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Peri & Caccini: First & Second Opera Music Pieces
First opera: 'Dafne' (1597) composed by Giulio Caccini and Jacopo Peri.
First extant opera, also by Caccini and Peri: 'Euridice' (1600) -
Harpsichord (1600)
The earliest surviving harpsichords were built in Italy in the early 16th century. Little is known of the early history of the harpsichord, but, during the 16th–18th century, it underwent considerable evolution and became one of the most important European instruments. -
Period: to
Early Baroque (1600-1650)
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Opera
Opera was invented in Florence, Italy by the Florentine Camerata.They wanted to recreate Greek poetry and theater; they believed it was sung all the way through. They wanted to produce emotion, and they believed that only a solo voice could do that. -
Baroque Changes: 1600-1730s
- Rhythms became more definite, regular, and insistent
- A new acceptance of meter: bar lines
- Functional harmony established: major/minor tonality system, chords were standardized, and tonic was understood by most.
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The Invention of Opera: Peri & Caccini
Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini invented opera in Florence, Italy around 1600. -
"All's Well that Ends Well" (1602)- Shakespeare
William Shakespeare has written: "Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, which we ascribe to heaven". (From All's Well that Ends Well, first performed in 1602.) -
Succession of King James I: 1603
A frail Queen Elizabeth dies at age 69. She is succeeded by a Calvinist and devout Presbyterian, King James VI of Scotland, eldest son of Elizabeth's cousin, Mary I, Queen of Scots. James becomes James I, King of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Scotland is no longer independent. -
1st Flintlock Rifle for King Louis XIII of France
In 1610, artist, gunsmith, and inventor Marin le Bourgeois develops the first flintlock for King Louis XIII of France. -
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". -
Thirty Years' War (1618–1648)
The Thirty Years' War was a conflict fought largely within the Holy Roman Empire from 1618 to 1648. Considered one of the most destructive wars in European history, estimates of total deaths caused by the conflict range from 4.5 to 8 million, while some areas of Germany experienced population declines of over 50%. -
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
Barbara Strozzi studied under Francesco Cavalli at the Accademia degli Unisoni – founded by Giulio for Barbara. She published eight sets of songs – the first in 1644. She did not write opera, but her songs and cantatas are very dramatic. Strozzi also used various poets as writers for her songs – most written especially for her. -
Powhatan War (1622–1644)
The Anglo–Powhatan Wars were three wars fought between settlers of the Virginia Colony and Algonquin Indians of the Powhatan Confederacy in the early seventeenth century. The second war lasted from 1622 to 1626. The third war lasted from 1644 until 1646 and ended when Opechancanough was captured and killed. -
Francesca Caccini (1587-1641)
Francesca Caccini was the first woman to compose operas. Francesca sang lead roles in several early operas: Sung in Peri’s opera Euridice at the age of 13. She was also a Soprano and the daughter of Giulio Caccini. She was almost employed by the King of France but was bought out by the Medici family – became the highest-paid musician in Italy by age 20. -
The Coronation of Poppea (1642)
Claudio Monteverdi composed 'The Coronation of Poppea' when he was 75 years old. At this time the genre was about 40 years old.
Early operas were based on mythology – this is historical.
It premiered in Venice in 1642. -
English Civil Wars (1642–1651)
The English Civil War was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists, mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of religious freedom. It was part of the wider Wars of the Three Kingdoms. -
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
Girolamo Frescobaldi was the finest Organist of the Early Baroque era. He worked at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Rome; and also greatly influenced J.S. Bach.
His Works: Toccattas, Canzonas, Dance Suites, Variation Sets
Canzona, Balletto, and Corrente (1627-37) -
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Claudio Monteverdi was one of the most important composers of early opera. Not only was he a composer, but he also was a skillful string player, choirmaster, and he was also a priest. He was also a composer of both secular and sacred music and a pioneer in the development of opera. He is a transitional figure between the Renaissance and Baroque periods of music history. -
“The Ecstasy of Saint Therese” (1647-1652)
Gian Lorenzo Bernini created the “The Ecstasy of Saint Therese”
in 1647-52. It is a Marble statue in Cappella Cornaro, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome. -
End of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648)
The Netherlands War of Independence: In Dutch and English historiography the Dutch struggle for independence from the Spanish Crown in the 16th and 17th centuries was long known as the Eighty Years' War. More recently, the initial part of this period has become known as the Dutch Revolt. -
Period: to
Middle Baroque (1650-1700)
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Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian violinist and composer of the Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence of the violin, and as the first coalescing of modern tonality and functional harmony. Arcangelo Corelli made clear distinctions between the different types of sonatas; he was the master of the Trio Sonata. -
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Henry Purcell was a singer, organist, composer of instrumental and vocal music. He worked in the court of Charles II (reigned 1660-85) when stage plays were again allowed. He also composed 'Dido and Aeneas(1689)'. -
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
The father of composer Domenico Scarlatti. A teacher in Naples; many of his students helped create the new classical style. His death marks a better indicator of the end of the Baroque than does Bach’s in 1750. -
Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre (1666-1729)
Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre was a French musician, harpsichordist and composer. She was called “the wonder of our century.” -
Champagne (1668)
Dom Pérignon started with the production of wines in the Champagne region in 1668. He is the inventor of the second fermentation in the bottle what makes him sure the founder of Champagne as we know it. -
François Couperin (1668-1733)
François Couperin; a French composer; was a composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as Couperin le Grand to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented Couperin family. -
King Philip’s War (1675–1676)
Unparalleled Destruction. King Philip's War is considered the bloodiest war per capita in U.S. history. It left several hundred colonists dead and dozens of English settlements destroyed or heavily damaged. Thousands of Indians were killed, wounded or captured, and sold into slavery or indentured servitude. -
Biber: Sonata No. 1 (ca. 1676)
Mid-Baroque violin sonata. The opening Praeludium is for violin and basso continuo; the violin part uses a virtuosic style similar to that of solo vocal singing. The melodic line allows the soloist to freely express emotions (affects), embellishments are expected. The second section uses variations on a ground (repeating) bass.The finale gives the violinist an opportunity to display virtuosity. Separate movements developed later; no sections. -
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist; Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber; was one of the most important composers for the violin, especially in the instrument’s early years. He composed catholic sacred music, violin sonatas, and ensemble music. Biber’s new technique of playing the violin allowed him to easily; reach 6th and 7th positions, play double stops and polyphony, and experiment with scordatura. -
Pressure Cooker (1679)
The pressure cooker first appeared in 1679 as Papin's Digester, named for its inventor, French-born physicist Denis Papin. The cooker heats water to produce very hot steam which forces the temperature inside the pot as high as 266 °F (130 °C), significantly higher than the maximum heat possible in an ordinary saucepan. -
J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. Contrapunctus 1 from The Art of Fugue (1749). He wrote this collection at the end of his life, and it was not published (1751) until after his death (1750). Bach is undisputedly the greatest master of the fugue. -
Steam Water Pump (1698)
In 1698 Thomas Savery patented a pump with hand-operated valves to raise water from mines by suction produced by condensing steam. In about 1712 another Englishman, Thomas Newcomen, developed a more efficient steam engine with a piston separating the condensing steam from the water. -
Theorbo (1600-1699)
The theorbo was invented in Italy at the end of the 16th Century in order to accompany singers in the first operas. The composers needed a chordal instrument that didn't interfere with the audibility of the text being sung. These melodramas were devised after the Florentine Camerata read Ancient Greek texts on music. -
Great Northern War (1700-1721)
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe. -
The Invention of the Piano: 1700
The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700, in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material. -
Period: to
Late Baroque (1700-1730s)
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War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714)
The War of the Spanish Succession was an early-18th-century European war, triggered by the death in November 1700 of the childless Charles II of Spain. It established the principle that dynastic rights were secondary to maintaining the balance of power between different countries. -
Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713)
Queen Anne's War was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. -
The Steam Engine (1712)
In 1712 Newcomen invented the world's first successful atmospheric steam engine. The engine pumped water using a vacuum created by condensed steam. It became an important method of draining water from deep mines and was, therefore, a vital component in the Industrial Revolution in Britain. -
Yamasee War (1715-1716)
The Yamasee War was a conflict fought in South Carolina from 1715–1717 between British settlers from the Province of Carolina and the Yamasee and a number of other allied Native American peoples. -
Louis the 14th of France (1638-1715)
Louis XIV, also known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in history. Louis XIV's France was emblematic of the age of absolutism in Europe. You may notice that in all pictures of the king his legs are prominent – he was an accomplished dancer and showed them off. -
G. F. Handel & The Orchestral Suite (1717)
Two very popular orchestral suites: Music for the Royal Fireworks (often referred to as just Fireworks). Water Music. A German composer living in England writing Italian music. -
Le Quattro stagioni (1725)
The Four Seasons is a group of four violin concertos by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. These were composed around 1718−1720 when Vivaldi was the court chapel master in Mantua.
It is a cycle of four violin concertos, with word painting in instrumental music, and each concerto is accompanied by a poem that we believe he wrote. -
Jean-Joseph Mouret (1682-1738)
One representative composer from this French court: served as the son of King Louis XIV. Composed operas, suites, and “grand divertissements [entertainments]”. Some of his works have been used for TV commercials and in other media. -
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher, impresario, and Roman Catholic priest. He was also called the 'red priest', because of his red hair. A music director at the 'Pieta', an orphanage for girls in Venice. Vivaldi composed many operas, much-sacred music, and many instrumental works. He was most popular during the height of his career in the 1720s. -
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Keyboard virtuoso.Served Portuguese and Spanish royal families.
Had a progressive style; aware of his modern flare. He also wrote over 500 sonatas for harpsichord, operas, cantatas, and keyboard exercises. -
G. F. Handel (1685-1759)
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. -
Georg Philip Telemann (1681-1767)
Georg Philip Telemann was a German composer and a multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. He composed more than 125 orchestral suites. He helped to establish the French-style orchestral suite in Germany. He also published a collection called “Tafelmusik” (1733). Telemann was also friends with J. S. Bach and the godfather of Bach’s eldest son, Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-88), an important composer of the 18th century. -
Theater at Versailles (1763-1770)
The Royal Opera of Versailles (French: Opéra royal de Versailles) is the main theatre and opera house of the Palace of Versailles. Designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, it is also known as the Théâtre Gabriel. Its inauguration day was May 16th, 1770.
