that Jesus is the suffering Messiah. The third and final section refers to the Christian deliverance from sin. One of the aspects of this work that made it very popular was the fact that it was sung in English, making it easy for people in London to understand it and for it to become a larger appeal to a segment of the English society. Another factor that contributed to Handel’s fame was that it had a variety of exciting textures. As the need for more and more instruments in the Messiah came, his fortune, and reputation grew significantly. To this day, the very spectacular and famous Messiah is performed each year at Christmas celebrations and Easter by amateur and professional groups all over the world. In conclusion, the general oratorios became famous partly because the success of the opera was rising in the catholic church. Oratorios became the main choice of music during the period of opera audiences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usfiAsWR4qU
Credits
Intro paragraph - Ryan Lelli
Bach and the Fugue & Inputting into Blog format - Aidan Hille
Bach in the Church - Hannah McVay
Getting a Handel on the Opera - Jake Kesling
Handel and the Oratorio - Carl Reese
Works Cited
Classicfm.com. “Bach - 48 Preludes and Fugues (Well-Tempered Clavier).” Classic FM, www.classicfm.com/composers/bach/music/well-tempered-clavier/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2021.
CMUSE. “Handel Biography – History of George Frideric Handel - CMUSE.” Www.cmuse.org, 17 Apr. 2018, www.cmuse.org/handel-biography-george-frideric-handel-composer-history/.. Accessed 4 Oct. 2021.
Eno.org. “George Frideric Handel | English National Opera.” Eno.org, www.eno.org/composers/george-frideric-handel/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2021.
Estella, Espie. “The Baroque Fugue: History and Characteristics.” LiveAbout, 11 Mar. 2018, www.liveabout.com/history-of-the-fugue-2456371. Accessed 3 Oct. 2021.
“Johann Sebastian Bach Biography.” Www.notablebiographies.com, www.notablebiographies.com/Ba-Be/Bach-Johann-Sebastian.html#:~:text=Early%20life%20Johann%20Sebastian%20Bach%20was%20born%20on.
Loft, Kurt. “How Has ‘Messiah’ Stayed Popular for Nearly 300 Years? - the Florida Orchestra.” Floridaorchestra.org, 18 Dec. 2019, floridaorchestra.org/messiah-2/.
Lumen Learning. “Oratorio | Music Appreciation.” Courses.lumenlearning.com, courses.lumenlearning.com/musicappreciation_with_theory/chapter/oratorio/.
Stewart, Bryan. “| Today in the Word.” Www.todayintheword.org, 17 Apr. 2014, www.todayintheword.org/issues/2014/4/devotions/17/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2021.
Weeks, Jerome. “Singing Handel’s High Notes.” Art&Seek, 25 May 2011, artandseek.org/2011/05/25/singing-handels-high-notes/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2021.
Wikipedia. “Dual Fulfillment.” Wikipedia, 27 Aug. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_fulfillment#:~:text=From%20Wikipedia%2C%20the%20free%20encyclopedia. Accessed 3 Oct. 2021.
---. “Redemption (Theology).” Wikipedia, 21 Apr. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redemption_(theology)#:~:text=In%20Christian%20theology%2C%20redemption%20(Greek.
Wright, Craig M. The Essential Listening to Music. Australia, Wadsworth, 2016.
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