Baroque Instrumental Music and Dance in Spain

Instrumental Music of the Baroque

The luster of Baroque instrumental music stems from the evolution of instruments and the emergence of all orchestral families. These families include string, woodwind, brass, and percussion. Baroque works are often based on improvisation, variation, imitative counterpoint, and dance forms. Key forms include:

The Suite

A complex instrumental piece composed of a succession of dances with different characters and a variable number, all in the same key and in binary form.

The Sonata

Meaning "music to be sounded," the sonata is played by instruments and divided into four contrasting movements (fast and slow) with different textures and rhythms. It is similar to the more widely diffused sonatina. There are also smaller, shorter pieces without the complexity of the sonata. The typical sonata structure is: slow-fast-slow-fast. Composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Handel. Movements: Allegro, from Sonata-Allegro-Lento complex. Movements (may take various forms): Movement enactment, Dance (new, less formal allegro sonata allegro).

The Fugue

A form based on simple counterpoint, with systematic use of imitation in its texture.

The Concerto

Meaning "to strive together," the concerto is a complex succession composed of three contrasting movements: fast-slow-fast. It can be of two types:

• Concerto Grosso: For a group of soloists and the rest of the orchestra, contrasting alternately in the interpretation of new and fixed parts.
• Solo Concerto: For a single instrument that contrasts with the orchestra.

Dance in the Baroque

Dance developed in the French court with the Ballet de Cour, combining music and the professionalization of ballet. Courtly dance adopted new, fashionable dances that became part of the suite.

The Baroque in Spain

The Baroque period in Spain involved a long period of musical decline, reflecting a broader recession under the reign of the last three Habsburgs. There was also a decline in university life. However, the sciences, fine arts, and literature retained their splendor. The transition from Renaissance to Baroque represented a gradual evolution that slowly incorporated innovations. Spanish music favored vocal forms over the instrumental forms of the European Baroque.

Religious Vocal Music

Continued in polyphonic motets and Masses with Latin text, and introduced the villancico with text in Castilian, accompanied by instruments.

Profane Vocal Music

Very similar to the Renaissance, with romances, songs, and villancicos. These are short pieces for 3 or 4 voices. A new style of composition emerged: the tono or ambiente humano, featuring sentimental monody with a solo voice accompanied by a solo instrument, popular in Madrid.

Instrumental Music

• Tiento: Composition for harp, vihuela, or keyboard. Similar to the fantasia, toccata, or prelude.
• Glosa: Figures and ornamental passages used to identify brief figurative variations. Composer: Antonio de Cabezón.
• Let: Mixed instrumental music. Usually a comic work, performed between acts of a longer play. Composer: Francisco Correa.

Stage Music

This involves the introduction of musical numbers within a theatrical representation. Key forms emerged:

• The Tono: Typical of Spain. It was represented in popular musical comedies. Musical numbers were incorporated between acts, with a humorous and satirical character, reflecting the customs of the era and ending with folk dancing.
• The Opera: A work intended to be staged. It arrived in Spain as a genre of aristocratic character. Spanish composers created the zarzuela.
• Zarzuela: Typical of Spain, its name comes from the Royal Palace in Madrid. It is a work consisting of a succession of sung parts and spoken parts.