MUS 361 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Francesca Caccini, Vincenzo Galilei, Lute
Document Summary
Doctrine of affections (association of instruments with affects) Music is a form of communication - a language that resonated with people in an emotional and spiritual way, touching people in a way that words cannot. The treatises from the 17th and 18th centuries all talk about. Affekt - the emotional character of the music. The composer"s and performer"s role was to evoke a particular affekt or emotional state in the listeners - whether that be joy or contemplation or rage or despair or triumph. The baroque performer used every possible means to cast his emotional spell on the audience - rhetoric, gesture, harmony. In vocal music the intended affect is clear. Improvisation of chords over bass notes with numbered figures . There was no designation as to what instrument you should use. Whatever instrument was fine, as long as it fell into the register. In the baroque period, composers began thinking about specificity of instruments.
