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Period: 1567 to
Claudio Monteverdi
Trained in the Renaissance style, also adept at composing "modern music". Used dissonances in his music (madrigals) for text expression. -
Period: to
Francesca Caccini
Soprano and the daughter of Giulio Caccini, and the first woman to compose operas. Sang lead roles in several early operas: Sung in Peri's opera Euridice at age 13. Both her parents worked for the Medici Family, she and her sister Settima also. -
Dafne
First opera; composed by Giulio Caccini and Jacopo Peri. -
Opera is invented.
Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini invented opera in Florence, Italy. -
Euridice
First extant opera, by Caccini and Peri -
Period: to
Early Baroque
In which some of the most significant changes in musical style occurred, including the development of functional tonality as reflected in our modern major/minor key system. This tonal development took about 100 years, but its formal beginnings were in the early Baroque. -
Period: to
Barbara Strozzi
Her mother was a servant to Giulio Strozzi who adopted Barbara. She studied under Francesco Cavalli at the Academia degli Unisoni, which was founded by Guilio for Barbara. -
Venice opened the first public opera house in the world.
This new establishment created a business-like atmosphere for operas and stage productions, and it created a new venue for public entertainment. -
Period: to
Louis the 14th of France
Loved dancing; was an excellent dancer from age 13. Believed that ballet demonstrated important qualities of a society: discipline, order, refinement, and restraint. -
The Coronation of Poppea
Composed when Monteverdi was 75. Premiered in Venice. -
Period: to
Middle Baroque
Counterpoint was cultivated in instrumental genres resulting in fuges, chaconnes, and passacaglias. Instrumental music took a new lead creating new genres such as the concerto, sonata, and trio. -
Period: to
Arcangelo Corelli
Italian suite composer. -
Period: to
Henry Purcell
Singer, organist, composer of instrumental and vocal music. Worked in the court of Charles II when stage plays were again allowed. -
Period: to
Alessandro Scarletti
The father of composer Domenico Scarlatti. A teacher in Naples; many of his students helped create the ew classical style. His death marks a bettter indicator of the end of the Baroque than does Bach's in 1750. -
Period: to
Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre
She was called "the wonder of our century". The 17th century; French. -
Period: to
Francios Couperin
French suite composer. -
Period: to
Georg Philip Telemann
German suite composer. -
Period: to
Jean-Joseph Mouret
One representative composer from this French court: served the son of King Louis XIV. Composed operas, suites, and "grand divertissements (entertainments)". Some of his works have been used for TV commercials and in other media. -
Period: to
Domenico Scarlatti
Keyboard virtuoso. Served Portuguese and Spanish royal families. had a progressive style; aware of his modern flare. Wrote over 500 sonatas for harpsichord, operas, cantatas, and keyboard exercises. -
Period: to
G. F. Handel and the Orchestral Suite
Two very popular orchestral suites: "Music for the Royal Fireworks" and "Water Music". A German composer living in England writing Italian music. -
Period: to
J.S. Bach
Is the undisputed greatest master of the fugue. Contrapunctus 1 from "The Art of Fugue" (1749). He wrote this collection at the end of his life, and it was not published until after his death. -
Period: to
Handel
Born in Halle, Germany. Extraordinarily talented and intelligent. Worked in Italy early in his career, and absorbed the Italian style writing over 40 operas and many Italian cantasas. -
Period: to
Antonio Vivaldi
He was called the red priest because of his red hair. He wrote nearly 800 concertos of various types. Considered the greatest master of the Baroque concerto. -
Period: to
Late Baroque
By the late Baroque, instrumental music rose further in significance and importance. Serious opera, heroic opera that was called opera seria, was the first primary form of public musical entertainment. -
Handel Appointed as a music director at the Royal Academy of Music (London)
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Le Quattro Stagioni
"The Four Seasons". Cycle of four violin concertos; word painting in instrumental music. Each concerto is accompanied by a poem that we believe Vivaldi wrote. -
Handel became a naturalized British subjec.
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Messiah
Genre: English Oratorio. Has 52 separate numbers. Handel composed the work in 3 weeks, but "self-borrowed" old arias and cantata numbers to create new choruses and pieces.