Music in the baroque period

Until the early 18th century, a concerto was simply a composition that united a diverse ensemble consisting of voices, instruments or both. In Germany, the Lutheran chorale formed the basis for extended treatment in the "chorale cantata," a sacred work written for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, and brought to its highest development by J.

About the Baroque Period


As Johann Adolph Scheibe said of J. Along with the emphasis on a single melody and bass line came the practice of basso continuo, a method of musical notation in which the melody and bass line are written out and the harmonic filler indicated in a type of shorthand.

Outside of Italy, the expanding genre of the Lutheran motet began incorporating many elements of the Italian cantata, especially techniques of dramatic expression like recitative and aria.

This harmonic simplification also led to a new formal device of the differentiation of recitative a more spoken part of opera and aria a part of opera that used sung melodies.

The basso continuo group would typically use one or more keyboard players and a lute player who would play the bassline and improvise the chords and several bass instruments e. His inner personal drive to display his musical achievements was evident in a number of ways.

The concerto, of course, is an instrumental form, and during the Baroque era, instrumental music assumed far greater prominence than previously. As the Italian musician Agostino Agazzari explained in This harmonic simplification also led to a new formal device of the differentiation of recitative a more spoken part of opera and aria a part of opera that used sung melodies.

As part of this new interest, scholars and musicians have spent countless hours trying to figure out how the music might have sounded to 17th and 18th century audiences. Quadratura paintings of Atlantes below the cornices appear to be supporting the ceiling of the church.

The polyphony of the late Baroque differed from that of the Renaissance: The Italian tradition of opera gradually dominated most European countries. In the s, Handel wrote 16 organ concertos, and Bach also composed several concertos for harpsichord around the same time most of these are arrangements of preexistent works.

But what saw the most was music, with the works of some of the bests like Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach. Variations in instruments still popular today also gave the baroque ensemble a different sound.

In the late Baroque period, the works of Bach and Handel predominated and constitute an important part of the choral repertoire performed today. This new emphasis on direct melodic expression and clear musical architecture points the way to the classical period, the age of Mozart and Haydn.

Baroque art and architecture

Originating in early 17th century Italy, the cantata began as a secular work composed for solo voice and basso continuo, most likely intended for performance at private social gatherings.The Baroque period saw an explosion of new musical styles with the introduction of the concerto, the sonata and the opera.

The loosening of the Church’s political control of Europe meant that non-religious music could now flourish, in particular instrumental music. Baroque and late Baroque, or Rococo, are loosely defined terms, generally applied by common consent to European art of the period from the early 17th century to the midth century.

About the Baroque Period

Baroque music is a style of Western art music composed from approximately to This era followed the Renaissance, and was followed in turn by the Classical era. The word “baroque” comes from the Portuguese word barroco meaning misshapen pearl, a negative description of the ornate and heavily ornamented music of this period.

About the Baroque Period Derived from the Portuguese barroco, or “oddly shaped pearl,” the term “baroque” has been widely used since the nineteenth century to describe the period in Western European art music from about to Baroque music, a style of music that prevailed during the period from about to aboutknown for its grandiose, dramatic, and energetic spirit but also for its stylistic diversity.

Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, K 64, by Domenico Scarlatti, played on the piano. The Baroque (US: / b ə ˈ r oʊ k / or UK: / b ə ˈ r ɒ k /) is a highly ornate and often extravagant style of architecture, art and music that flourished in Europe from the early 17th until the midth century.

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Music in the baroque period
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