Post by Rabbit on Feb 8, 2016 8:37:20 GMT
I often see people describing anything 'orchestral' as 'classical', which is quite incorrect. Classical music is divided into periods of history and the joins between each period can be a little bit indistinct since things happened gradually and new ideas and styles emerged from many experiments.
Before the Baroque period was the Renaissance, which some find a little difficult to listen to since it focuses mainly around vocal music with some 'wheezing' instruments that sound to our ears, out of tune quite often. There is of course, a reason for this. Instruments at this time were in a stage of development and hadn't emerged as the devices that we know today. We had 'home' music in the form of madrigals, which was often written so that the music could be put in the middle of a table with the family around it, all reading it and singing because it was printed at four angles!!
By the Baroque period, we had viols, which were the predecessors of the violin family as well as violins which took over the job of the viols because they were more powerful sounding. No pianos, no clarinets. Wooden flutes which sounded softer and in fact, all woodwind instruments did sound quite a bit less sharp than our modern equivalents. This is to do with the bore of the inside of the instruments and also, they had way less keys. More like a recorder. Also recorders were regarded as serious instruments.
So when we listen to Baroque music, we have a choice to make. Do we listen on the old, relatively wheezy Baroque instruments or stick with the much more brash modern equivalents? There are merits on both sides. For one thing, modern instruments are louder and you get a bigger dynamic range, but the composers of the Baroque period might not have envisaged this in their compositions and certainly didn't write any form of dynamics in their music.
The harpsichord became central to the orchestra. This was the 'backbone' of the sound and the player would have a set of mumbers written above the bass line. The same line would be played by other bass instruments. It was called 'figured bass' because the player 'figured' it out. They improvised from those numbers. Now, the harpsichord isn't very loud, so to listen to this kind of music, you do need a headphone with a clean top end. It's a jangly sound that was used again in the 60s and 70s for Hammer horror films quite often!! It only played two volumes. Loud when they joined two manuals together or soft. Loud though, wasn't actually that loud. No crescendos or decrescendos. That idea hadn't been invented yet. It was a time of contrasts between two volumes;loud and soft, with little thought of what was in between. The harpsichord player was also the conductor, with his head while playing and he would be in most ensembles.
The rest of the orchestra would be different according to what was available. Woodwind were softer, violins were now becoming more common with their more dynamic sound and brass had no valves. That limited (kind of) what notes they could play. There were some freaky players who could do amazing things on brass and we're not exactly sure how they did this. No percussion. (Drums)
So the orchestra at this time was a collection of instruments with a harpsichord. No set format.
This is the kind of music that needs a headphone with clarity and not really, too much bass. I think that this might be where the idea that you don't need bassy headphones for classical music comes from. It's not true at all. I need bass with full blown orchestral listening, but not so much for this music. For Baroque, an AKG, Grado, DT880, Audio Technica, Sony type of sound works extremely well. (Not tampered with, that is!!) With these kinds of headphone, you'll get the 'jangle' from the harpsichord, tinkling away above the others, whereas with some headphones, it can get masked.
The music itself, is episodic. That is it goes from one idea to the next which acts as a contrast to what went on before. Volumes tended to be loud or soft, with not much in between unless the composer scored it in such a way that numbers of instruments were build up, but that was rare.
Most common 'forms' of music were things like the Fugue. Basically a piece that 'imitates' a main theme or idea. Without getting into too much detail, the composer exposed an idea which would be repeated higher or low and again, higher or lower followed by an 'episode' where the music would almost sound improvised and then keep returning to the theme. The interest lies in the fact that you try to spot the imitations within the fugue. Sometimes the composer brought it back in the bass or anywhere else, even slowed down or sped up. So the interest is kept by trying to spot the tune. That idea in itself could get you listening to a fugue in a different way.
Fugues were often played on church organs. More than one manual and an amazing set of bass pedals. The church organ was known as the 'king of instruments' since its sound could be altered. Often manually pumped by a little boy too!! (Nice job) We often listen to fugues on large church organs nowadays which gives them massive power, but unfortunately, Bach would never have heard that power.
Fugues were retained as a special effect later in the history of music and they appeared in all kinds of things.
The concerto was another oddity. We think of a concerto as a piece for solo instrument and orchestra. Not so in the Baroque times. It was a GROUP of soloists and an orchestra. The main idea was to contrast the smaller sound of the group with the bigger sound of the orchestra. There's that loud/soft idea again with no in between. The music was again, episodic. It went from one episode to another. Three movements which were fast/slow/fast. One mood would be chosen for each movement and the mood would not change. That hadn't been invented either.
From Baroque opera, which was hilarious in that they told these grand stories with devices on stage to have people flying, etc, composers developed the Overture. This was the orchestral piece played before the opera started. Sometimes, overtures would be played without the opera, so being concert pieces.
Something else often not considered by modern people is that music was designed for smaller rooms. No big concert halls and no general public. That was probably where the idea that classical music is for snobs comes from. It was paid for either by the church or by rich people and played in large rooms rather than concert halls. No need for massive volume.
Baroque music should not really be played 'romantically'. It shouldn't be made expressive by the player. The expression should come from the combination of notes and textures in the piece. Rather than an art, it was seen more as a craft. The emotion sprung out of the combinations and wasn't superficially 'planted' on top of the music.
So perhaps if you fancy listening to Baroque music with a different perspective, then think more as a passive listener, spotting fugues and imitation, while listening to the harpsichord player improvising like a jazz musician. Staying in the same mood throughout the movement and try to follow individual lines inside the music rather than just listen for a tune. It's more complex than many imagine, since we are so heavily geared into tunes on the top nowadays.
I'd suggest Vivaldi concertos, Handel overtures and the great Bach organ fugues, Brandenburg Concertos or even if you can take it, the Passions. Use a headphone with a clear top end. I'm afraid Senns can be a little indistinct up there as they are. (Except hd800 and hd5** series I guess) Other than that, a truly neutral headphone.
Great music and a great era in the history of music.
The Brandenburg Concertos were written for a patron, and the idea of them all is to contrast a small group with a large group. So the idea is that you are listening to how they 'argue' or 'agree' with each other.
This is how we know the piece today. It would have sounded different in the Baroque period. It is dramatic and pretty moody. Since it is a fugue (after the prelude) you have to try to spot the repeated entries of the main theme, played in many different places. (The theme is the fast tune that some kids like to copy on the piano, not the opening)
Vivaldi was a school teacher. Some orchestra he must have had in the school!! The Seasons represents of all things, the weather. He has bird song and all kinds of 'sound effects' going on within the seasons. This is a concerto, so again, the idea is contrast between the solo group and the orchestra. Think black and white with no greys........
Here, you'll see the harpsichord the wrong way round, in the centre of the orchestra. That's because there is a conductor. Normally, the harpsichord player would have been facing the other way, conducting with their head!!
Baroque musicians loved transcriptions, and so do I. Street musicians would take pieces and perform to the general public. (The beginnings of pop music) This is lovely .....
Perhaps you have some favourite Baroque music of your own?
Before the Baroque period was the Renaissance, which some find a little difficult to listen to since it focuses mainly around vocal music with some 'wheezing' instruments that sound to our ears, out of tune quite often. There is of course, a reason for this. Instruments at this time were in a stage of development and hadn't emerged as the devices that we know today. We had 'home' music in the form of madrigals, which was often written so that the music could be put in the middle of a table with the family around it, all reading it and singing because it was printed at four angles!!
By the Baroque period, we had viols, which were the predecessors of the violin family as well as violins which took over the job of the viols because they were more powerful sounding. No pianos, no clarinets. Wooden flutes which sounded softer and in fact, all woodwind instruments did sound quite a bit less sharp than our modern equivalents. This is to do with the bore of the inside of the instruments and also, they had way less keys. More like a recorder. Also recorders were regarded as serious instruments.
So when we listen to Baroque music, we have a choice to make. Do we listen on the old, relatively wheezy Baroque instruments or stick with the much more brash modern equivalents? There are merits on both sides. For one thing, modern instruments are louder and you get a bigger dynamic range, but the composers of the Baroque period might not have envisaged this in their compositions and certainly didn't write any form of dynamics in their music.
The harpsichord became central to the orchestra. This was the 'backbone' of the sound and the player would have a set of mumbers written above the bass line. The same line would be played by other bass instruments. It was called 'figured bass' because the player 'figured' it out. They improvised from those numbers. Now, the harpsichord isn't very loud, so to listen to this kind of music, you do need a headphone with a clean top end. It's a jangly sound that was used again in the 60s and 70s for Hammer horror films quite often!! It only played two volumes. Loud when they joined two manuals together or soft. Loud though, wasn't actually that loud. No crescendos or decrescendos. That idea hadn't been invented yet. It was a time of contrasts between two volumes;loud and soft, with little thought of what was in between. The harpsichord player was also the conductor, with his head while playing and he would be in most ensembles.
The rest of the orchestra would be different according to what was available. Woodwind were softer, violins were now becoming more common with their more dynamic sound and brass had no valves. That limited (kind of) what notes they could play. There were some freaky players who could do amazing things on brass and we're not exactly sure how they did this. No percussion. (Drums)
So the orchestra at this time was a collection of instruments with a harpsichord. No set format.
This is the kind of music that needs a headphone with clarity and not really, too much bass. I think that this might be where the idea that you don't need bassy headphones for classical music comes from. It's not true at all. I need bass with full blown orchestral listening, but not so much for this music. For Baroque, an AKG, Grado, DT880, Audio Technica, Sony type of sound works extremely well. (Not tampered with, that is!!) With these kinds of headphone, you'll get the 'jangle' from the harpsichord, tinkling away above the others, whereas with some headphones, it can get masked.
The music itself, is episodic. That is it goes from one idea to the next which acts as a contrast to what went on before. Volumes tended to be loud or soft, with not much in between unless the composer scored it in such a way that numbers of instruments were build up, but that was rare.
Most common 'forms' of music were things like the Fugue. Basically a piece that 'imitates' a main theme or idea. Without getting into too much detail, the composer exposed an idea which would be repeated higher or low and again, higher or lower followed by an 'episode' where the music would almost sound improvised and then keep returning to the theme. The interest lies in the fact that you try to spot the imitations within the fugue. Sometimes the composer brought it back in the bass or anywhere else, even slowed down or sped up. So the interest is kept by trying to spot the tune. That idea in itself could get you listening to a fugue in a different way.
Fugues were often played on church organs. More than one manual and an amazing set of bass pedals. The church organ was known as the 'king of instruments' since its sound could be altered. Often manually pumped by a little boy too!! (Nice job) We often listen to fugues on large church organs nowadays which gives them massive power, but unfortunately, Bach would never have heard that power.
Fugues were retained as a special effect later in the history of music and they appeared in all kinds of things.
The concerto was another oddity. We think of a concerto as a piece for solo instrument and orchestra. Not so in the Baroque times. It was a GROUP of soloists and an orchestra. The main idea was to contrast the smaller sound of the group with the bigger sound of the orchestra. There's that loud/soft idea again with no in between. The music was again, episodic. It went from one episode to another. Three movements which were fast/slow/fast. One mood would be chosen for each movement and the mood would not change. That hadn't been invented either.
From Baroque opera, which was hilarious in that they told these grand stories with devices on stage to have people flying, etc, composers developed the Overture. This was the orchestral piece played before the opera started. Sometimes, overtures would be played without the opera, so being concert pieces.
Something else often not considered by modern people is that music was designed for smaller rooms. No big concert halls and no general public. That was probably where the idea that classical music is for snobs comes from. It was paid for either by the church or by rich people and played in large rooms rather than concert halls. No need for massive volume.
Baroque music should not really be played 'romantically'. It shouldn't be made expressive by the player. The expression should come from the combination of notes and textures in the piece. Rather than an art, it was seen more as a craft. The emotion sprung out of the combinations and wasn't superficially 'planted' on top of the music.
So perhaps if you fancy listening to Baroque music with a different perspective, then think more as a passive listener, spotting fugues and imitation, while listening to the harpsichord player improvising like a jazz musician. Staying in the same mood throughout the movement and try to follow individual lines inside the music rather than just listen for a tune. It's more complex than many imagine, since we are so heavily geared into tunes on the top nowadays.
I'd suggest Vivaldi concertos, Handel overtures and the great Bach organ fugues, Brandenburg Concertos or even if you can take it, the Passions. Use a headphone with a clear top end. I'm afraid Senns can be a little indistinct up there as they are. (Except hd800 and hd5** series I guess) Other than that, a truly neutral headphone.
Great music and a great era in the history of music.
The Brandenburg Concertos were written for a patron, and the idea of them all is to contrast a small group with a large group. So the idea is that you are listening to how they 'argue' or 'agree' with each other.
This is how we know the piece today. It would have sounded different in the Baroque period. It is dramatic and pretty moody. Since it is a fugue (after the prelude) you have to try to spot the repeated entries of the main theme, played in many different places. (The theme is the fast tune that some kids like to copy on the piano, not the opening)
Vivaldi was a school teacher. Some orchestra he must have had in the school!! The Seasons represents of all things, the weather. He has bird song and all kinds of 'sound effects' going on within the seasons. This is a concerto, so again, the idea is contrast between the solo group and the orchestra. Think black and white with no greys........
Here, you'll see the harpsichord the wrong way round, in the centre of the orchestra. That's because there is a conductor. Normally, the harpsichord player would have been facing the other way, conducting with their head!!
Baroque musicians loved transcriptions, and so do I. Street musicians would take pieces and perform to the general public. (The beginnings of pop music) This is lovely .....
Perhaps you have some favourite Baroque music of your own?