An Outline of The History of Western Music Grout ... - The Reel Score

) typical texture of the Baroque period was a firm bass & a florid treble - held
together by unobtrusive harmony
(1) new was the emphasis on the bass and the highlighting of the treble
(2) resulted in the seeming indifference to the inner parts as lines
(3) evident in the system of notation call "throughbass" or "basso continuo"
c) the composer wrote out only the melody and the bass - the bass being played on
one or more continuo instruments (harpsicord, organ, or lute) - reinforced by a
sustaining instrument (bass viola da gamba, violoncello, or bassoon)
(1) above the bass notes the continuo filled in the required chords - which were
not otherwise written out
(2) if the chords were other than common triads, the composer added numbers
(figures) or flat or sharp signs above or below the bass notes
d) the realization of such a figured bass varied according to the type of piece and the
skill and taste of the player
(1) this continuo was not always required if the full harmony was provided in the
melodic parts
(2) but for solos & duets the continuo was necessary to complete the harmonies
and provide a fuller sound (called "ripieno")
3. The New Counterpoint
a) counterpoint remained the basis of composition - but a new kind of counterpoint
b) the different melodic lines now had to fit into the pattern of chords set up by the
continuo
c) this harmonically driven counterpoint - individual lines subordinated to a
succession of chords - held sway over the remainder of the Baroque era
4. Dissonance
a) dissonance began to be recognized less as an interval between two individual
voices and more as an individual tone that did not fit into a chord
(1) a greater variety of dissonance was tolerated
(2) though by middle of the century conventions developed about when & how
they were introduced and resolved
b) dissonance helped define the tonal direction of a piece in which chains of
dissonant led inexorably to a cadence establishing a keynote or tonic
5. Chromaticism
a) followed a similar development from experimental forays on the one hand to
freedom within an orderly scheme on the other
b) later composers submitted chromaticism to the control of tonal harmony
6. Major-Minor Tonalities
a) Music of the late Renaissance foreshadowed this kind of tonal organization
(1) tonal harmony operated within the system of major-minor tonalities familiar to
us from music of the 18th & 19th century
(2) Rameau's "Tristise on Harmony" in 1722 completed the theoretical
formulation of the system - then in practice for at least half a century
(3) the figured bass bridged counterpoint from homophony and linear-melodic to
a chordal-harmonic structure
D. Early Opera
1. Forerunners