Research & Projects: Early Baroque (Optional)

Research

Choose one of the following prompts and write a short response (1/2-1 page):

• Several times in this lesson there is mention of one composer being influenced by another from a different country. While this would be a trivial occurrence in our day, cross-country travel would be far less common in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Pick any two composers from the lesson and research how one was influenced by the other. Did he hear a piece performed? Did he visit the other composer? Did someone relay a tune he had heard? Be a bit of a detective…
• Draw from your knowledge of history and connect a composer or piece of music to the development of Protestantism in Europe.

Projects

Develop one of the following with your parent/teacher into a project of appropriate scope:

• Early Baroque composers
  • Writing: Take one of the composers discussed in this lesson and imagine he was born in a different country. How might his music have been different? Take one of his famous pieces and describe how various parts of it might have changed, and note how the instruments for which he composed might have been different.
  • Art: Create a portrait, bust, or collage of one of the composers studied in this lesson.
• Early Baroque instruments
  • Performance: Sit down at a piano or keyboard in “piano” mode. [Perhaps ask your church office if they have one on which you can practice.] Whether you can play a tune or just an assortment of keys, try to get different types of sounds from the instrument (try the foot pedals!). Then, compare the sounds you are making and those made by a harpsichord and an organ in the selections from this lesson. How are they different? For what types of music is each instrument suited?
  • Art: Create a “how-to” poster, infographic, or other presentation of the way to make music on an organ or harpsichord.