Page 94 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

Figure 5.7
A portrait of Barbara Strozzi painted in the 1630s by Bernardo Strozzi, perhaps a relative
(1646–1684) became the first woman to receive a university degree, when she earned the title Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Padua in 1678; and Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1656; see Figure 5.3) became a court painter for King Charles I of England. Strozzi’s claim to fame rests on her productivity as
a composer; she published more sets of chamber cantatas than any other figure of the early Baroque period.
A chamber cantata is a “sung thing” (from the Italian cantata) for solo voice and a few accompanying instruments, lasting eight to twelve minutes, and intended to be performed at home or in a private chamber; thus, it is a type of chamber music. While J. S. Bach’s later church cantatas would deal with religious subjects (see Chapter 6), the chamber cantata usually described the deeds of the heroes and heroines of classical mythol- ogy, or told a tale of unrequited love. Strozzi’s cantata L’amante segreto (The Secret Lover), for instance, centers on a hopelessly timid lover. Rather than reveal her passion to the object of her desire, she chooses a painless death. The climax of the cantata comes at “Voglio morire” (“I Want to Die”; see Listening Cue), a monody for soprano supported by a basso continuo. Exam- ple 5.3 shows the despondent woman’s melody and the chords that accompany it (played by the basso continuo). Notice the numbers beneath the bass line. This numerical shorthand is called a figured bass. In the original score, only the mel- ody and bass line were written out. A player familiar with Baroque chord forma- tions would look at the bass and the numbers and improvise the other notes of the chord (supplied here in smaller note heads). Figured bass is similar in intent to the alphanumeric code found in “fake books” used by jazz pianists and guitar-
ist today, which suggest which chords to play beneath a written tune.
Example 5.3 > basso continuo and figured bass
basso ostinato
figured bass
Finally, look again at the bass line and notice how it repeats; in fact, in this song the bass repeats continually from beginning to end. A melody, harmony, or rhythm repeating over and over is called an ostinato, a term derived from an Ital- ian word meaning “obstinate,” “stubborn,” or “pig-headed.” In Baroque operas and cantatas, performers often sang laments accompanied by a basso ostinato that de- scended, as here, in stepwise motion through four neighboring pitches. Such a de- scending bass consequently became a symbol for grief or lamentation, especially when presented in a minor key. At the first sounds of this figure, the listener would know, just as if a banner had been held up: Here comes an aria dealing with de- spair! The twelve-bar blues pattern serves the same purpose in pop songs today.
72 chapter five baroque art and music
Copyright 201 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
56797_ch05_ptg01.indd 72 29/08/14 3:33 PM
Erich Lessing/Art Resource
<