Basso Continuo During The Baroque Period
Basso Continuo
A small accompanying ensemble of usually only two instruments that provides bass-driven chordal support is the basso continuo (continuous bass). During the baroque period, the harpsichord and a low string instrument formed the most common basso continuo. To prevent the high-flying melodies of the Baroque from spinning out of control, a strong harmonic support was needed. The double bass would play the bass line and the harpsichord would fill in the chords above the bass note, which is the figured bass.
A piece mentioned in the textbook that uses a basso continuo is Johann Pachelbel’s “Pachelbel Canon” in D major. The instruments that form the basso continuo are the low strings (cello and double bass) and the harpsichord. Since …show more content…
In madrigals, the melodies would reflect the text in a process called word painting. For example, a falling melody indicates “fainting” and a dissonance indicates “pain”. In the Baroque era, melodies were highly ornamental, expressive, and elaborate, so much so that sometimes the decoration almost seemed to overrun the fundamental harmonic structure of the piece. Melodic sequences were also used, which are the repetition of a musical motive at successively higher or lower degrees of the scale. However, since hearing the same melodic phrase multiple times can become tedious, Baroque composers follow the rule that the melodic unit can appear three times, but no …show more content…
Imitation, a polyphonic procedure whereby one or more voices duplicate in turn the notes of a melody, was also used frequently. During the Baroque periods, homophony, a musical texture in which the voices, or lines, all move together to new pitches at roughly the same time, was commonly used. This texture was created by a soprano voice or instruments producing the melody and the other instruments providing the chords of the bass. Polyphonic texture returned during the later part of the Baroque era in the compositions of Bach and
A small accompanying ensemble of usually only two instruments that provides bass-driven chordal support is the basso continuo (continuous bass). During the baroque period, the harpsichord and a low string instrument formed the most common basso continuo. To prevent the high-flying melodies of the Baroque from spinning out of control, a strong harmonic support was needed. The double bass would play the bass line and the harpsichord would fill in the chords above the bass note, which is the figured bass.
A piece mentioned in the textbook that uses a basso continuo is Johann Pachelbel’s “Pachelbel Canon” in D major. The instruments that form the basso continuo are the low strings (cello and double bass) and the harpsichord. Since …show more content…
In madrigals, the melodies would reflect the text in a process called word painting. For example, a falling melody indicates “fainting” and a dissonance indicates “pain”. In the Baroque era, melodies were highly ornamental, expressive, and elaborate, so much so that sometimes the decoration almost seemed to overrun the fundamental harmonic structure of the piece. Melodic sequences were also used, which are the repetition of a musical motive at successively higher or lower degrees of the scale. However, since hearing the same melodic phrase multiple times can become tedious, Baroque composers follow the rule that the melodic unit can appear three times, but no …show more content…
Imitation, a polyphonic procedure whereby one or more voices duplicate in turn the notes of a melody, was also used frequently. During the Baroque periods, homophony, a musical texture in which the voices, or lines, all move together to new pitches at roughly the same time, was commonly used. This texture was created by a soprano voice or instruments producing the melody and the other instruments providing the chords of the bass. Polyphonic texture returned during the later part of the Baroque era in the compositions of Bach and