All Questions
Tagged with history baroque-period
30
questions
2
votes
1
answer
108
views
History of "white keys" and "black keys" as idiom
When explaining music theory in layman's terms, it's common to refer to "white keys" and "black keys" and take for granted that everyone knows what a piano looks like.
But ...
- 1,880
2
votes
2
answers
57
views
When to use sixth in continuo according to Bianciardi?
From Bianciardi's Breve Regola (http://www.bassus-generalis.org/bianciardi/bianciardi.html): "But because some notes don’t have a fifth above, a sixth
is used in its place; this happens in those ...
- 21
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How does one resolve the conflict between Renaissance theory of Cadences and the contradictions against it in Bach Chorales?
A level pupil.
Made the mistake of learning Renaissance cadence voicing way before starting A-level harmony course. There's a conflict of interest between the cadential progressions of the renaissance ...
-1
votes
1
answer
449
views
Why was Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor (Bach) composed?
I'm doing an assignment on a baroque period composition, and I chose Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor by J.S. Bach. One of the things I need to do is explain why it was actually composed. I'm having a ...
- 27
19
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Who was listening to Bach's compositions in his lifetime?
Who ever encountered his work? Was his music played somewhere else in Europe, or only where he lived? What strata of society had any chance of coming into contact with his music? What might be the ...
- 191
9
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Why did baroque music use percussion abundantly, but classical stopped?
Classical music evolved from baroque music, which in turn evolved from Renaissance music. Both baroque and even more so Renaissance make extensive use of percussion. It is certainly not new to ...
- 99
2
votes
2
answers
185
views
Why is the numbering scheme of the Telemann-Werke-Verzeichnis (TWV) not adopted more universally?
Telemann's works are numbered first according to genre, then, where applicable, by key (with minor keys in lowercase and major keys in uppercase), and finally (if possible) chronologically or else at ...
- 2,347
4
votes
2
answers
759
views
What is Echo (a type of dance)?
This question is about a type of Baroque dance called Echo. For example, Bach: Overture in the French Style in B Minor, BWV 831 - VIII. Echo.
Why it is called Echo? I searched in wikipdiea, but out ...
- 1,200
3
votes
2
answers
163
views
Where can I read more about Monteverdi's role in the evolution of the orchestra?
I have seen it mentioned here and there that Claudio Monteverdi was the first composer to score for a specific set of instruments, for his opera Orfeo in 1607, and that this had a significant impact ...
- 291
6
votes
1
answer
359
views
In the partimento tradition, what strategies were used to harmonize non-bass melodies?
In my readings on partimento theory (mainly the books by Sanguinetti and IJzerman) I have so far only encountered rules for harmonizing a bass melody. This is to be expected of course, because ...
- 2,347
4
votes
1
answer
461
views
What was the shortest note length commonly used during baroque period?
Eighth and sixteenth notes were obviously common enough. I've also seen some examples of 1/32 and 1/64 (link). Were 1/32 and 1/64 used frequently? And what was the shortest note length commonly used ...
- 641
2
votes
1
answer
466
views
Did Bach use a pendulum clock as a metronome?
The reason I ask is because I have heard say that tempo ordinario is something like 60 bpm. Is it much of a stretch to assume Bach and his contemporaries could have used pendulum clocks as metronomes (...
14
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is this entire movement by Bach really only a single measure with just two chords?
I'm spending a lot more time with early music, and as I was studying the score to J. S. Bach's third Brandenburg Concerto, I encountered something unexpected: an entire Adagio movement that's only one ...
- 84.8k
16
votes
3
answers
420
views
What is the historically informed way of playing the 1/16 notes in Handel's Water Music suite no. 1 overture?
Handel's Water Music suite no. 1 starts with a slow overture with 1/16 notes at the middle and end of each measure:
Some performances play it "as written" [Koopman], but some play the 1/16 notes ...
- 1,743
10
votes
3
answers
293
views
In which music should I add my own embellishments?
I know that music from the baroque era was composed with the assumption that performers would add their own embellishments (when viable, not for canons or fugues). I've also heard that Mozart didn't ...
- 101