MUSIC

A P P R E C I AT I O N 1 :
UNIT 6 – BAROQUE
MUSIC & AESTHETIC II
AGES OF WESTERN MUSIC: REVIEW
• Western music can be divided into 7 ages/periods:

Units 5 & 6
will focus on
the Baroque
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
BAROQUE: AN OVERVIEW
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries,

European artists and architects adopted an increasingly elaborate style,

• known as Baroque.

This approach is characterized by:

• an ornate,
• over-the-top aesthetic that
• evokes ethereality and
• aims to inspire awe.
 BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
REVIEW & OVERVIEW

Baroque art and design addressed the viewer’s senses directly, appealing
to their
• emotions as well as
• intellect.

It reflected the hierarchical and patriarchal society of the time,

developing through and being used by those in power –

• church,
• absolute rulers and
• the aristocracy –
to persuade as well as impress,
to be both rich and meaningful.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
REVIEW & OVERVIEW

Compared to
Baroque is known for its
Renaissance’s
control and • movement and
carefully balanced • drama.
proportions,

Baroque period employed

elements that are:
• balanced &
In contrast to
Renaissance’s • rational • dynamic
attitude,
• glitzy, and
• dramatic.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
REVIEW & OVERVIEW

Features of the Baroque period are evident in:

architecture

music

& other branches of art

BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
BA ROQ UE : ST YLISTIC F EATU RE S

Many works of architecture and music appeared during this

period when

• the exaggeration in architectural works is also

• reflected in the music where harmony has reached its extreme point.

Looking at the most important works of the Baroque period,

• the curved lines and embellishments in architecture show themselves in

• the period’s music as magnificent and extravagant decorations
• based on mathematical and geometric proportions.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
BA ROQ UE : ST YLISTIC F EATU RE S
1. Visual:
Baroque artistic movement is
characterized by :
melodramatic tableaus,
lavish ornamentation,
use of deep colours,
chiaroscuro &
asymmetry.
2 Architecture: 3. Music:
Baroque architecture is Baroque music is spirited &
defined by extravagant,
grandeur Much like its artistic and architectural
counterparts, it’s characterized by
gilded ornamentation, winding, florid melodies
lavish decoration & the bass line often serves as a
"heartbeat" which
spaciousness. drives the music forward.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
BA ROQ UE : ST YLISTIC F EATU RE S

A defining characteristic of the Baroque style was

• the way in which the visual arts of painting, sculpture and architecture,
• were brought together into a complete whole,
• to convey a single message or meaning.

This may be due to

• the growing popularity of theatre, including

• the birth of ‘opera’.

This aesthetic was found further parallel to the ‘unity’ rather

than contrasting features of Baroque music.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
BAROQUE: STYLISTIC FEATURES

The theatre was a setting for These performances created wonder

magnificent productions of and awe, with their –
drama ornate costumes
ballet & complex stage sets &
opera – a new art form at that time. ingenious machinery.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
BA ROQ UE : ST YLISTIC F EATU RE S

Theatre was popular both with

• the public and
• at court.
The opera Atys,
• written by Jean-Baptise Lully for the
French court of Louis XIV (reigned
1643-1715), Here is a pen & ink design for the costume of the
• was such a favourite with the King character Hercules in Atys,
• it became known as “The King’s • where Louis XIV is shown in a ballet pose
Opera”. • wearing a Roman-style costume
• identified by his club and lion skin.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
BA ROQ UE : ST YLISTIC F EATU RE S
Theatre also played a role in the power struggles between European courts.

• Rulers vied to outdo each other

• in the magnificence of their productions.

In France, theatre and opera also became a key element of Louis XIV’s cultural
policy, which was used to

• control the nobility, and

• express his power and magnificence.

In the early 18th century, the theatre building itself acquired new importance as
proof of courtly, civic or technological power.

• The resulting new buildings across Europe established the theatre in the form we know today.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA

The Dawn & Rise of Baroque Music:

The power of poetry inspires a musical revolution:

• from the opera stage to the music rooms of the aristocracy,

• composers from Monteverdi to Vivaldi find new ways to bring
emotion alive in music
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA
The Dawn & Rise of
Baroque Music:
The Baroque era in music began
in Italy around 1600, with a
discovery that
• the power of a solo singing voice
• to convey the emotion of poetry.
As in Renaissance period (roughly,
1400 to 1600) the emphasis was on
polyphony and counterpoint:
• multiple tunes that could be sung
simultaneously to create a smooth texture in
which each voice was as important as the
others.
But as the new century dawned, a
radical new style begun to emerge
with the birth of ‘opera’:
• instead of many equal voices, there would be
just one singer.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA

The Dawn & Rise of Baroque Music:

Instead of harmonies created by the seamless interplay of

many melodies, there would be just 2 musical lines written
down:
 The harmonies in between these 2 lines would be
• the sung tune, and filled in by chords on a harpsichord or lute.
• a bass line, played on an instrument such as a cello;  the music would follow the rhythm of the words,
almost like an actor’s declamatory speech.

From these elements would be born a whole new genre of music:

• opera
 BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA
The Dawn & Rise of
Baroque Music:
This new style was
eventually used in some
sacred music
• These musical setting is often
full of drama.
The rhythmic flexibility of the
new operatic style
• eventually translated into instrumental
music.
With no words to express,
instrumentalists would use
• the melody as a vehicle for displaying
their skill,
• improvising increasingly elaborate
ornaments and embellishments to
express the moods and emotions of the
music
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA

Jean Jacques Rousseau described

Baroque music as that in which

• harmony is confused,
• charged with modulations and dissonances,
• having difficult intonations and
• with constrained movement (Hasol 2008).
 BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA
What is the philosophy of
Baroque music?
One of the major
philosophical currents in
Baroque music
• comes from the Renaissance
interest in ideas from ancient
Greece and Rome.
The Greeks and Romans believed that
music
• was a powerful tool of communication
and
• could arouse any emotion in its
listeners.
Hence, composers became increasingly
aware of music’s potential power, and
• cultivated the belief that their own
compositions could have similar effects
• if they correctly emulated ancient
music.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA

What is the philosophy of Baroque music?

Doctrine of the affections:

• also called Doctrine Of Affects,

• German Affektenlehre,

A theory of musical aesthetics, widely accepted by late Baroque

theorists and composers, that embraced the proposition that

• music is capable of arousing

• a variety of specific emotions within the listener.
 BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA

the composer could create a piece of music

What is the
philosophy of Doctrine of the
Baroque affections:
music?
capable of producing a particular involuntary
emotional response in his audience:

by making use • joy is elicited by large intervals,

At the centre of of the proper • sadness by small intervals;
the doctrine standard
• fury may be aroused by a roughness of harmony coupled with a rapid
was the belief musical melody;
that, procedure or
• obstinacy is evoked by the contrapuntal combination of highly
device,
independent (obstinate) melodies
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA
What is the philosophy of Baroque music?

Doctrine of the affections:

What were the main moods in Baroque music?

• revenge,
• jealousy,
• anger,
• love,
• despair,
• peaceful
• happiness etc.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA

What are the characteristics of Baroque

music?

The new interest in music’s dramatic and

rhetorical possibilities gave rise to a wealth
of new sound ideals in the Baroque period.

1. Contrast as a dramatic element

Contrast is an important ingredient in the • loud and soft,

drama of a Baroque composition, which • solo and ensemble (as in the concerto),
may be found in the differences between: • instruments and timbres
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA

What are the characteristics of Baroque

music?

2. Monody and the advent of the basso

continuo

• less on the complicated polyphony that

As part of the effort to imitate ancient music,
composers started focusing
Along with the emphasis on a single melody
and bass line came the practice of basso
continuo - a method of musical notation in
which
dominated the 15th and 16th centuries and
• more on a single voice, or monody, with a
simplified accompaniment.
• the melody and bass line are written out and
• the harmonic filler indicated in a type of
shorthand.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA
What are the characteristics of Baroque
music?

3. Different instrumental sounds

(concertato)

• due to different system of tuning

In pitch –
• due to different instruments, such as
In timbre – harpsichord, lute & viol.

• a Baroque score contains little (if any) information about

elements like
• articulation, ornamentation or dynamics, and so
In performance technique – • modern ensembles need to make their own informed choices
before each performance.
BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA
What musical genres came to define the Baroque era?

While genres from earlier eras continued to be used, such as

• motet or
• particular dances,

the interest in music as a form of rhetoric sparked the development of new genres,
• particularly in the area of vocal music.

Many of the genres associated with the In the realm of instrumental music, the
Baroque era come directly out of this new notion of contrast and the desire to
dramatic impulse, particularly create large-scale forms gave rise to

• opera, • concerto,
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc0rt2wi2ng)
• oratorio and
• sonata and
• cantata
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcRFFmgVGlc&t=3222s • suite
 BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA

Important composers of the Baroque period (Akdeniz,

1999), included:

The early Baroque (between 1600-1640): The maturing-Baroque (between 1670-1710):

• Gesualdo, • Lully,
• Monteverdi,
• Purcell,
• Frescobaldi,
• Buxtehude,
• Schutz,
• Schein and • Pachelbel, and
• Scheidt; • Corelli;

The mid-Baroque (between1640-1670): The late Baroque (between 1710 -1750):

• Carissimi, • Rameau,
• Cavalli and • Scarlatti,
• Locke • Bach and
• Handel.
 BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
BA RO Q UE MU S IC & A RT: A C O M PA RIS O N

it is observed that the characteristics of Baroque era art had profound effect on the
works of architecture and music.
In contrast to the Renaissance, in the Baroque period the narratives are more vibrant
and exciting.
In the curved line and Similarly, excessive decorations with
samples Baroque
of areas under erratic light, era
Baroque musical
era art, works
long and fluent melody and
gives rhythm to structure and
show a
make it a movement that tendency
possible to have various rhythms (Akdeniz, 1999).
to create
connected to light (Germaner, 1997).
 BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
BA RO Q UE MU S IC & A RT: A C O M PA RIS O N
It can be said that the works in the
fields of both architecture and music
have
• a rich language, and
• poetic expression.

When prominent architectural and In both disciplines, designers

music samples from the period are seemed to have been influenced by
examined, common concepts, such as

• harmony,
they are apparent with designs made
of • proportion,
• symmetry,
• geometric proportions and • rhythm and
• mathematical rules. • construction.
 BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
BA RO Q UE MU S IC & A RT: A C O M PA RIS O N

• Curve lines and arches:

 BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
BA RO Q UE MU S IC & A RT: A C O M PA RIS O N

• The section selected from the 555 sonatas composed by Domenico Scarlatti, an important
figure in keyboard music, embody the art of adornment which is a feature of the period:
 BAROQUE MUSIC & AESTHETIC II:
MUSIC IN THE BAROQUE ERA

• Listening Samples on Baroque Music:

• The Baroque Period | Music History Video Lesson:

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otpFHNpC290

• Baroque Music - A Quick Guide

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ua5X35FYko