MUSIC 101 Chapter 11: Baroque Vocal Music
26 Dec 2015
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Document Summary
Introduced around 1600, it ultimately became the most glamorous and most adventurous and influential artistic genre of the baroque era. Coloratura- fast brilliant runs, scales, high notes, vocal cadenzas, stressing technique. Opera seria- the principal type of italian baroque opera: plots were derived from ancient history, designed to stir up powerful emotions, consisted mainly of solo singing. The words in an opera are called the libretto; their author is the librettist. Recitative- a technique of declaiming words musically in a heightened, theatrical manner. Singing voice closely follows the free rhythm of emotional speech. Most of the time these accompaniments were kept at a minimum basso continuo alone: secco recitative- dry recitative ; accompanied by only a continuo, accompanied recitative- an emotional filled recitative with orchestral accompaniment. Castrato- a man who had submitted to castration at puberty in order to preserve their voices in the soprano or alto range: more powerful and brilliant than a woman soprano.
