Baroque style

 Derived from the Portuguese barroco, or “oddly

MAJOR BAROQUE shaped pearl,” the term “baroque” has been widely
COMPOSERS used since the nineteenth century to describe the
period in Western European art music from about
 Johann Sebastian 1600 to 1750. Comparing some of music history’s
Bach greatest masterpieces to a misshapen pearl might
 Marc-Antoine seem strange to us today, but to the nineteenth
Charpentier century critics who applied the term, the music of
 Antonio Corelli Bach and Handel’s era sounded overly ornamented
 François Couperin and exaggerated. Having long since shed its
 Girolamo derogatory connotations, “baroque” is now simply a
Frescobaldi convenient catch-all for one of the richest and most
 George Frideric diverse periods in music history.
Handel
 Jean-Baptiste Lully  Characteristics. The Baroque style is
 Claudio Monteverdi characterized by exaggerated motion and clear detail
 Giovanni Battista used to produce drama, exuberance, and grandeur in
sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance,
Pergolesi
and music.
 Michael Praetorius
 Henry Purcell
 Baroque music, a style of music that
 Jean-Phillippe
prevailed during the period from about 1600 to about
Rameau
1750, known for its grandiose, dramatic, and
 Alessandro Scarlatti
energetic spirit but also for its stylistic diversity. ...
 Domenico Scarlatti The instrumental tradition in Italy found its
 Samuel Scheidt great Baroque composers in Arcangelo Corelli,
 Johann Hermann Antonio Vivaldi, and Giuseppe Tartini.
Schein
 Heinrich Schütz
 Georg Philipp
Telemann
 Antonio Vivaldi

SEASON SPONSORS
 What are the characteristics of Baroque music?
I. Contrast as a dramatic element Contrast is an important ingredient
in the drama of a Baroque composition. The differences between loud
and soft, solo and ensemble (as in the concerto), different instruments
and timbres all play an important role in many Baroque compositions.
Composers also began to be more precise about instrumentation,
often specifying the instruments on which a piece should be played
instead of allowing the performer to choose. Brilliant instruments like
the trumpet and violin also grew in popularity.
II. Monody and the advent of the basso continuo In previous musical
eras, a piece of music tended to consist of a single melody, perhaps
with an improvised accompaniment, or several melodies played
simultaneously. Not until the Baroque period did the concept of
“melody” and “harmony” truly begin to be articulated. As part of the
effort to imitate ancient music, composers started focusing less on the
complicated polyphony that dominated the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries and more on a single voice with a simplified
accompaniment, or monody.
III. Different instrumental sounds
After being ignored for decades, Baroque music has become
increasingly popular over the last fifty years. 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. While we will never be able to recreate a
performance precisely, their work has unearthed several major
differences between Baroque and modern ensembles:

What musical forms came to define the baroque

era?
I. Opera: A drama that is primarily sung, accompanied by instruments,
and presented on stage. Operas typically alternate between recitative,
speech-like song that advances the plot, and arias, songs in which
characters express feelings at particular points in the action.
Choruses and dances are also frequently included. The advent of the
genre at the turn of the seventeenth century is often associated with
the activities of a group of poets, musicians and scholars in Florence
known today as the Florentine Camerata.
 II. Oratorio: an extended musical drama with a text based on religious
subject matter, intended for performance without scenery, costume or
action. Oratorio originally meant prayer hall, a building located
adjacent to a church that was designed as a place for religious
experiences distinct from the liturgy. Although there are late sixteenth
century precedents for the oratorio in
the motet and madrigal repertoire, the oratorio as a distinct musical
genre emerged amidst the excellent acoustics of these spaces in the
early 1600s. By the middle of the 17th century, oratorios were
performed in palaces and public theaters and were growing
increasingly similar to operas, although the subject matter, division
into two parts (rather than three acts) and absence of staged action
still set it apart.
III. Cantata: an extended piece consisting of a succession of recitatives
and set pieces such as arias, duets and choruses. 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. Many of these works were published,
suggesting that they were performed by professional musicians and
amateurs alike. By the middle of the century cantatas were published
less frequently, suggesting that performances were increasingly being
done by professionals. By the end of the 17th century, cantatas began
incorporating the da capo aria and often had orchestral
accompaniments.
IV. Sonata: Used to describe several types of pieces in the baroque era,
the term sonata most commonly designated a work in several
movements for one or more instruments (most frequently violins) and
bassocontinuo; a sonata for two violins or other treble instruments
plus bass was usually called a trio sonata. By the 1650s, sonatas
were often classified either as sonatas da chiesa (“church sonatas”),
usually comprised of four movements alternating between slow and
fast tempos and performed in church, or sonatas da
camera (“chamber sonata”), which consisted of a series of dances
akin to the suite.
V. Concerto: Derived from the Italian concertare (to join together, unite),
the concerto took several forms during the baroque era. Until the early
18th century, a concerto was simply a composition that united a
diverse ensemble consisting of voices, instruments or both. Sacred
works for voices and instruments were often called concertos, while
similar secular works were generally termed arie (airs), cantatas
or musiche.
VI. Suite: Based on the traditional pairing of dances in the Renaissance,
the suite was the first multi-movement work for instruments. The suite
was essentially a series of dances in the same key, most or all of
them in two-part form. Around the middle of the 17th century in
Germany the sequence
of allemande, courante, sarabande and giguebecame relatively
standard, although other dance movements, such as additional
allemandes or courantes,bourreés, gavottes and minuets, were often
inserted. Most suites also began with an introductory movement such
as a prelude, ouverture or fantasia.
 Musical Styles in the Baroque Era

 Mood

A Baroque piece expresses only one basic mood, and follows what is
termed the ‘doctrine of affect’. Composers used musical language to depict
particular affective states, specific rhythms and melodic patterns being associated
with each. Word-painting was especially used to associate what one was playing
to certain texts of music, for example, "Primavera" (Spring) within Vivaldi's "Four
Seasons." The sonnet that precedes each movement describes what the music
will be representing (i.e. violins emulating birds, thunderstorms, dogs, etc).

 Rhythm

Unity is achieved through rhythmic continuity. The same rhythmic patterns

are repeated throughout a Baroque piece of music. Some might think that this
repetition would become tedious, but this, however, has the opposite effect,
propelling the music forward. The beat is emphasized very strongly, which is a
huge leap from the rhythmically free nature of the Medieval Gregorian Chant.

 Melody

The Baroque melodies also create a feeling of continuity. The melody was
also repeated in the same way as the rhythm. An unraveling, unwinding and
expansion of the melody was gradually created as the piece goes along. As a
result, melodies of this era tend to lack the kind of symmetry and balance
associated with Classical era melodies.

 Dynamics

Baroque music uses terraced dynamics. This means that the volume stays
the same for a period of time, then there is a sudden shift to a different dynamic
level. There are no gradual changes in dynamics (such as a crescendo or
decrescendo). Terraced dynamics were used as the main keyboard instrument
was the harpsichord, which could only be played in two modes, either loud (forte)
or soft (piano), precluding the ability to accomplish crescendos or decrescendos.

 Texture

Textures used in the Baroque period, especially in the early part (c. 1600-
1660), were predominantly homophonic, or melody with basso continuo, typical
of Baroque music. In the late Baroque era, German composers such as Telemann,
Bach, and Handel experimented with counterpoint and helped to create, in no
small degree, Baroque polyphonic music.
 Harmony

Chords became increasingly important in the Baroque period. Before then,

composers were concerned with the individual beauty of melodic lines, rather
than with chords. Chords were previously a mere by-product of the motion of
several simultaneously sounding melodic lines. In Baroque, chords become
significant in themselves, due to the emphasis on the Bass Voice. The entire
structure of the Baroque piece rested on the Bass Voice. This new emphasis on
chords and the Bass part results in the most characteristic feature of all Baroque
music – the Basso Continuo (alternatively translated as Thoroughbass or Figured
Bass).

The Basso Continuo consists of a bass part together with numbers below each
note which specify the chord to be played above it. It is played by at least two
instruments, usually the organ or harpsichord (to produce the chords) reinforced
by a cello or bassoon. The performer was given a great deal of freedom with
regards the realization of the figured bass. The Basso Continuo was also used in
the early classical period, particularly in some works by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach,
who will be covered in the next chapter.

 Words and Music

Word painting was still important, and composers emphasized words

through their music.

 Orchestra

The orchestra was based on the string instruments, and usually consisted of 10 to
40 instruments. However, there was a very flexible arrangement of instruments.
At its nucleus were the basso continuo and upper strings. The use of woodwinds,
brass and percussion was variable.

 Genres

Compositions include sets of movements/pieces. A movement is considered an

independent piece. The musical genres used during the Baroque era include:
opera, oratorio, cantata, suite, sonata, mass, concerto and fugue.
 Baroque art and architecture, the visual arts and building design and
construction produced during the era in the history of Western art that roughly
coincides with the 17th century. The earliest manifestations, which occurred in
Italy, date from the latter decades of the 16th century, while in some regions,
notably Germany and colonial South America, certain culminating achievements
of Baroque did not occur until the 18th century. The work that distinguishes the
Baroque period is stylistically complex, even contradictory. In general, however,
the desire to evoke emotional states by appealing to the senses, often in dramatic
ways, underlies its manifestations. Some of the qualities most frequently
associated with the Baroque are grandeur, sensuous richness, drama, vitality,
movement, tension, emotional exuberance, and a tendency to blur distinctions
between the various arts.

In art criticism the word Baroque came to be used to describe anything

irregular, bizarre, or otherwise departing from established rules and proportions.
This biased view of 17th-century art styles was held with few modifications by
critics from Johann Winckelmann to John Ruskin and Jacob Burckhardt, and until
the late 19th century the term always carried the implication of odd, grotesque,
exaggerated, and overdecorated. It was only with Heinrich Wölfflin’s pioneer
study Renaissance und Barock (1888) that the term Baroque was used as a
stylistic designation rather than as a term of thinly veiled abuse, and a systematic
formulation of the characteristics of Baroque style was achieved.
 What Influenced the Baroque Movement?
There are many things that inspired the Baroque artists. This period was
man’s first “modern age” of art, so there was a certain freedom that these artists
had to express themselves, and this freedom had really never existed prior to this
time. Artists were now able to express their emotions, and their reality. This
period was a turning point for humanity. It was a time when there was more
awareness of people, surrounding, nature and the world. The world was
expanding and scientific discoveries were influencing the art and the times.
Galileo’s investigations of the planets accounted for the painting of many
astronomical motifs of the time. Landscapes began to become popular as people
realized that there was more to the world than just the church and themselves.
World trade began to be portrayed in the exotic themes that many artists of the
time chose.

At the time the Roman Catholic Church greatly influenced art and
influenced the movement in its attempts to combat the spread of the protestant
movement. Even politics influenced the baroque movement. The greatness of the
Spanish and French kingdom influenced the grandeur of the movement. As
mentioned before there were many influences in the Baroque period and it was
an awakening for many societies and many artists.

The Most Representative Painting of the Baroque Period

One of the paintings that
best represents the Baroque
period would have to be the Flight
into Egypt, which was painted in
1597 by Caravaggio. The Baroque
period distinguished itself by
adding modern images to biblical
historical scenes and in this
painting Caravaggio demonstrates
his great ability to do just that.

This painting does not

represent just one biblical scene,
but a combination of many of the bibles stories that involve the fleeing of the
Holy family into Egypt, to avoid the ire of Herod, who was trying to kill the Christ
child. In the painting Caravaggio chose to paint Mary asleep with the baby Jesus,
and Joseph stands holding a manuscript that is given to him by the angel. The
manuscript represents the modern man. The angel stands to the side and is
singing a hymn to Mary on the violin, the violin being an instrument of the 1600s
and non existent during Christ’s period.

By adding features like the violin and the manuscript Caravaggio has
managed to make this biblical story more modern, something that the Baroque
man can identify with. This was Caravaggio’s first large scale work, the painting
epitomizes the Baroque period because of the nature of the work, the tones, the
shift in dark and light shadowing, and the realistic modern subjects. Much of
Caravaggios work ranks among the highest as representative of the Baroque
period. It is a shame that he was only able to work for about 10 years before
being killed.

Baroque Architecture
The Baroque period affected Architecture in the 17th century and began in
Italy. This style developed from Renaissance architecture, and developed into a
more theatrical style. The objective was to express the triumph of the Catholic
Church. Architects became concerned for color, lighting and grandeur in the
Baroque style.

The Baroque came about because of the Catholic Church reformation in response
to the protestant reformation. The point was to be more emotionally accessibly
and yet, portray the grandeur and the power of the Catholic Church. Later this
architectural movement went on to affect the architecture within the nobility too.
First it affected the grand palaces of France, and then followed throughout
Europe.

Features of Baroque movement include, dramatic use of light, chiaroscuro effects,

large scale ceilings on which frescoes are painted, long narrow naves,
Ostentatious decorations including gilded ones, and the use of marble, and other
faux finishes.

Often the interior of Baroque building were just large areas, which were only to
be used to house more painting and sculpture of the period. The Baroque
movement spread quickly throughout Europe and Latin America. This movement
was a way of presenting grandeur for both the church and for the nobility, and
today we have many beautiful representations that still exist of the movement.
 Styles/Types of Baroque Art

In order to fulfill its propagandist role, Catholic-inspired Baroque art tended

to be large-scale works of public art, such as monumental wall-paintings and huge
frescoes for the ceilings and vaults of palaces and churches. Baroque
paintingillustrated key elements of Catholic dogma, either directly in Biblical
works or indirectly in mythological or allegorical compositions. Along with this
monumental, high-minded approach, painters typically portrayed a strong sense
of movement, using swirling spirals and upward diagonals, and strong sumptuous
colour schemes, in order to dazzle and surprise. New techniques
of tenebrism and chiaroscuro were developed to enhance atmosphere. Brushwork
is creamy and broad, often resulting in thick impasto. However, the theatricality
and melodrama of Baroque painting was not well received by later critics, like the
influential John Ruskin (1819-1900), who considered it insincere. Baroque
sculpture, typically larger-than-life size, is marked by a similar sense of dynamic
movement, along with an active use of space.

Baroque architecture was designed to create spectacle and illusion. Thus

the straight lines of the Renaissance were replaced with flowing curves, while
domes/roofs were enlarged, and interiors carefully constructed to produce
spectacular effects of light and shade. It was an emotional style, which, wherever
possible, exploited the theatrical potential of the urban landscape - as illustrated
by St Peter's Square (1656-67) in Rome, leading up to St Peter's Basilica. Its
designer, Bernini, one of the greatest Baroque architects, ringed the square with
colonnades, to convey the impression to visitors that they are being embraced by
the arms of the Catholic Church.

As is evident, although most of the architecture, painting and sculpture

produced during the 17th century is known as Baroque, it is by no means a
monolithic style. There are at least three different strands of Baroque, as follows:

(1) Religious Grandeur

A triumphant, extravagant, almost theatrical (and at times) melodramatic style
of religious art, commissioned by the Catholic Counter Reformation and the
courts of the absolute monarchies of Europe. This type of Baroque art is
exemplified by the bold visionary sculpture and architecture of Bernini (1598-
1680), by the trompe l'oeil illusionistic ceiling frescoes of Pietro da Cortona(1596-
1669) - see his masterpiece Allegory of Divine Providence (1633-39) - and by the
grandiose paintings of the Flemish master Rubens (1577-1640).
(2) Greater Realism
A new more life-like or naturalist style of figurative composition. This new
approach was championed by Carravaggio (1571-1610), Francisco Ribalta(1565–
1628), Velazquez (1599-1660) and Annibale Carracci (1560-1609). The boldness
and physical presence of Caravaggio's figures, the life-like approach to religious
painting adopted by Velazquez, a new form of movement and exuberance
pioneered by Annibale Carracci, and a realistic form of rustic Biblical genre
painting, complete with animals, evolved by Castiglione (1609-64) - all these
elements were part of the new and dynamic style known as Baroque. See
also: Classicism and Naturalism in Italian 17th Century Painting.

(3) Easel Art

Unlike the large-scale, public, religious works of Baroque artists in Catholic
countries, Baroque art in Protestant Holland (often referred to as the Dutch
Golden Age) was exemplified by a new type of easel-art - a glossy form of genre-
painting - aimed at the prosperous bourgeois householder. This new Dutch Realist
School of genre painting also led to enhanced realism in portrait art and
landscape painting, flower pictures, animal compositions and, in particular, to
new forms of still life painting, including the Protestant-inspired genre known
as vanitas painting (flourished 1620-50). Different towns and areas had their own
'schools' or styles, such as Utrecht, Delft, Leiden, Amsterdam, Haarlem and
Dordrecht. See: Dutch Realist Artists.

In addition, to complicate matters further, Rome - the very centre of the

movement - was also home to a "classical" style, as exemplified in the paintings of
the history painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) and the Arcadian landscape
artist Claude Lorrain (1600-82).
 History of Baroque Art

Following the pronouncements made by the Council of Trent on how art

might serve religion, together with the upsurge in confidence in the Roman
Catholic Church, it became clear that a new style of Biblical art was necessary in
order to support the Catholic Counter Reformation and fully convey the miracles
and sufferings of the Saints to the congregation of Europe. This style had to be
more forceful, more emotional and imbued with a greater realism. Strongly
influenced by the views of the Jesuits (the Baroque is sometimes referred to as
'the Jesuit Style'), architecture, painting and sculpture were to work together to
create a unified effect. The initial impetus came from the arrival in Rome during
the 1590s of Annibale Carracci and Carravaggio (1571-1610). Their presence
sparked a new interest in realism as well as antique forms, both of which were
taken up and developed (in sculpture) by Alessandro Algardi (in sculpture) and
Bernini (in sculpture and architecture). Peter Paul Rubens, who remained in Rome
until 1608, was the only great Catholic painter in the Baroque idiom, although
Rembrandt and other Dutch artists were influenced by both Caravaggism and
Bernini. France had its own (more secular) relationship with the Baroque, which
was closest in architecture, notably the Palace of Versailles. The key figure in
French Baroque art of the 17th century was Charles Le Brun (1619-90) who
exerted an influence far beyond his own metier. See, for instance, the Gobelins
tapestry factory, of which he was director. Spain and Portugal embraced it more
enthusiastically, as did the Catholic areas of Germany, Austria, Hungary and the
Spanish Netherlands. The culmination of the movement was the High
Baroque (c.1625-75), while the apogee of the movement's grandiosity was
marked by the phenomenal quadratura known as Apotheosis of St Ignatius (1688-
94, S. Ignazio, Rome), by the illusionist ceiling painter Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709).
Surely one of the best Baroque paintings of the 17th century.

Naples, in 1600 the second largest city in Europe after Paris, was an
important centre of Counter-Reformation Baroque art. The Neapolitan School
was developed by Caravaggio, Ribera, Artemesia Gentileschi, Mattia Preti (1613-
99) Luca Giordano (1634-1705), Francesco Solimena (1657-1747) and others. For
more, see: Painting in Naples (1600-1700) and Caravaggio in Naples (1607, 1609-
10). For the early 17th century, see: Neapolitan School of Painting (1600-56); for
later developments see: Neapolitan Baroque Painting (c.1650-1700).

Note: It took longer for the Baroque style to reach Russia. Indeed, it wasn't
until the period of Petrine art in St Petersburg under Peter the Great (1686-1725),
that architects like Rastrelli, Domenico Trezzini, Andreas Schluter, Gottfried
Schadel, Leblond, Michetti, and Matarnovi began designing in the style of Russian
Baroque.

For details of the development of Baroque art outside Italy, see: Flemish
Baroque (c.1600-80), Dutch Baroque (c.1600-80) and Spanish Baroque (1600-
1700).

By the end of the 17th century the grand Baroque style was in decline, as was its
principal sponsor, Italy. The coming European power was France, where a new
and contrasting style of decorative art was beginning to emerge. This light-
hearted style soon enveloped architecture, all forms of interior decoration,
furniture, painting, sculpture and porcelain design. It was known as Rococo.
 5 Greatest Baroque Painters And Their Work

Caravaggio – Bacchus
Few people are aware that Michelangelo Caravaggio, one of the most influential
Baroque painters, was known during his life for his violent behavior. The Italian
artist, who was a leading reformer of European art in the 16th and 17th centuries,
allegedly committed crimes more than once in his life. At the age of 38, he died
under mysterious circumstances in Porto Ercole in Tuscany.

“Bacchus” was painted during Caravaggio’s 1595 sojourn with his first
patron, Cardinal del Monte, and represents Caravaggio’s interpretation of
naturalism.