AS Music: Baroque Ensemble Music
AS Music History
Project 4: Baroque ensemble music:
1. What is meant by rondeau form? Discuss its origins and main sections. Why was repetition so important for Baroque composers?
Rondeau form is where the opening passage in the tonic key keeps coming back around, the most common pattern generally being ABACA. The A section is called the refrain or rondeau and the non-A passages are called episodes or couplets. The rondeau form originated in France, and was first the name of a medieval song with a repeating pattern. Later composers in the Classical era preferred to use the Italian spelling of the word, rondo.
Repetition in Baroque music was important for composers and audiences, because composers of the Baroque era often wrote vast amounts of music as part of their employment, so were almost forced to adopt such time saving methods. Audiences of the Baroque era also were not able to fast forward, rewind or replay parts of music like we can today, so repetition allowed the audience to stay on track, and not lose the plot of the piece.
2. The binary form in Baroque music: describe the structure and comment on tonality as would occur in the different sections:
A vast amount of Baroque pieces, especially ones based on dances, are in binary form, which is music where there are two distinctly separate sections, each usually repeated. The letters AB are often used to describe binary form in music. The two sections might be similar in length, or the second might be longer than the first.
In binary form, section A usually begins in the tonic key, and then ends in another key, often the dominant, or if the starting key is minor, for instance, section A might end in its relative major. Section B, however, usually goes through keys not previously heard in the piece, and then ends in the tonic key.
3. Compare and contrast Baroque instrumental music with that of the Renaissance :
Instrumental music was much more important and plentiful in the Baroque period than it
Project 4: Baroque ensemble music:
1. What is meant by rondeau form? Discuss its origins and main sections. Why was repetition so important for Baroque composers?
Rondeau form is where the opening passage in the tonic key keeps coming back around, the most common pattern generally being ABACA. The A section is called the refrain or rondeau and the non-A passages are called episodes or couplets. The rondeau form originated in France, and was first the name of a medieval song with a repeating pattern. Later composers in the Classical era preferred to use the Italian spelling of the word, rondo.
Repetition in Baroque music was important for composers and audiences, because composers of the Baroque era often wrote vast amounts of music as part of their employment, so were almost forced to adopt such time saving methods. Audiences of the Baroque era also were not able to fast forward, rewind or replay parts of music like we can today, so repetition allowed the audience to stay on track, and not lose the plot of the piece.
2. The binary form in Baroque music: describe the structure and comment on tonality as would occur in the different sections:
A vast amount of Baroque pieces, especially ones based on dances, are in binary form, which is music where there are two distinctly separate sections, each usually repeated. The letters AB are often used to describe binary form in music. The two sections might be similar in length, or the second might be longer than the first.
In binary form, section A usually begins in the tonic key, and then ends in another key, often the dominant, or if the starting key is minor, for instance, section A might end in its relative major. Section B, however, usually goes through keys not previously heard in the piece, and then ends in the tonic key.
3. Compare and contrast Baroque instrumental music with that of the Renaissance :
Instrumental music was much more important and plentiful in the Baroque period than it