Giovanni Carestini Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Giovanni Carestini - Research Paper Example In the period of late baroque, newly introduced genres and techniques were enhanced and expanded: the range of musical instruments was expanded, music forms evolved owing to efforts of composers, vocal techniques were developed. Such prominent composers like Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Bach, Telemann, Corelli and many others created the precious music legacy of the epoch. Among them, there was the most famous court composer of German origin, George Friedrich Handel, who granted special attention to vocal genres in his works. Having composed the first oratorio in 1708 , Handel became engaged in working with vocal genres for the rest of his life. Vocal techniques and styles, in their turn, became more exquisite and complex in Baroque era, and – as Pleasants wrote, 1720’s – 1740’s signified the first golden age of singing in the 18th century . Particularly, a variety of male and female singers performing in the period of late Baroque demonstrated magnificent ornament ation and impressing vocal range. Moreover, Baroque traditions introduced homophony – a type of polyphony, emphasizing a leading voice with help of accompanying ones – and unobtrusiveness of accompaniment. As composers became interested in making voice the central figure in certain genres, the new form of musical thinking emerged: the vocal part should be supported and complemented in a subtle way, which would point it out and lay emphasis on the verbal message it conveyed. Thus, the composers attached much importance to composition of vocal parts.