Sarabande and Gigue from Partita in D

This is one of the most popular types of keyboard composition in the late Baroque period was a set of dance movements know as a suite.  They are not intended for dancing, but to be played at home, usually on the harpsichord.  The Sarabande and the Gigue are the forth and seventh movement of a suite respectively. There is no musical directions such as dynamic marks of articulation in these pieces as they are rarely seen in Baroque period.  It would have been assumed that musicians would know from experience that all the dynamics and tempos are adjusted by themselves.  Performers would also added a few ornaments to the music when they repeat the music for the second time.
As in most Baroque suites,  all the dances are in the same key (D major) and each is in binary form.  They consist of two section, the first one ends in dominant(In this piece of music, the A major) and the second one passing through other related keys and end in the tonic key.  

In the Sarabande,  the first section consist of three four-bar phrases, the first one ends with a perfect cadence in D, the second with imperfect cadence in A and the third one with perfect cadence in A.  Besides the G sharp, all the accidentals indicate chromatic notes.  The longer second section begins in the relative minor (B minor) and E minor before returning to the tonic key in the last ten bars.  Recapitulation appears in the last part of the Sarabande, the most of the materials in the first section are appeared again at nearly the end.  This is described as 'rounded binary form'.  The texture of this piece is homophonic, with melody in the treble part and harmony in the bass part.  Chords are appeared in more important places such as cadences. 


In the Gigue, the first 21 bras are in a fugal texture.  The opening melody is known as the fugal subject and is followed by fugal answer in dominant key in the bass part.  Counterpoint is used in the middle part of the piece, and subjects and counter-suubjects can be heard continuously in this passage.  Subjects is reappeared in the remaining bars, while sometimes it evaporate only after it appears one bar long and sometimes the opening arpeggio is inverted.  The first section of this piece ends with a perfect cadence in the dominant key (A major), and the second section ends in the tonic key (D major).

CSVPA Concert Review - Performance in Jigsaw

This is held in a Ladies' outfit shop called Jigsaw in 8th December, from 5:00pm to 8:00pm.  We have carried our own electronic piano from the second floor of Bridge House and it is very heavy!  We have arrived and started to setup our own performance area in 4:45pm.  Here are the pieces that we have performed that night :


All I want for Christmas Is You  - Laysan and Hyuk
La Pastorella - Cindy and Arion
Christmas Carols - All
Warwick Avenue - Kabi and Hyuk
Mozart Piano Duel K381 Movement I - Arion and Brian
Mozart Piano Dual K381 Movement II,III - Arion and David
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" Variation - Hyuk


I think although there is not much audience that night,  we have done a great job on performing those pieces.  Actually we have attracted quite a few customers, especially when the singers are singing.  They had well prepared and very few of them has sung out of tune.  I really like those Christmas carols as their melodies are very beautiful and enjoyable.  This is a very good experience in performing in the public and I have gained a lot in this performance.

Research on Baroque Music

     Baroque music last for about 150 years, which is approximately between 1600 and 1750.  Before that, people were still having Renaissance music, such as music using modes, and some using monophonic texture.  Music in Baroque period became more polyphonic, and concept of orchestra was first introduced.  Major composers such as J. S. Bach, Handel and Pachelbel were also born in this period.

     J. S. Bach was probably the most important person at this period.  He was borne in Eisenach, German. Bach had chosen St. Michel's church in Luneburg for singing in the choir, where was the place that helped him to became an advanced musical career. Friedrich Emanuel Praetorius had added many important music manuscripts and prints to the school library, thus the school had dozens of collections of music pieces and became famous. The basis for Bach’s chorale piece was probably built in this school.  Everybody should have heard of his preludes and fugues, inventions, partitas and suites. One of his most famous pieces should be "Air on the G String" from Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major, BWV 1068.  It was written for Bach's patron Prince Leopold of Anhalt in between the years 1717 and 1723.  Another famous piece should be the six cello suites, especially the prelude.  It was written for unaccompanied cello, which the six suites are all in different keys.  There were also written in between 1717 and 1723.

     The major influence should be the instrumental music.  Basso continuo, which is also known as figured bass, was introduced in this period.  It was notations that gave bass part players to identify the chords they were playing.  It was also a distinct feature in the Baroque period.  Many instruments are also produced during this period, such as the violin family, flutes, bassoons, timpani and clavichords.  Different forms are also developed, such as fugal forms, variation forms, chorale preludes, improvisatory forms and sonata form. Sonata form was the most important development, as classical period and romantic period also use sonata form as one the the major forms in the compositions.  Orchestra was also formed in this period.  There are two parts in the orchestra, which is solo part and tutti part. This is called concerto grosso, which is the main form of Baroque orchestra literature.  The major component in the orchestra was strings, while there are usually less woodwind and percussion players.  The bass players would be responsible for the basso continuo, and different instruments doubled on each part , thus there was not much color in the Baroque orchestras.

     Ornamentation and basso continuo would be the main characteristic styles of music.  As instrumental music started to get more popular in this period, the ornamentation was also getting more complicated and decorative.  Although they are rarely written out in the music, performers frequently added lots of ornaments to the music.  Shakes, turns, appoggiaturas and mordants are some of the most commonly used ornaments.  Chromatic scales and chords are also used to decorate the piece.  Basso continuo was the distinct feature on Baroque period, as stated before. Counterpoint is also used to harmonize the bass line and make the chord sounds more elegant.  Terraced dynamics are always used in Baroque music, unlike the gradual change, which can be found in Romantic period and 20th century period.  Some works used regular rhythms and strict tempo, while some works are allowed the performer to have rubato.  Cantatas and oratorios were also originated in this period, which is the foundation for the vocal music in later periods.  One of the most famous oratorio pieces would be "Messiah" form Handel. 

Work Cited:

Baroque Music - Part One. Elaine Thornburgh. 13 Oct 2010 <http://trumpet.sdsu.edu/M151/Baroque_Music1.html>.

Baroque Music - Part Two. Elaine Thornburgh. 13 Oct 2010 <http://trumpet.sdsu.edu/M151/Baroque_Music2.html>.

Johann Sebastian Bach's life (1685-1750). Jan Koster. 2002. 13 Oct 2010 <http://www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/diversen/bach/map.html>.

The Baroque Era. Ryan A., Lauren S., Jesse B.. 1998. 13 Oct 2010 <http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/history/history-bar-inst.htm>.

Music of the Early Baroque Period. W. W. Norton & Company. 2002. 13 Oct 2010 <http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/concise/ch9_outline.htm>.

Concert Review - City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

It was held in Corn Exchange in 8:10pm, 9th December.  The conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchstra is Andris Nelsons, who is a Latvia.  The soloist is called Louis Lortie, who is a French-Canadian.  He is particularly good at playing Chopin, Ravel and Beethoven.

Here is the program at that night:

Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.5 "Emperor"

Rachmaninoff - Symphony No.2

Although there is only two pieces, the performance was not short at all and is very impressive.  For the "Emperor" by Beethoven, The orchestra has played very well as the chords are strong enough "ff" parts, and the piano has a very refined technique and has done a great job in displaying the best best tone quality.
The second one is Rachmoninoff's Symphony No.2.  I think the orchestration of this piece is really rich and great because lots of instruments are used in this piece and they blend together perfectly, creating a enjoyable atmoshpere for the audience to listen to.

Concert Review - Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio

It was held in St John's Bar in Cambridge Corn Exchange at 6:00pm, 24th October. The conductor of  the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio is called Terje Mikkelsen, who is a Norwegian.  He is the principle guest conductor of this orchestra.  The violin soloist is called Alena Baeva, who is a Russian. 

The program at that night is as follow:


Ole Olsen - The Wild Hunt of Thor


Jean Sibelius - Voilin Concerto in D minor, Op.47


Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symnphony No.4


The first piece is rarely heard - even the composer is rarely heard. It is a tone poem depicting a kind of Ride of the Valkyries by Qagner and showing the Norweigan mythlogy.  It is quite good and we all enjoyed it.  The seond one is a violin concerto by Sibelius.  It is relatively long but the performance of the soloist was impressive.  The last one is Symphony No.4 by Tchaikovsky. As I have to play the timpani part for the audition, I have listened to the timpani part carefully and looked at how he played.  I think he has maintained a steady rhythm and this is very hard as the notes in the timpani part is very hard to be counted.  But he has played a little bit too loud thus has covered the flute ahnd violin part when the timpani start to play "mf" - "ff" parts.

Concert Review - Piano Recital

It was held in Bateman Auditorium in Gonville and Caius College in 11th September, 6:30pm. The pianist is called Gulsin Onay who is a Turkish. 

Program of that day is as follow:

1.     Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata in C# minor, Op.27 no.3 "Quasi una Fantasia"

2.     Fedrick Chopin - Nocturne in F# minor, Op.48 No.3

3.     Fedrick Chopin - Grande Polonaise Brilliante Op.22

4.     Fedrick Chopin - Andante Spianto

5.     Claude Debussy - Images, Livre II

6.     Robert Schumann - ABEGG variantions Op.1

7.     Bela Bartok - 6 Sketches Op.9b


I can feel the emotion of the piece when she plays Chopin, because I think she is particularly good at playing Chopin's pieces.  She plays "Images" very well too, not too loud but still can bring out the beautiful melody.  Although there is a little bit mistakes when she played the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, the overall performance was really satisfied.  She has played a few more encore pieces and there are awesome too.