...Anthony Perraglia Professor Mattern Eng 10 10 December 2013 Orfeo ed Euridice During the transition from the Baroque to Classical period, opera slowly became entertainment focused on the middle class. There were less operas written about kings and queens, and more about mythical figures. The reform of opera might not have been started by him, but Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) is said to be one of the first operatic composers to adapt his newer works to the reformation styles. ( Hanning, 324) Some examples of the style included new stories appealing to the middle class, less attention directed at the singer, and more attention to the music. One of his first operas, Orfeo ed Euridice, is a prime example. Although Gluck’s 1762 production of Orfeo ed Euridice in Vienna is his greatest success, it was an opera previously used by Monteverdi, titled L’Orfeo. (Boyden, 79) Orfeo ed Euridice is somewhat similar to L’Orfeo, seeing as the two follow the Greek myth of Orpheus. Though there were similarities between the two, no evidence was found stating that Gluck was influenced by the previous production, or if he was even familiar with Monteverdi’s work. The myth describes a young shepherd, Orpheus, whose music had the power to tame the animals and win the affection of others. (Boyden, 79) On his wedding day, while walking through the fields of Thrace, he receives word that his wife, Eurydice, has died. (Boyden, 79)...
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...Vocal Music in the Medieval and Early Baroque Periods The word medieval can be translated to ‘the time in between’, referring to the time between the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance in 1450. Religion and church music was very important in this time period because it was the only music that was important enough to be documented. The idea of combining two or more lines together began to be used in large churches as a way to emphasize certain words. Plainchant, a piece of music made up of only one line, was the basis of the early medieval period, where the other vocals were used for lines above the plainchant and below it, making much shorter notes. Soon, a motet was introduced. A motet is when each vocal line has it’s own words, creating up to three texts at once, making the texture more dense. The Church was extremely powerful during the Medieval period. The elaboration in music during this period is related to the liturgy and how it was spoken. In Chants such as the psalms, lessons or prayers, the music is a direct translation of the text to be used within the Church. Also important to the Church, the hymns and sequences were organized into pattern and rhymes. Gregorian Chants not only were for the liturgy, but also for the polyphonic music of the Medieval Period. From the 12th century, secular music...
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...The Baroque Era: Baroque was a popular style of architecture, sculpture, music, and painting in Europe from the mid-17th to the mid-18th century, particularly in the countries of the Catholic Reformation, including Flanders, Bohemia, and the Catholic states of Germany. Characterized by elaborate detail and dynamic movement, the baroque is often associated with excess, exaggeration, naturalism, and sensuality. The style was also encouraged by the Catholic Church because it emphasized religious themes in an emotionally charged and easily accessible fashion. The painter Peter Paul Rubens in Flanders and the sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini in Rome were among the many baroque masters. Painting: A defining statement of what Baroque signifies in painting is provided by the series of paintings executed by Peter Paul Rubens for Marie de Medici at the Luxembourg Palace in Paris (now at the Louvre), in which a Catholic painter satisfied a Catholic patron: Baroque-era conceptions of monarchy, iconography, handling of paint, and compositions as well as the depiction of space and movement. Baroque style featured "exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism". Baroque art did not really depict the life style of the people at that time; however, "closely tied to the Counter-Reformation, this style melodramatically reaffirmed the emotional depths of the Catholic faith and glorified both church and monarchy" of their power and...
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...Moldenhauer Archives at the Library of Congress | Table of Contents Music History from Primary Sources An Introductory Essay Alfred Mann A vellum leaf, 22 by 17 cm., from a prayer book. The letter forms of early Gothic script suggest the twelfth century, or a period even earlier. Neumes (marked in red) are placed above the first four lines of the Latin text. The entire page is richly illuminated in black, red, and blue, with a heavy gold layer decorating the initial A for the phrase beginning "Adoro te." The leaf was obtained for the Moldenhauer Archives from the music dealer and publishing firm Schneider, Tutzing. The Art of Musical Notation In its primary sources, music merges with the representational arts. Oral tradition has played a fundamental role in all ages, but in its formal sense, history--and the history of music--begins with the visual record. Musical notation, having emerged on a wide scale in all civilizations, produced in itself a highly individual record of artistic endeavor. The medieval monks who compiled the missals and other liturgical books for the service of worship rose from their function as scribes to artists in their own right; among the greatest documents of Baroque art are the holographs by Bach; and an entirely novel phase in artistic musical score design was initiated in the twentieth century. The primary sources of music reproduced in this volume rely on various aspects of the graphic arts, but foremost among them stands the representation...
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