Discovering Baroque

How did the Baroque era find its sound?

In Part 2 of our journey into the birth of Baroque music, we follow the musical revolution from the experiments of the Florentine Camerata to the extraordinary achievements of Claudio Monteverdi—and discover how instrumental music was developing a dramatic new voice of its own.

We begin in Renaissance Florence, where composers, poets, and wealthy patrons helped bring opera into existence. Then we meet Monteverdi and explore his famous disagreement with music theorist Giovanni Maria Artusi. Could breaking the established rules of harmony actually make music more expressive?

That question leads us to Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607), one of the great landmarks in Western music. We'll explore its remarkable musical storytelling and hear an extended passage from the Prologue into Act I.

But the birth of the Baroque wasn't just about opera.

We'll also visit Venice to hear Giovanni Gabrieli's Sonata pian' e forte, discover the expressive freedom of Girolamo Frescobaldi's keyboard music, and explore the energetic, contrasting instrumental sonatas of Dario Castello.

Along the way, we'll discover how composers began using dissonance, instrumental color, musical dialogue, and dramatic contrast to create a new musical language.

In this episode:

• The Florentine Camerata, Medici patronage, and the origins of opera

• Giulio Caccini, Jacopo Peri, and the development of expressive singing

• Claudio Monteverdi versus Giovanni Maria Artusi: the debate over dissonance and musical rules

• L'Orfeo (1607) and the extraordinary power of musical storytelling

• Giovanni Gabrieli and the instrumental traditions of Venice

• Girolamo Frescobaldi and the improvisational character of early Baroque keyboard music

• Dario Castello and the emerging instrumental sonata

1. Claudio Monteverdi — Cruda Amarilli, from the Fifth Book of Madrigals (1605)

2. Claudio Monteverdi — L'Orfeo (1607), Prologue and opening of Act I

3. Giovanni Gabrieli — Sonata pian' e forte, from Sacrae symphoniae (1597)

4. Girolamo Frescobaldi — Toccata from his First Book of Toccatas (1615)

5. Dario Castello — Sonata from Sonate concertate in stil moderno (1621/1629)

This is Part 2 of our exploration of the birth of Baroque music. If you haven't heard Part 1, start there to discover Renaissance polyphony, the Florentine Camerata, Vincenzo Galilei, and the musical experiments that helped set the stage for opera.

Follow Discovering Baroque for more musical discoveries, fascinating history, and the occasional rabbit hole.

What did Baroque music sound like before Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel? And how did the rich, interwoven melodies of Renaissance music evolve into the expressive musical language of the Baroque era?

In this episode of Discovering Baroque, we travel back to the late Renaissance and the beginning of the 17th century to explore the musical experiments that helped launch a new era.

We'll listen to the intricate polyphony and counterpoint of Renaissance composers like Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and Thomas Tallis, including Tallis's remarkable 40-voice composition Spem in alium.

Then we head to Florence, Italy, where the Florentine Camerata, a circle of musicians and thinkers including Vincenzo Galilei and Giulio Caccini, began questioning how music could better express the meaning and emotion of words.

Along the way, we'll discover monody, basso continuo, and figured bass, hear how Caccini's Amarilli, mia bella represented a new approach to vocal music, and explore the beginnings of opera through Jacopo Peri's Euridice (1600).

How did musicians looking back toward ancient Greece help shape the future of European music? And can we actually hear the Renaissance becoming the Baroque?

This is Part 1 of our exploration of the birth of Baroque music. In Part 2, we'll meet Claudio Monteverdi and follow the musical innovations that helped establish the Baroque sound.

Music featured in this episode:

• Josquin des Prez — Ave Maria… virgo serena

• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina — Sicut cervus

• Thomas Tallis — Spem in alium

• Luca Marenzio — Solo e pensoso

• Giulio Caccini — Amarilli, mia bella

• Jacopo Peri — Euridice (1600)

Continue discovering:

Find the episode listening playlist, additional information, and bonus explorations at patreon.com/DiscoveringBaroque

Follow or subscribe to Discovering Baroque wherever you listen so you don't miss Part 2.

Discovering Baroque — Hear More in the Music.

What if a piece of music credited to Johann Sebastian Bach wasn't actually written by Bach?

In Episode 2 of Discovering Baroque, we investigate the fascinating history of the Trio Sonata in C Major, BWV 1037, a composition long attributed to J.S. Bach but now generally recognized as the work of Johann Gottlieb Goldberg.

Who was Goldberg? What was his connection to Bach and the famous Goldberg Variations? And how did one composer's music end up being credited to another?

We'll explore the history of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV catalogue), eighteenth-century music publishing, the Breitkopf catalogues, and the research of Bach scholar Alfred Dürr that helped uncover the sonata's likely true composer.

We'll also listen for the musical differences between Bach's Baroque counterpoint and the emerging galant style, exploring how musical history, authorship, and attribution can influence what we hear.

Whether you're a Bach enthusiast, a classical music beginner, or someone who loves a good historical mystery, this episode offers a different perspective on one of the Baroque era's intriguing musical stories.

The episode concludes with a complete performance of the Trio Sonata in C Major, BWV 1037 (DürG 13), attributed to Johann Gottlieb Goldberg.

Discovering Baroque — Hear More in the Music.

#Bach #JohannSebastianBach #GoldbergVariations #BaroqueMusic #ClassicalMusic #BWV1037 #MusicHistory #DiscoveringBaroqueCredits:

Discovering Baroque Intro Music:
J.S. Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No.6, III. Allegro - BWV 1051
performed by: The Advent Chamber Orchestra
https://www.classicals.de

Bach/Goldberg Trio Sonata in C major, BWV 1037 DurG13
performed by:
Hartmut Strebel, flute
Rainer Kussmaul, violin
Werner Taube, cello
Lisedore Praetorius, harpsichord

What is chamber music, and what makes it different from other forms of classical music?

In the first episode of Discovering Baroque, we explore the fascinating world of Baroque chamber music, from its intimate performance settings to the intricate musical conversations happening between instruments.

Discover how independent musical lines, counterpoint, and basso continuo create the rich textures of Baroque music. We'll explore the role of instruments like the viola da gamba and harpsichord, the connections between Baroque performance and modern musical improvisation, and how understanding what we're hearing can completely change the listening experience.

Along the way, we'll encounter music by Johann Sebastian Bach, explore the relationship between musicians in a chamber ensemble, and discover why this centuries-old music can feel surprisingly alive and spontaneous.

Whether you're new to classical music, a longtime Bach enthusiast, or simply curious about the Baroque era, this episode offers a fresh way to listen.

Discovering Baroque — Hear More in the Music.

#BaroqueMusic #ChamberMusic #ClassicalMusic #Bach #MusicHistory #DiscoveringBaroque

Show notes:

Bach: Sonata for Violin and Continuo in G major, BWV 1021: II. Vivace
J.S.Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Continuo
Isabelle Faust, Kristin von der Goltz, Kristin Bezuidenhout

Bach — Sonata in G minor, BWV 1029: III. Allegro
Bach, Handel, Scarlatti Gamba Sonatas
Steven Isserlis, Richard Egarr

Vivaldi — La Follia, RV 63
Pur ti miro
Wu Wei, Martin Stegner, Janne Saksala

Episode 1 Playlist:
https://www.patreon.com/DiscoveringBaroque/posts/discovering-ep-1-171996554?collection=2428193