Listen to the recording of “Thy Hand Belinda” and “When I am Laid in Earth” from the opera, Dido and Aeneas, by Purcell and answer the following questions:
Having read Parts of an opera, two of the vocal styles mentioned are presented here: one by “Thy Hand Belinda” and the other by “When I am laid in the earth.” What are the vocal styles and how can you tell?
Describe the following in each movement
rhythm (beat vs. no beat)
tempo (fast vs. slow)
key (major vs. minor)
texture
How do the musical characteristics of question number two help express the meaning of the libretto (text or lyrics) – Dido and Aeneas Synopsis
Between the two movements, there is an instrument (sounds like a cello) playing a solo bass line called a ground bass: a short bass line that repeats throughout “When I am laid in earth.” How would you describe the purpose of this ground bass, and how does it enhance the text?
Listen to movement 4 of Bach’s sacred cantata, “Wachet Auf,” (“Sleepers Awake”) and answer the following questions (movement 4 begins at time stamp 15:16):
What is the purpose of this kind of cantata and where would you typically hear this performed? Where does the text or story come from?
How is this cantata different from opera such as Monteverdi’s Orfeo from the previous chapter?
Movement 4 begins with an instrumental introduction called a ritornello: a melodic line that repeats throughout the movement. Describe the interaction between the instruments and the voices. What is the texture of this piece and what is unusual about it?
Listen to movement 3, “Ev’ry Valley,” from the Oratorio, The Messiah, by Handel and answer the following questions (note this movement ends at time stamp 8:42):
What is the vocal style of this movement? (Refer to the four vocal styles discussed in Parts of an opera)
2. Describe this movement in terms of texture, tempo, key and meter?
3. This movement employs a significant amount of word painting, a musical technique that was developed in Renaissance secular songs. The simplest way to describe word painting is to say that the notes are literally trying to do what the lyrics are saying. For instance, if the lyric is “Up,” the notes would get higher. With that information, how does Handel use word painting on the following lyrics. (Describe what you hear the notes doing)
Exalted
Mountain
Hill
Low
Crooked, Rough
Straight, Plain
Listen to the recording of “The little fugue” by Bach and answer the following questions:
1. Having studied the structure of the fugue in Overview of Fugue, Suite, and Sonata, how many presentations of the subject do you hear in the exposition? How would you label each voice as it enters (Think of the voice ranges we discussed in Chapter 3: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass)?
2. What is the texture created by the multiple layers of the subject?
3. Describe the tempo, meter and key of this piece.
4. Listen to the episodes that follow the exposition. How many times do you hear the subject again? How does Bach create variety with the subject in the episodes (how does he change it up so it is not the same thing each time it is repeated)?
