The Baroque Era

Music from 1600 to 1750

• The word ‘baroque’ comes from a Portuguese term ‘barocco’, which describes a deformed pearl.

• Baroque first became associated with the arts to describe something that was a bit vulgar and over-the-top. B

• The Baroque Era in music saw an explosion of new styles and techniques. The further loosening of the Church’s political control of Europe that had begun during the Renaissance meant that non-religious music could now flourish.

• Vocal music, which had dominated the Renaissance era, was soon taken over in importance by instrumental music. The idea that instruments should be grouped together in a standard way was born and the first versions of the modern orchestra came into being.

• One of the most important types of instrumental music to appear in the Baroque era was the concerto. The concerto had appeared in the Church in the late Renaissance Era - ‘concerto’ probably means to ‘contrast’ or ‘contend’. It gradually became a purely instrumental type of music.

• Two of the greatest composers of concertos were Corelli and Vivaldi; they lived late in the Baroque era, and established the concerto as a way to show off a soloist’s prowess.

• The first ever operas were written in around 1600 in Italy by composers Cavalieri and Monteverdi, and the trend quickly took off. Most operas from the early Baroque Era were based on stories and plays from Greek and Roman mythology.

• Being a dramatic art form, opera encouraged composers to devise ingenious ways of illustrating moods and sentiments in their music; in fact, affecting the listener’s emotions became a major objective in composition during this period.

• Opera spread to France and England, and composers such as Rameau, Handel and Purcell began producing great works.

• In England, an unstaged version of opera was also developed called the oratorio; this was often based on religious text and stories - Handel’s Messiah is a good example.

• Opera didn’t really catch on in Germany, where composers continued to write mainly for the Church as the church was mostly Lutheran - which demanded a different kind of music.

• Protestantism dictated that the Mass didn’t have the same kudos as in the Catholic world - the alternatives were large-scale pieces for singers and orchestra based on religious stories; known as cantatas.

• J.S. Bach, regarded as one of the greatest geniuses in the history of music. He demonstrated a standard approach to harmony - that to the musical world, was the equivalent of showing a new way of spelling words that made it much easier to put sentences together. Bach’s way of thinking dominated music right up until the late 19th century.

• Baroque music usually features a harpsichord, an instrument that was the precursor to the piano.

• Many of the most important features of classical music owe their existence to the Baroque Era - the concerto, the sonata, opera.

• The Baroque Era was where ideas about how music should fit together really took shape; many of these ideas, such as the concept of the orchestra, are still very much in use today.

Great works from the Baroque Era:

Handel: Water Music
Bach: Brandenburg concertos and Cantatas
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Monteverdi: Orfeo