BAROQUE COMPOSERS

BAROQUE COMPOSERS

BAROQUE COMPOSER

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

BACKGROUND AND FACTS

BAROQUE COMPOSER

ANTONIO VIVALDI

BACKGROUND AND FACTS

BAROQUE COMPOSER

JOHANN PACHELBEL

BACKGROUND AND FACTS

GEORGE FRIEDRIC HAËNDEL

BAROQUE COMPOSER

BACKGROUND AND FACTS

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

TOCCATA AND FUGE

AIR ON THE G:STRING. SUITE Nº3

BRANDEMBURG CONCERT Nº3. 1ST MOVEMENT, ALLEGRO

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Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany, where his father was a town musician. By the time Johann was 10, both his parents had died, so his older brother, who was a church organist, brought him up. Johann became a very good organist, too. Johann Sebastian Bach held three major jobs in his life: first he worked for a duke, then for a prince, and finally, he became director of music at the St. Thomas Church and School in Leipzig, Germany. During his lifetime, people thought of Bach as just an ordinary working musician. No one really knew much about his music until 100 years after his death, when another composer, Felix Mendelssohn, conducted a performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion. Bach is now seen as one of the greatest geniuses in music history. He wrote all kinds of music -- for organ and other keyboard instruments, orchestras, choirs, and concertos for many different instrumental combinations. Bach was devoted to his family. In 1706, he married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach. The couple had seven children together, some of whom died as infants. Maria died in 1720 while Bach was traveling with Prince Leopold. The following year, Bach married a singer named Anna Magdalena Wülcken. They had thirteen children, more than half of them died as children. Bach clearly shared his love of music with his children. From his first marriage, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach became composers and musicians. Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and Johann Christian Bach, sons from his second marriage, also enjoyed musical success

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 Was crafted by Johann Sebastian Bach as a two-part composition for organ. The first section of the composition is a “toccata,” derived from the Italian word “tocacare,” which reads - “to touch.” In the second section, “the fugue” is characterized by overlapping repetition of the primary theme. This second section reflects the popularity of this piece in the late 17th century and early 18th century. The Toccata and Fuge has been used in a variety of popular media ranging from film, video games, to rock music, and ringtones. For example, it was used for the opening credits of the 1931 film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This fact made the piece very spooky for the audience.

Brandemburg Concerto No. 3 It was composed by Bach for three violins, three violas, three cellos, bass, and harpsichord. It is a Concerto Grosso. The movement is in ritornello form, a common baroque structure in which a recurring musical passage (generally played by the entire ensemble) alternates with more soloistic episodes in which the musical material is developed and tossed back and forth between the performers. Bach wrote these concertos when he was hired as the Kapellmeister (music director) for the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen. Since the prince was a Calvinist who didn’t use much music in his church services, most of Bach’s works from this period were secular. In fact, nearly all of the composer’s great instrumental works—the cello suites, the violin sonatas and partitas, and the orchestral suites—date from his stay in Leopold’s employ.

Suite nº3 Air the G String Bach originally wrote the suite for his patron Prince Leopold of Anhalt sometime between the years 1717 and 1723. It receives this nickname because in 1871, the German violinist August Wilhelmj made a violin and piano arrangement of the second movement of this orchestral suite. By changing the key into C major and transposing the melody down an octave, Wilhelmj was able to play the piece on only one string of his violin, the G-string.

GEORGE FREDRIC HAËNDEL

Water music: Alla hornpipe.

The Messiah:Hallelujah

Music for The royal fireworks. IV. Allegro “La Réjouissance”

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George Frideric Haëndel was born in Halle, Germany, in 1685. There are 3 periods in his professional life:

• German period (Early years)
• Italian period
• English period, were he produced several operas with the Royal Academy of Music in England before forming the New Royal Academy of Music in 1727.

When Italian operas fell out of fashion, he started composing oratorios, including his most famous, Messiah. Haëndel died in London, England, in 1759.

Music for The royal fireworks. IV. Allegro “La Réjouissance” It is a suite for wind instruments composed by George Frideric Haëndel in 1749 under contract of George II of Great Britain for the fireworks in London's Green Park on 27 April 1749. It was to celebrate the end of the War of the Austrian Succession.

Water music: Alla hornpipe. Haëndel's Water Music is made up of three orchestral suites, written for an outdoor performance for King George I on the Thames. He wrote this piece for the Baroque orchestra.

The Messiah It is an English-languageoratoriocomposed in 1741 by George Frideric Haëndel in just 24 days. Haëndel composed Messiah without getting much sleep or even eating much food. When his assistants brought him his meals, they were often left uneaten. His servants would often find him in tears as he composed. When he completed “Hallelujah,” he reportedly told his servant, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself seated on His throne, with His Company of Angels.”

ANTONIO VIVALDI

SPRING, 1ST MOVEMENT

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Vivaldi wrote this masterpiece. He was a Baroque Era composer, born in 1678. He lived in Italy, and was known as The Red Priest (because of his red hair). Vivaldi was born in Venice, Italy. He was ordained as a priest though he instead chose to follow his passion for music. A prolific composer who created hundreds of works, he became renowned for his concertos in Baroque style, becoming a highly influential innovator in form and pattern. He died on July 28, 1741

The tempo is Allegro, which means fast. The dynamic or volume in this piece is mostly loud, but there are some places where it drops suddenly and becomes quiet, then growing louder again. This fact is called Dynamic terraced. Vivaldi originally wrote the piece for the Baroque String Orchestra, it means that the only instrument family that will be heard is the String Family.

JOHANN PACHELBEL

Canon in D

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He was a German composer well known for his works for organ. Although he produced a lot of other amazing works, Pachelbel is most recognized now for his Canon in D major.

Canon in D-major. It is a baroque piece of music, which has been interpreted by many people and has become the basis of many modern songs. Quite often, it is found in movie themes, songs and commercials. What prompted the melody’s meteoric rise was a 1960s recording by the French conductor Jean-François Paillard.