Webquest - Be a Baroque tourist - Do this! If you have never been to Europe, or are planning on going, its vital to understand their Architecture.
It is impossible to explore music without examining all other art forms....often, music lead to new developments in design (Modern period), and visual art let to new adventures in music (Impressionist period)
Examples of Baroque Art :
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| Rembrandt's Storm on the Sea of Galilee |
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| Caravagio - "Bacchus" |
The art of the Baroque was real and bold. It was lush and ornate. It was full of dynamic movment and overt emotions.
The Baroque was the true birth of opera - while Shakespeare's tragedies had ruled supreme during the Mannerist period, Baroque opera took over the great stages of Europe. Theatre became the experience we now know - the staging, lighting concepts, beautiful spaces as theatres, and famously "the fly" was first used.
Now, if a god had to come to earth....he actually could. It was a massive change in experience that the audiences of the day were used to. It was lush and over the top - and they ate it up.
Music, was a few years behind - the Baroque period is music takes place later than the movement in art. Partly due to the fact that the world was in a constant state of creation - new instruements, new tonalities, new forms, new venues. The church was still the largest patron of the arts, including music - as reflected in the Baroque period. Most of the composers of the Baroque were closely linked to a church, many of them employed by churches.
In your text, we explore the concepts of Baroque music. Know these.
Vivaldi
Biographical info
Did you know that most of Vivaldi's music was lost until the 1920s, and even then a great deal of his massive output is still unknown. His concertos recieved a renaissance in the late half of the last century. In the last ten years, his operas have been rejuvinated and are being staged again.
He died poor, and was buried in an unmarked grave.
Four Seasons Info - texts of the Sonnets
Bach
Biographical Info
Musical Style
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| Most famous painting of JS Bach |
Handel
Biographical Info
A German, who lived in England, and wrote Italian opera....this may be where the world started to get smaller.
Messiah according to Handel
Messiah has over 50 movements, split into three parts - "Birthday of Christ", "Death of Christ", "Promise of Eternal Life for Believers".
We stand during the performance of the Hallelujah Chorus - King George II spontaneously stood during the chorus, and when a King stands, so does everyone else. Some say he stood because he was so overwelhmed with emotion. Other reports say that it was George III who stood for the first time in 1791....we know it was George.
Handel wrote Messiah in less than a month, and it premiered in Dublin in 1742.
