Baroque

[Matthew_84]

Figured Bass...
The numbers indicate the inversion of the chord by relating to intervals above the given bass note. If no figures are given, 5/3 is assumed, which means the given bass note is Root. 6/4 means a 4th and 6th above the bass, or 2nd inversion. So if the bass note is G, the chord for the continuo will be C. 6/3 is 1st inversion - 3rd and 6th above the bass. If E is bass, chord is again C.

Aah, I see. Thanks!

 

[jnewmark]

Bach, Bach, and more Bach.

 

[Matthew_84]

 

[Pug the Pig]

Though you could almost see Bach as moving away from the Baroque and into the next period if you like.( His sons definately) He's a proponent of equal temperament as mentioned above. Prior to that there were a number of temperaments or tunings with different intervals which only allowed certain keys to work, others would be painful!
I remember tuning a harpsichord a few times to a temperament called werkmeister ( as I recall ) It was a system of listening , with a chart, to oscillating Beats to tune the strings, I wouldn't like to try that nowadays ( tho I guess you'd use a digital chromatic tuner and be done in 10 minutes!)

 

[Matthew_84]

I’m real glad I started this thread, as I’ve already learned a lot more than I knew this morning. Thanks everyone for your input so far!

 

[mellowinman]

There are Baroque composers besides Bach and Vivaldi?

• Handel
• Corelli
• Scarlatti
• Rameau
• Pachelbel

come to mind.

 

[mellowinman]

 

[bholder]

Bach, Bach, and more Bach.

 

[Jborg]

Not baroque, but.. a favorite.

 

[skwee]

Handel, Monteverdi, Bach, Gabrieli, Biber, Pasquini, Carissimi, Anerio, Vivaldi, Schütz, Lully, Rameau. All wonderful.

(I specialize in baroque performance practice for singers--happy to see this thread). Here's a great series:

Voices of Music

 

[Matthew_84]

 

[bassliner50]

Another exquisite piece on the gorgeous viola da gamba.

 

[Matthew_84]

Handel, Monteverdi, Bach, Gabrieli, Biber, Pasquini, Carissimi, Anerio, Vivaldi, Schütz, Lully, Rameau. All wonderful.

(I specialize in baroque performance practice for singers--happy to see this thread). Here's a great series:

Voices of Music

Thanks for sharing! Subscribed and will spend sometime checking it out!

Glad to have you here!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

If it ain't baroque...

That’s awful...but I liked it...!

 

[ashtray]

 

[Matthew_84]

Another exquisite piece on the gorgeous viola da gamba.

Thanks for sharing. I really don’t know much about the viol family... When I watched the first video, I ignorantly just assumed it was a fretted Cello. I’m glad I took a few minutes to read more about it, but thanks for letting me know the instrument.

 

[mikewalker]

JS Bach of course. He even contributed to the tempered tuning of keyboard instruments so we can choose from 12 keys to compose or perform in. Prolific with profound creations, we can enjoy his well documented library of music today. I find baroque music usually packed with ornamentation. Clearly if Johann were alive and active in the present, his no BS attitude toward music would demand a Precision bass when a viola da gamba is not available.

Here is a non-baroque piece but the "bass" line infers the baroque era. notice the lack of vibrato in the vocal. So pure.

Yep, Bach For The Win! The cello suites got me hooked. Through them, I discovered the viol da gamba ( IT'S GOT FRETS! ) and bought an old German gamba off eBay, joined the VDGSA, and didn't do much else for a while since the old 1951 gamba I bought was a "beater" and needed a lot of work to get playable. THEN happened upon that exact youtube video you posted:



Shortly afterwards I discovered Luciana was doing a viola da gamba masterclass workshop in Milan - so I signed up and booked a flight. Never been to Italy before, and didn't speak a word of Italian. Luciana also speaks fluent Spanish, but not me. Happily, the amazing Dr. Otter was attending, and she kindly intervened and was my translator for the whole workshop. Doc Otter wowed me with her ability to perfectly COLD SIGHTREAD both a vocal line and a gamba line AT THE SAME TIME. The first time I ever hung out with a professor of Medieval literature who spoke German, Spanish, Italian and English fluently. I tell ya, you have to up your game sometimes, after falling in with people like that

( Somebody snapped this photo of my 'final exam' at Maestro Luciana's workshop, with Dr. Otter kindly translating... )

I have now hot-rodded my old German gamba with planetary peg tuners, and as soon as I finish tweaking the bridge a little, it's getting a brand new set of gut strings. (Four hundred buxxorz!)


(a shot from the Gamba surgery in progress...)

Viola da Gambas were a popular instrument of choice in baroque England: many cultured households would have a "chest of gambas" with a range of sizes (pardessus, treble, alto, tenor, and bass) , and the whole family would sit and play Gamba consorts together...

As music-making went from the parlors into the larger public concert halls for the masses, the viola da gamba lost traction to the upstart string "Violin" family: newly developed steel string instruments which were much LOUDER and thus more suitable for concert halls. There is a modern Viola da Gamba resurgence now, especially in Europe, where baroque ensembles are gaining in popularity

 

[PolkaHero]

I performed this piece on piano for my Master's Recital:

 

[TJH3113]

A little off topic, but I took this clip of The Dixie Dregs performing their classically inspired piece, "Go For Baroque", a few weeks ago. Love this song.

 

[57pbass]

Check out the Rick...