George Frederick Handel's Music Influence

Glenn Gould was born in 1932 to Florence and Russell Gould, in Toronto, Ontario, where he would spend much of his early career as a Musician. His mother was his first teacher, and would play music for him while in his mother 's womb to expose him to the art2. Glenn was always interested in music from an early age, as he states, "I was about three, I think. I don 't really know because I don 't recall any conscious effort to get me to play the piano at any time. It was just one of those things I took to as if I feel into a swimming pool and became a swimmer"3. Glenn was an incredibly gifted musician, though he denied being a child prodigy. He continued to study with his mother until at the age of 10, he began studying at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Both J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel use different aspects of music to compose important pieces of music. The baroque period is often known as the time when artists exaggerated their motion and produced drama through interpreted detail. Both of these composers used this baroque style to convey messages through their music. The similarity in their music was that it is in a spiritual manner. J.S. Bach’s style was a harmonic and motivation manner, which Handel’s is more of a narrative. A cantana is a piece of music for worship and a oratoria is a genre that addressees a religious theme.

The Baroque period was identified as the “Age of Absolutism” because it was a period where rulers practiced their full power to control subjects. Also during the Baroque time frame music became more leant about where it was played. Instead it only being played at churches and occasionally in some courts, it was being played at specific functions and operas. It was at this time that operas were established for the first time in history. Musicians at this time were employed for aristocrat’s courts, churches and operas although they were considered high positions yet still viewed as servants. Some characteristics of Baroque music focused on the unity of mood, rhythm, dynamics and melodies. As for texture it consisted of being polyphonic with an emphasis on the highest and lowest melodies. Also the importance of bass and soprano and imitation were present. Word painting and symbolism kept making an appearance too. Chords and basso continuo were key elements to this period. A basso continuo is an accompaniment made up of bass parts usually played by two instruments. It was here that baroque orchestras started to gather which contained about ten to forty musicians. Through

At the beginning of the seventeenth century central Europe was plagued by a series of unremitting of religious conflicts and which were known as the Thirty Year’s War. The main cause for this was the arrival of Jesuit priests in Germany. Their mission was to convert the vast majority of Protestants to Catholicism. They faced strong opposition, and a revolt began in Bohemia in 1618 by the Protestant Nobility against the Holy Roman Empire. This marked the start of the Thirty Years’ War. This conflict spread all across Germany as more countries began to take part with the Scandinavian kings to the north of Germany taking up the offensive against the Austrians in the south. These conflicts continued until peace was declared in 1635, however this did not last as France joined forces with Sweden which led to the final stage of the conflict. In 1640 peace negotiations began but the hostility between countries remained rife until 1648, which marked the end of the war.

John Hancock was born on January 23, 1737. John Hancock was born in Braintree Massachusetts. The parents of John Hancock were John Hancock Jr. and Mary Hawke Thaxter. After John Hancock’s father passed away his mother took him and his siblings to live somewhere else. Then his mother sent him to live with Thomas and Lydia Hancock. Thomas Hancock was very wealthy and owned a very successful shipping business.

John Hancock, . He was born in Braintree, (present-day Quincy) Massachusetts, in 1737. He was the son of John and Mary Hancock, and he had two siblings. Hancock was also friends with a man named John Adams. Although Hancock’s family

Others say he was born in Condé-sur-l'Escaut of Hainaut in present-day Belgium, while another group believes that he was born immediately across the border in Picardy in present-day France and he was a Frenchman. He was acknowledged as the most prolific composer of his age. Though very little is known about his career and early life, it is certain that he rendered his services to a number of supporters throughout his life. He lived the most part of his musical career in Italy. He held many important positions there and created several motets and masses, which are esteemed highly as the masterpieces of a musical genius. He composed sacred as well as secular music in his lifetime in a number of vocal forms ranging from masses, chansons, to motets. His stay at Rome had been highly productive for it was here where he developed his mature style. While working in Milan, he had absorbed Italian secular light music; but in Rome, he refined his sacred music and wrote several motets. Before he left Italy, he wrote one of his most famous secular compositions, the ‘frottola El grillo’ (the Cricket). Another well-known work was

An example of his compositions with different genres is found at the book NAWM: the motet Resvellies vous. This motet has the French musical characteristics such as the used of ballade form: section A from measures 1-22, section B measures 23-52, and section C measures 54-67. However the smooth vocal melody with melisma in measures 5-6, 34-35, and 57-59 are the evidence of Italian elements in this

Hamilton was born in Charlestown, Nevis, in the West Indies on January 11, 1757. His father had left him and his family Hamilton was just 10 years old. His father left them pretty much hopeless with nothing to live off of. After he left him and his family moved to St. Croix. His mother and himself at the early stages of living there became very sick. Hamilton

The Renaissance and Baroque periods of music are two very similar and different eras. The Renaissance which began after the end of the Middle Ages in 1450 and ended the beginning of the 1600s, this is where the Baroque period starts. The beginning of the Renaissance period was compromised of sacred and religious music cultivating from the middle ages. Before the Renaissance period music had to be copied and re-written by hand, which was a very difficult task to do continuously. During the Renaissance period however, printing was invented, which made producing music easier and also changed a lot of other things in other areas. The Baroque period on the other hand, spanning 150 years from the beginning of the 1600s to 1750, was divided into three parts: The Early Baroque period, The Middle Baroque period and The Late Baroque period. While these two eras start right after each other, there are a lot of differences between them, this shows how much music can evolve through time.

Baroque music is a period of history that was widespread between 1600-1750 (newworldencyclopedia.org). Baroque changed music to make it more of an entertainment for people which helped generate its popularity amongst all types of people. The music was so widespread and diverse it is hard to label different musicians and songs under “baroque” but that what it is. The original meaning of baroque is actually “irregular pearl” which would help to understand that the music does not fit with say secular music it is to diverse and has become so widely used and accepted it just stuck (newworldencyclopedia.org). The Baroque period did not just affect the art of music, but the arts in general. It explored new ideas and thoughts and was more widely accepted by the people. It was patronized by the Roman Catholic Church and the middle class could afford it (Detrick “Baroque”).

The Baroque period covers one hundred and fifty years from 1600 to 1750. Its characteristics tend to include, lavish, over the top, expensive and much more then necessary. The period is painted literally with architecture, paintings, clothing, food and much more that continuously begs people of today to ask ‘why?’. The use of frill and extravagance in art in this period has become less of a question of ‘why’ and more of a question ‘where is the extra?’, because this part in history is centered around adding extra ornamentation to everything. With such an over the top part in history, it would seem impossible to pick one piece that could embody every aspect of the Baroque Era but it is to be proven that one piece has such potential. Gian Lerenzo Bernini’s, The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, sculpted in 1647 to 1652. The piece is of Saint Teresa being struck by an Angel’s

The lower class wore light, dingy shades because they could not afford dyes that would give a pure color.

Throughout history, many periods of music have existed, some of which have left behind enduring contributions to music altogether. The most important period of music however is the Baroque period. This is because the beginning of its era marked the introduction of dominant musical devices that have been used ever since. The term “baroque” was derived from the Portuguese barroco meaning “oddly shaped pearl” and refers to a period of European music or Western European art music that flourished from about 1600 to 1750. This period began when the Renaissance period of music – a period of music full of choral music and chants – began to change. The Baroque period brought with itself key devices such as variation in musical compositions, the enlargement of standard scales and chords and the process of varying one or more properties within a piece; that are used today. In contrast the renaissance period of music whereby music was often sang, contained simple rhythms and melodic lines and was mostly for the purpose of praise, the Baroque period of music started off the use of distinct melodies and harmonies opposed to the polyphony used in the Renaissance period. This new music was then called “…expansive and dramatic”. Famous composers and performers of this period include Henry Purcell, Arcangelo Corelli, Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi and many others.

The Baroque period saw the creation of tonality and an approach to writing music in which a song or piece is written in a particular key. During the Baroque period, professional musicians were expected to be skilful improvisers of both solo melodic lines and accompaniment part.