100
T
the final development of the
Baroque aesthetic known
as the High Baroque was
underway by around 1680. The new
tonal system, in which music was
built from notes forming major and
minor scales, was fixed by this
time, and High Baroque composers
such as Johann Sebastian Bachused it to control the flow of their
work by modulating between
different keys. Increasingly complex
counterpoint, combining distinct
melodic lines, one of the defining
characteristics of Baroque music,
was employed to create vivid
dramatic effects; coupled with
incisive rhythmic features, the
music achieved an unprecedented
emotional power.
In earlier periods, vocal art
music had been preeminent; now
increasing interest in instrumental
music offered composers anotherHIGH BAROQUE RELIGIOUS CHORAL MUSIC
IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
High Baroque religious
choral musicBEFORE
1471 The Flemish composer
Jacob Obrecht writes a Passio
secundum Matthaeum
(Matthew Passion).1620s In Rome, Giacomo
Carissimi produces oratorios
on Old Testament subjects to
satisfy the demand for operatic
entertainment during Lent.1718 Handel composes
the first version of Esther,
about the Old Testament
queen. Eventually, in 1732,
this piece would be revised
into the first English oratorio.AFTER
1829 Felix Mendelssohn
conducts the Berlin premier
of the St. Matthew Passion—a
key moment in the revival of
interest in Bach’s music.1846 Mendelssohn premieres
his oratorio Elijah, depicting
the life of the Prophet Elijah.1850 The Bach–Gesellschaft
is formed in Leipzig by Moritz
Hauptmann (Cantor of the
Thomaskirche), Otto Jahn
(a biographer of Mozart),
and the composer Robert
Schumann, in order to publish
the complete works of Bach.1963–1966 Polish composer
Krzysztof Penderecki writes
the St. Luke Passion, an atonal
orchestral-choral setting of the
Passion story.The Crucifixion, often depicted in
Renaissance art, as here by the German
painter Lucas Cranach the Elder,
became a subject for composers, too,
as music grew ever more descriptive.US_098-105_JS_Bach_Passion.indd 100 26/03/18 1:00 PM