Pastorale refers to something of a

pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

nature in music, whether in form or in mood. In

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...

, a pastorale is a movement of a melody in thirds over a drone bass, recalling the

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

of ''pifferari'', players of the traditional Italian bagpipe (

zampogna Zampogna (, , ) is a generic term for a number of Italian double chantered bagpipe that can be found as far north as the southern part of the Marche, throughout areas in Abruzzo, Latium, Molise, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia and Sicily. Th ...

) and reed pipe ( piffero). Pastorales are generally in 6/8 or 9/8 or 12/8 metre, at a moderate tempo. They resemble a slowed-down version of a tarantella, encompassing many of the same rhythms and melodic phrases. Common examples include the last movement of Corelli's ''

Christmas Concerto Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8 by Arcangelo Corelli, known commonly as the ''Christmas Concerto'', was commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni and published posthumously in 1714 as part of Corelli's '' Twelve concerti grossi, Op. ...

'' (Op.6, No.8), the third movement of

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

's ''Spring'' concerto from The Four Seasons, the '' Pifa'' movement of

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

'', the first movements of Bach's ''Pastorale'' (BWV 590) for organ, and the ''Sinfonia'' that opens part II of his

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance on one of t ...

as an introduction to the angelic announcement to the shepherds. Scarlatti wrote some examples in his keyboard sonatas, and many other composers in the transition between the baroque and classical eras, particularly French ( Marc-Antoine Charpentier), used this technique.

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

famously included a Pastorale section in his '' William Tell Overture.'' The Italian pastorale ''

Tu scendi dalle stelle "" (; "From Starry Skies Thou Comest", "From Starry Skies Descending", "You Came a Star from Heaven", "You Come Down from the Stars") is a Christmas carol from Italy, written in 1732 in Nola by Saint Alphonsus Liguori in the musical style of a past ...

'', sometimes called "Carol of the Bagpipers" (''Canzone d'i zampognari''), is a widely popular Christmas carol by St. Alfonso Liguori, and Pietro Yon's ''

Gesù bambino is an Italian Christmas carol composed by Pietro Yon in 1917. The melody was used by Frederick H. Martens in his English language carol "When Blossoms Flowered 'mid the Snows". The melody and lyrics of the chorus are derived from the chorus of " ...

'' is another. The Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's song collection '' Fredman's Epistles'' contain several pastorales, including ''

Liksom en Herdinna, högtids klädd Liksom en Herdinna, högtids klädd ("Like a Shepherdess, festively dressed"), is a song by the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman from his 1790 collection, ''Fredman's Epistles'', where it is No. 80. The Epistle is subtitled "Angå ...

'' (Like a Shepherdess, Solemnly Dressed), which begins with a near- paraphrase of the start of Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux's French guide to the construction of pastoral verse. Britten Austin, Paul. ''The Life and Songs of Carl Michael Bellman: Genius of the Swedish Rococo''. Allhem, Malmö American-Scandinavian Foundation, New York, 1967. . Pages 153–155 Pastorales are still played in the regions of Southern Italy where the

continues to thrive. The pastorale can be played by a solo zampogna player, sometimes also accompanied by the piffero (also commonly called a ciaramella, pipita, or bifera), which is a primitive key-less, double-reed, oboe-type instrument.

References

{{Authority control Baroque music Classical period (music) Italian folk music