Discuss Handel’s alternating use of recitatives, arias, and choruses in Messiah.
Week Two Written Assignment (choose one option)
Given that Orfeo is a court opera whose principal purpose was edification or moral instruction, discuss how this instruction is achieved through the dramatic action of the pieces studied in Chapter 4. Evaluate the effectiveness of Orfeo as a tool of edification. What can we learn from Orfeo? Should all art have an edifying function? Why or why not?
The Baroque era witnessed a striking growth in secularism. How was this secular worldview reflected in this era’s philosophical advances? What effect did the growth of secular culture during the Baroque era have on the production of literature, art, and music? Provide specific examples of ways that a secular worldview is demonstrated in Baroque arts and ideas. Cite specific musical examples from the reading in your response.
Author Thomas Kelly states in Chapter 5, “in many Western cultures, the sacred and the secular occupy mostly separate spheres. Many people have the idea that scared texts are only suitable for music intended to be heard in a church; or that music set to sacred words must have a character different than other kinds of music. How has Messiah overcome the sacred/secular divide? Why has Messiah endured as a significant work with an uninterrupted performance history from its premiere to the present? Identify modern day pieces, genres or scenarios where music bridges the gap between sacred and secular? Would you agree or disagree with the statement that “the sacred and the secular occupy mostly separate spheres?” How is this true or not in today’s music?
Discuss Handel’s alternating use of recitatives, arias, and choruses in Messiah. What function does each serve, and how do they work together to dramatize the work’s message?
Considering the three works presented in Chapter 6 as a group, what commonalities or preoccupations do you hear as central ideas to all three? Through your understanding of these works, what would you say are Bach’s greatest goals and achievements as a composer of secular instrumental music? If Bach can be understood as “summarizing” the ideals of the Baroque, how would you define Baroque instrumental musical style?
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