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Violin Lesson Reviews from Students
Students are raving about their Violin instructors on TakeLessons.
Check out some of these recent reviews.
Review by Renee
"Erica rocks.
My 8-year-old daughter looks forward to every lesson with her and we love her different
approach on teaching geared to a person individually which is less rigorous and more appealing to my kid."
New York, NY teacher:
Review by Lara
"Ellen is excellent!
She has listened to our daughter and helped her to learn several songs on the violin which is what she wanted.
She is actually practicing almost daily!
Ellen plays alongside her so she can get a feel for the notes and how they sound.
I like the way she teaches.
She encourages and praises our daughter all the time."
Denver, CO teacher:
Review by Kim
"Stephen is an amazingly patient and kind teacher to our 10 year old daughter.
She absolutely adores him.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to any parent looking for violin lessons for their child.
He's wonderful!"
Philadelphia, PA teacher:
Stephen R.
Review by MO
"Zhana is an amazing violin teacher. She has the perfect amount of patience but at the same time demands enough to challenge any individual and make them better."
New York, NY teacher:
Review by Josefina
"Superb Violin Teacher!!I have been taking violin classes from Anna for a few months now and it has been fantastic. I am making faster progress under her instruction and she provides me with different learning strategies she has acquired over the years which is very helpful. Anna has many years of experience and it shows! It is such a pleasure going to class each week. I have so much fun!"
San Bernardino, CA teacher:
Review by Jane
"Patient, communicative and fun!I played the violin years ago and decided to pick it back up again. Megan was very patient and was very communicative with how to help me. She also came up with very fun ways to keep me practicing. She worked very well with me as an adult but I've also seen her teach very young children and her patience and creative teaching shines with the young ones as well! If you're looking for a personable, fun teacher that inspires, Megan is the teacher for you."
Los Angeles, CA teacher:
Review by Grace
"Rebekah is an awesome violin instructor!
She is accomplished, patient, knowledgeable, and a very nice person.
She is instructing my 16 yr old daughter at our home which is so convenient for me!
Sometimes my schedule gets a little crazy but Rebekah is very flexible.
I am very happy and my daughter loves her lessons."
New York, NY teacher:
Rebekah S.
Review by Victoria
"My 15 year old daughter loves violin and says Larissa is the best teacher she has ever had. She is patient and every time my daughter has a lesson she comes away excited and so ready to practice.
We have one in person visit a month and 4 on line lessons and it works beautifully!!!"
Atlanta, GA teacher:
Larissa M.
Review by Christine
"My boys both love Michael!"
Chicago, IL teacher:
Michael S.
And they're not alone! Our teachers have taught
lessons and counting!
Popular Violin Teachers
San Diego, CA
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Seattle, WA
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Verified Student
First day went very well.
Verified Student
Betsy has been my daughters coach for about a year now, and she is wonderful.
My daughter has learned so much in the past year, and now she's interested in singing, thanks to Betsy.
Betsy has a wonderful spirit, she knows how to communicate on their level, and she makes them feel as though they can do anything. I also like her because she encourages kids to follow their dreams, and to do the right things, and we all know that it takes a village to raise a child.
I would highly recommend Betsy!
I have an audition tonight.
I was very grateful that Betsy was able to help me with last minute suggestions.
Betsy was available immediately which made the lesson possible.
She is a wonderful voice teacher and helped me polish up my song.
Thanks so much for making this format available.
San Diego, CA
Beginner, intermediate and advanced.
Verified Student
wonderful teacher
As an adult beginner, I was very nervous about beginning violin lessons. I've been taking lessons with Sang for about 15 months now and have loved every lesson. She is patient and has helped me progress farther than I thought I possible for me. Along with technique, she encourages me to learn and explore music beyond the etude books.
Great violin teacher!!
Sang is very patient and encouraging. She's really good at explaining things and can see immediately where I need to improve (so I don't develop incorrect habits). I've learned so much in a relatively short amount of time. I would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for a violin instructor!
Excellent Instructor
Sang is very patient and encouraging, and very understanding for those who are just beginning like myself. I would highly recommend her to others.
Seattle, WA
As we begin lessons, we break down the violin (of course not literally) to explore how integral each part is. We also look at positioning and holding the instrument discovering the motion and muscle that creates the best tone from the violin. With these foundations, I'll introduce scales, songs and progress into new concepts along the way. But with any musical instrument, the ear is the most important part of the instrument. How you listen directly impacts how you will play. I will help train your ears to be your best teacher. All in all, learning the violin can be fun - a time or two frustrating.Though with willingness and proper practice, we will learn from mistakes, grow with each lesson and make beautiful music.*** Studio Equipment ***I provide a comfortable ground-level studio with plenty of natural light and street parking. Parents are welcome to stay with children during their lesson. There are, however, a variety of choice cafes and bakery shops just around
Nilanjana G.
Verified Student
BJ has been a wonderfully dedicated violin teacher for my 10 year old kid. He is very approachable and understands the student's needs very well. I would highly recommend him.
Verified Student
I have learned more in 3 lessons with BJ than I did in a year with my last teacher.
He has clear and helpful exercises to fix my bad habits in how I bow.
We aren't into actual playing yet, but I expect things will progress well for me.
His place is easy to get to and comfortable.
He is prompt, organized and manages to be efficient at fitting a lot of teaching into the time we have.
I did shift from half hour lessons to a full hour, as the half hour was not enough time to really finish a topic for us.
I'm very happy with the experience and am so glad to be playing again.
Music Performance
This guy is a true PRO
I have not personally taken lessons from B.J. Montoya, but I am a colleague of his and have created and performed music with him off and on over the last ten years. WHat I can confidently and boldly say is that B. J. is masterful at the violin and fiddle, and truly knows all aspects of the language of music. IF you take lessons from him, you won' you will learn artistry, technique, music theory, ear-training skills, music appreciation, and most of all a PASSION FOR MUSIC - which B.J. cannot HELP but to pass on to his students. I say this because I have always respected and admired his true passion for creative muical expression on the violin.
Besides all that, B.J. is a sincere, super-friendly, and laid-back guy who will help any student - at any level - feel comfortable and at ease. His ability to offer warm support and encouragement - AND make the lessons FUN - will surpass any other violin teacher - I can pretty much guarantee that.
I highly recommend B.J. as a music teacher.
Trabuco Canyon, CA
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San Jose, CA
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Trabuco Canyon, CA
Verified Student
Mary is a wonderful teacher! She is always so patient with my son and respectful!
Jessica G.
Verified Student
Mary is awesome!
Mary is so patient and understanding and a great teacher for all ages. My son is beginning violin with her and she gives just the right amount of new information to keep him interested and challenged without getting frustrated. She is awesome!
BrittaneyC
Mary is an exceptionally talented teacher who always takes the time to fully explain every detail.
I highly recommend her for anyone wanting to learn to play violin.
San Jose, CA
Verified Student
I'm very happy with my first lesson. Helena is very informative, and I really like the way she teaches, with wonderful attention to detail. I'm looking forward to next lessons. Meanwhile I'm practicing!
Verified Student
Gifted Teacher!!!
If you are searching for an outstanding violin teacher, I highly recommend Helena.&A& Her students benefit from her many years of teaching and performing experience as well as her extensive educational background.&A& When you learn musical pieces with Helena she teaches proper technique with just the right amount of music theory to produce well-rounded musicians.&A& Some of her best qualities are her great abundance of patience that she mixes with professionalism, kindness, a sense of humor, and a great deal of encouragement. &A&Helena is certainly a violin teacher you will be glad you found. I feel privileged to be her student! Thank you Helena for continually inspiring me to learn and keeping me challenged as well!
Linglin D.
Verified Student
perfect teacher
Thanks Helena for her patience in teaching my 10-year old son.
My son is in intermediate and advance level. Helena makes music materials easy to understand so that he can love it.....
Typically, I use the Suzuki and Strictly Strings books for beginner students, and I will then advance to etude studies such as Wolfarht and Sevick in addition to the Suzuki sequels for my intermediate students. Lastly, I will add Introducing the Positions, Mazas, Josephine Trott Double Stops, and solo concertos to my advanced students.
Verified Student
It was a very good experience. I am pleased to being learning new techniques which, I had not been using and adapting to a more precise method of learning.
Jennifer H.
Music Performance
Verified Student
Only 2nd though- we had to reschedule last weeks and then I missed the rescheduled one.
We haven't talked about making it up- she's is awesome though! So good and patient with my 4.5 year old!
Verified Student
I'm 26, learning violin for the first time. I taught myself some of the basics and a handful of simple songs for a month, then started taking online lessons from Elicia for the past two months. I couldn't be happier that I did. Although online lessons have certain difficulties (which would be present no matter which teacher you have), my lessons have been very effective in improving my skills. Elicia is really kind and patient, and is also very good at catching and correcting my mistakes. I feel like I have gotten and will continue to get much better with her guidance, and I'm glad I'm able to learn from her. I'd definitely recommend her to others.
Recent Violin Articles from the Blog
Whether you're just starting out or a seasoned pro,
check out the Violin articles on our blog.
Tablature is a form of musical notation that was invented to make reading music easier for fretted and string instruments like guitar, bass, and violin. The premise is operationally-based, meaning that rather than showing rhythm, duration, and pitch, violin tabs will show the player where and when to place their fingers on the instrument.
For an improvising musician, violin tabs allow you to improvise while staying within the chord structure of a song. Tablature-style notation is most commonly
Think you could be the parent of a budding Vivaldi? Learning to play the violin is an intricate activity, requiring the appropriate guidance. You may be concerned about the pricing of a violin instruction for your child due to the complexity of the art. Though you may want to start your child on lessons right away, you may have concerns about pricing. Worry not, violin lesson prices are not as problematic for your pocketbook as you may think.
What should you expect for violin lesson prices?
Before you start learning violin music for beginners and all of the violin techniques you need to know, it's smart to write down specific goals you'd like to achieve. Here, San Francisco, CA violin teacher Carol Beth L.&share some guidance to get you on the right track...
Teachers, students, and parents of younger students come to the table with different expectations about violin lessons. Even before beginning the lessons, it is important to talk about those goals to make sure ever
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The violin is one of the most empowering musical instruments to learn, and has frequently been the subject of many music research studies. It has been found that those who learn to play the violin have also benefited in other areas of their lives. Those who play the violin demonstrate enhanced concentration, as well as increased math, memory and reading skills. Although the violin is known best for its use in classical music, it has become a far more versatile instrument that has also been used in country, folk and even popular rock. Whether your goal is to play Beethoven, an Irish jig, or a lively fiddle tune, taking lessons can help you become a well-rounded violinist.
Because the violin is such a complex instrument, finding a violin instructor with skill, patience and extensive knowledge is essential. Finding the best teacher for you is one of the most important parts of your musical journey, and specialized instructors can bring forth the virtuoso that lives within. Taking private violin lessons will give you the feedback and attention you&ll need to hone your skills.
Here&s what you can expect from our lessons:
& Each student will receive customized violin lessons. Instructors will assess your interests, age and skill level so you&re provided with an experience tailored specifically to your needs.
& Students have access to lesson journals online to keep you motivated and on track.
Choose from an incredible list of instructors who are knowledgeable, friendly and certified. And don&t worry & if for any reason you&re unhappy with your lessons, you&re protected by a 100% money back guarantee.
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Find out how TakeLessons can help you grow and manage your businessBaroque Music - Part One
Baroque Music - Part One
The html code, hyperlinks, and linked knowledge webs associated with this chapter are not part of the original chapter cited above, and are authored by , Ph.D.
"Odd pearl or strained syllogism, baroque music was to both Pluche
and Rousseau bizarre, extravagant, and unnatural."
--Claude V. Palisca
The Era of
of European musical history falls between the late Renaissance and
early Classical periods, that is, roughly the century-and-a-half
between 1600 and 1750. During the Renaissance, Europe had assimilated
the humanism and rationalism of Greco-Roman civilization, had
undergone the theological and political turmoil of religious
reformation, and had, for the first time in the history of our
species, begun to outline the contours of that scientific method
which was to provide Europe with its technological impetus. During
the era of Baroque music, European civilization emerged to a
preeminence on the planet which was to endure into the twentieth
The era of
was an age of spectacular progress of knowledge. It was the age of
the scientific discoveries of Galileo and Newton, the mathematical
advances of Descartes, Newton and Leibnitz, and the philosophical
explorations of Descartes, Spinoza and Locke. There was a new and
vibrant intellectual, artistic and social atmosphere which in so many
ways signaled the birth of modern Europe.
The flourishing of an autonomous European culture also produced a
musical language which we hear today as familiar. Music from the
Baroque period is the earliest European music which we still
generally recognize, whether it be the theme from Masterpiece Theatre
(Mouret's Suite de Symphonie), the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's
Messiah, or any number of other pieces. Most of the Baroque musical
instruments and forms which evolved during the Baroque period survive
today, particularly as they were embodied in the most familiar
European art music, the music of the Classical and Romantic periods
of the nineteenth century.
Baroque musicians served patrons, whether nobles, state or church.
It was not until well into the eighteenth century that some
musicians, like their twentieth century counterparts, began to work
without patronage as independent professionals, earning a living from
teaching, composing and performing.
As does all great art, Baroque music speaks to something that
transcends time and place, but it also derives much from the social
and cultural context of the world for which it was written. The
emerging financial, commercial and professional classes created their
own musical experience in the home and at church, and artistic
schools flourished portraying their everyday life. Here, the Dutch
masters such as Rembrandt and Jan Vermeer were in the forefront.
However, by far the greatest number of musicians and artists
flourished under the patronage of the church, the state or the
aristocracy. This is the domain of such examples of Baroque
expression as the luxuriant music of Vivaldi, the exuberant paintings
of Peter Paul Rubens, and the flamboyant architecture of Francesco
Borromini.
This was also an era of absolute monarchy, where the entire
government of a country could be the personal property of an
individual. The monarch of the most powerful state then on the
European continent was Louis XIV of France. He tersely explained his
absolute monarchy with the aphorism, L'…tat, c'est moi--"I am
the state"--which he had demonstrated by centralizing the political
and artistic life of his nation at his grandiose court in Versailles.
There, the unified conception of buildings, gardens and interiors
served as a daily reminder of his absolute power. Lavish musical and
theatrical spectacles were staged to charm and disarm his
aristocratic courtiers and to dazzle and subdue his foreign visitors.
Musicians at Versailles, and at the other courts of Europe, were
merely a few of the myriad craftsmen whose purpose was to enhance the
glory and power of the sovereign.
The Baroque composer thought of himself as a craftsman rather than
as an artist. Unlike later European art music, a great deal of
Baroque music was written on demand for specific occasions, and
musical scores were often treated with the care we would accord to
yesterday's newspaper. Despite this disregard for posterity by many
Baroque musicians, we are still the fortunate inheritors of an
enormous and magnificent body of work.
The Elements of Baroque Music
Music from the Baroque period is of many styles. There is Italian,
French, English, and German Baroque music. There is early, middle and
late Baroque music. There is secular and sacred Baroque music. And
there are distinctive personal styles of many of the composers. One
result of this diversity is a certain difficulty in defining Baroque
music in terms of a large number of common elements. However, there
are three areas where it is useful to make generalizations about
Baroque music: (1) Baroque musical instruments, (2) Baroque stylistic
elements and (3) The Baroque musical esthetic.
The human voice is the oldest and, in some ways, the most natural
of musical instruments. Of course if by "musical instrument" we meant
"tool for music making", the voice would not be an instrument at all.
But the singing voice of Baroque singers was not the natural
untutored voice. Rather it was highly trained, and trained for a
musical sound which is in many ways quite different from that which
today's opera singers seek. Instead of the uniformity of tone color
for which today's voice strives across the vocal range, the Baroque
voice accentuated the difference in tone color between the lower and
higher registers. Generally, the qualities most valued in the Baroque
voice were agility, purity and clarity, even at the expense of the
power which characterizes today's operatic voice.
The principal ensemble instruments in Baroque music, as in all
subsequent European art music, are the unfretted (that is, without
frets), bowed, string instruments of the violin family. Violin making
reached its highest point during the Baroque period. Indeed, the best
violins in the world today were made then in Cremona, a town in the
Po River valley of northern Italy. The names of Cremona's great
violin-making families, such as the Stradivari and Guarneri, are
familiar today because their instruments continue to be the most
prized by our greatest violinists. (Note, for example, that the Dutch
Baroque virtuoso, Jaap Schroeder, plays a violin made in 1709 by
Antonio Stradivarius) All the modern members of the violin family
were available to Baroque composers, that is, the violin, viola,
cello and double bass. Baroque composers responded to the new refined
instruments with music that demanded great virtuosic and expressive
The Baroque period also inherited from the Renaissance a gamut of
fretted, bowed instruments. The most important among these was the
viola da gamba, or gamba, an instrument with the approximate range of
a cello. The gamba was most often used as a continuo instrument, and
it disappeared by the end of the eighteenth century. There has
recently been a revival of this instrument resulting from an
increased interest in the performance of Baroque music using the
instruments of the period.
The , (Ex.: Handel's Sonata in D Minor: Vivace (Keith Jarrett - Michala Petri, HANDEL:
SONATAS: RCA Victor Red Seal , Released Jun 11, 1991) oboe, and bassoon were common instruments during the Baroque era.
The recorder was the only one of these instruments which did not
survive the transition to the Classical period. Baroque woodwinds
were all made of wood, even the flute, and had few or no keys, unlike
their nineteenth century descendants. These instruments generally
have a softer sound than their modern counterparts.
The main brass instruments of the Baroque era were the
(Ex.: Altenburg's Concerto in D for Seven Trumpets and Timpani: Allegro (Gerard Schwarz - The New York Trumpet Ensemble, The Sound of Trumpets: Altenburg - Biber - Vivaldi - Torelli - Telemann, Delos, Released Jan 1, 1987) and french horn. Although the examples above are performed on 20th
century instruments, these instruments in the Baroque period were
known as "natural" trumpets and horns because they had no valves.
Valves, a nineteenth century invention which increased the number of
pitches easily available to the player, caused a revolution in the
music that could be performed by trumpets and horns. Because of their
technical limitations in the Baroque period, these instruments were
used essentially for orchestral color.
Keyboard/Plucked
The two principal keyboard instruments of the Baroque era, the
harpsichord, a plucked keyboard instrument, and the organ, are
associated, respectively, with secular and sacred music. Harpsichord
construction and composition reached its zenith during this period.
Prized both as a solo and accompanying instrument, the harpsichord
flourished throughout Europe. The lute, like the harpsichord, was
used as a solo and accompanying instrument and enjoyed four centuries
of favor, from the later Middle Ages until the end of the 17th
century. Although a primitive piano was invented during the Baroque
period, it remained a curiosity until the middle of the eighteenth
century. The Classical period's Haydn and Mozart were the first great
composers to write for the piano.
The Baroque Orchestra
The orchestra settled into a recognizable entity of
instrumentalists in the 18th century. It was much smaller in scale
than the modern orchestra and generally the musical scores were
adjusted to accommodate the number of players available. They were
mainly, and sometimes exclusively, composed of string players.
Woodwinds usually played the same notes as the strings, but
occasionally the woodwinds and brass were given short passages for
color contrast.
Sylistic Elements of Baroque Music
The two most universal stylistic elements of Baroque music are
continuo, also called thorough bass, and ornamentation. Both involve
the difference between what the composer wrote down and what the
performer played. Both are elements of musical style which derived
from Renaissance music and persisted into early Classical music.
The continuo, typically consisting of a harpsichord and a cello,
provided the rhythmic and harmonic foundation of Baroque ensemble. It
was usually written as a bass line with numbers under each note to
designate the harmony, much like a modern jazz chart, and the
performers decided how to fill out this "figured bass".
Ornamentation is the embellishment of the musical line, with
devices such as trills, mordants and grace notes. Ornaments were
rarely written out, and often were not even indicated, but simply
left to the taste of the performer. Vibrato was considered an
ornamental enhancement of a given note or musical moment, not the
ubiquitous element of tone production which it has become today.
The Baroque Musical Aesthetic
Music has always provided emotional enhancement to the expressive
powers of verse. During the Renaissance, music theory focused on
music as an extension of a text. Using the terms of Greco-Roman
communication theory, Renaissance thinkers categorized music as an
element of rhetoric, that is, the persuasive, engaging, emotional
aspect of discourse. Baroque thinkers also conceived of music as
rhetoric, but they added to this a rationalist belief in the
objective, scientifically definable nature of the emotions.
In 1649 the French mathematician and philosopher, Rene Descartes (), wrote Les passions de l'me (The Passions of the Soul), the best statement of that
era's understanding of emotions such as of love, hate, joy, sadness,
anger, fear, or exhaltation. The emotions had an objective nature
which was susceptible to rational description, particularly in the
language of music. Baroque composers used varied musical descriptions
of a given emotion as building blocks of a particular piece.
Baroque musicians were not concerned with expressing their own
feelings and emotions, rather they sought to describe with
objectivity, feelings and emotions which were distinct from what they
actually felt. One result of the musicians' distancing themselves
from the emotions they depicted was a certain emotional detachment.
Some critics have, as a result, found Baroque music to be somewhat
cold. However, this evaluation ignores the ultimate goal of Baroque
music, a goal attained then as now when Baroque music is properly
performed. Composers' and performers' skillful and accurate musical
depictions of objectively described emotions did and still do evoke
emotional, feeling responses in its listeners. Baroque music stirs
"the passions of the soul".
A distinctive feature of Baroque music is that each piece (or
single movement within a multi-movement piece) limits itself to only
one of the emotions. Baroque thematic development is thus quite
different from the later Classical thematic development which
juxtaposed themes of contrasting emotional content in the same piece.
The particular emotion being described in a given piece is called
that piece's affect. Notice how the poem in Appendix C, A
for St. Cecelia's Day -- St. Cecelia being patron saint of music --
associates a given emotion with each of the instruments: the trumpet
with bellicosity, the flute with melancholy, the lute with sorrow,
and so forth. Dryden is ascribing a single given affect to each
instrument, just as a Baroque musician generally elicits a single
given affect in each piece of music.
Instrumental Music
Most instrumental music was played in chamber settings during the
Baroque period, given the patronage of the aristocracy and the lack
of public performing spaces until the 18th century. Instruments were
built to sound full and rich, but in small sized halls. A variety of
instrumental forms emerged during this period that reflected the new
instruments and their individual colors. Dances, variations,
counterpoint (point to point or part to part), and alternation
between solo and tutti passages became the predominant molds of
musical expression.
The full development of instrumental music, that is, music without
a text and with no purpose other than being listened to, was a
particular achievement of the Baroque era. Generally speaking,
Renaissance instrumental music did not stand alone, but rather
provided a background for singing or dancing.
which evolved from Renaissance music include the allemande, gavotte,
and gigue, each with its own identifiable rhythmic individuality.
The rise of the virtuoso style, easily recognizable in the solo
concerto, also served to enhance the importance of instrumental
music. Bach and Handel were great virtuosi on the organ and
harpsichord, Corelli on the violin. Audiences loved to applaud
virtuosity and improvisation, when performers of the day, like
today's jazz musicians, were expected to fill out the score, offering
their own extemporaneous creation.
Solo Instrumental Music
and the prelude and the fugue are the forms most frequently used in solo instrumental music, and
() was their most powerful exponent. Renaissance composers
had invented imitative
which Baroque composers fashioned into the fugue, perhaps the most
developed musical form of the era. Bach became the undisputed master
of the fugue. Bach's , written in 1723, points in the direction of all
of his magnificient contrapuntal compositions.
As composer, teacher and performer of the organ, harpsichord, violin and viola, Bach had an astonishing ability to blend a variety of national styles into existing musical forms. Composing solo works for organ, harpsichord, violin, cello, and flute, his extraordinary abilities created music which has remained alive and accessible through the centuries regardless of the instruments used, all the way from the harpsichord to the electronic synthesizer. This is due primarily to his harmonic inventiveness and the marvelous clarity with which he realized contrapuntal lines. The Prelude and Fugue in D Major from Book II of Bach's
provides an excellent example of his superb craftsmanship. The prelude grandly introduces us to the key of D Major, setting up the expectant ear for the spirited but eloquent fugue that follows. .
. Now, listen to . In this wonderful concert, McFerrin demonstrates Bach's genius, which allows his music to be heard today and by generations of the future.
French composers excelled in music written for solo harpsichord. A tradition that had begun with solo lute music was continued with the harpsichord, in some senses a mechanical lute, after the lute fell from favor at the end of the seventeenth century. They delighted in music that imitated the sounds of nature and in the character piece, that is, a musical portrait of a friend, colleague or patron.
Francois Couperin (), court composer to Louis XIV, wrote
harpsichord music which has maintained its charm to this day. Le dodo
ou l'amour au berceau ["Beddy-bye or Cupid in the cradle"]
and L'evapore ["The airhead"] are excellent examples of
character pieces. The first is undoubtedly the musical portrait of a
patron's cherubic sleeping infant, while the second would be a
description of one of the ebulliently frivolous ladies of the French
Court. The first piece is a rondo, a form developed during the
Baroque. The first theme, or "rondeau" -- here, the tune from a
French lullaby -- is repeatedly presented in alternation with other
material in an ABACADA pattern. The rondo was also a very important
form in Classical and Romantic music.
Character pieces could also be very serious and grand. For
example, the music theorist and composer, Jean-Phillippe Rameau
() composed La Dauphine to play on the harpsichord at the
French Court in celebration of the wedding of the Dauphin and
Dauphine -- the French Crown Prince and Princess. -- and the musical
portrait was of a possible future Queen of France.
The composer who understood the harpsichord best, who brought
harpsichord composition to its greatest heights, was Domenico
Scarlatti (), a Neopolitan who spent the most important part
of his career in service to the Queen of Spain. He is remembered for
his harpsichord pieces, just as Chopin a century later was to be
remembered for his piano compositions. Scarlatti's harpsichord
sonatas have an enormous emotional range. They evoke lyric
mellowness, languid hours, somber solemnity, dazzling pyrotechnics,
and cheerful sprightliness. Scarlatti is often considered merely the
author of sonatas of insuperable technical difficulty, but his real
power lies in his dynamic strength, pouring forth in runs, cascades
and harmonic richness.
Solo and Trio Sonatas
The solo sonata and the
were very popular forms of composition with Baroque composers. Consisting of one or two solo instruments supported by a continuo for rhythmic and harmonic definition, the sonatas gave ample opportunity for the soloists to show off their virtuosity. Soloists developed their technique with pieces such as The Sonatas for Violin and Continuo by violin virtuoso Arcangelo Corelli (). These pieces were published January 1, 1700, and quickly became a standard teaching tool for violin technique and musical inventiveness. Corelli's Folia Variations offer a rousing example of the musical effectiveness of solid violin technique and of the variation form. The violin begins quietly, builds to a musical climax, then returns to the calmer atmosphere in which it began.
Concerto Grosso and the Solo Concerto
became the most common instrumental form for the newly developed
orchestra. This genre, first popularized by Corelli, was composed
chiefly for string instruments with alternating solo and tutti
sections. This contrast was essential in giving the form its musical
vitality. Generally opening and closing with the full orchestra, the
brilliant solo passage work allowed the soloists to show off their
technical prowess which was greatly enhanced by their marvelous new
() expanded substantially on the ground laid by Corelli.
Perhaps the best distinction that can be drawn between the solo
concerto and concerto grosso form is that in the solo concerto the
contrast between the solo and orchestral sections are even longer and
more vivid. By the middle of the eighteenth century the solo concerto
emerged as the central musical form of this genre. The Classical
symphony clearly evolved from the Baroque concerto grosso, especially
the symphony's three or four movements with alternating tempos and
its ensemble texture broken by short solo passages for different
instruments.
One of the most popular Baroque instrumental works, Vivaldi's Four Seasons is fundamentally a concerto grosso for solo violin. It is also an example of program music, that is, music that tells a story, often with the mimicking of everyday sounds.
Bach's popular six Brandenburg Concertos (), probably sent as a set in 1710 to the Margrave (or Count) of Brandenburg in search of a new post, demonstrate the transition from concerto grosso to solo concerto. Each concerto uses different combinations of instruments, some only appearing once. The vivid tone colors of the varied instruments enhance the contrast between soloists and orchestra. The solo group for Brandenburg No. 5 is flute, violin and harpsichord. As with Vivaldi's solo violin concertos, the harpsichord offers a dazzling cadenza before the movement closes with a satisfying return to the original orchestral material. Although short cadenzas were occasionally used in concerti grossi, the long elaborate cadenzas closing the first movement is much more typical of the later solo concertos. Both Bach and Vivaldi were crucial to the development of the solo concerto, and their compositions helped prepare the way for Mozart's sublime piano concertos of a half century later.