The Baroque Period

(1600-1750)
Baroque music describes a style of European
classical music approximately extending from
1600 to 1750.This era is said to begin in music
after the Renaissance and was followed by the
Classical music era. The word "baroque" came
from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning
"misshapen pearl",a strikingly fitting
characterization of the architecture of this period;
later, the name came to be applied also to its
music.
Baroque music forms a major portion of the
classical music canon, being widely studied,
performed, and listened to. It is associated with
composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach,
Antonio Vivaldi, Jean-Baptiste Lully, George
Frideric Handel, Arcangelo Corelli, Claudio
Monteverdi, Jean-Philippe Rameau and Henry
Purcell. The baroque period saw the
development of functional tonality.
During the period, composers and performers
used more elaborate musical ornamentation;
made changes in musical notation, and
developed new instrumental playing techniques.
Baroque music expanded the size, range, and
complexity of instrumental performance, and also
established opera as a musical genre.
Basso Continuo
The beginnings of the Baroque Period was
marked by the emergence of the solo song.
This song ws accompanied by bass
instruments such as the viola da gamba, and
the early keyboard instruments (the
harpischord or organ). The accompaniment
which is called basso continuo or figured
bass or thorough bass consists of a written
bass line with numerals below the notes.
 Baroque Vocal Style
The vocal forms of Baroque period were
based on the monodic style.

Recitative – is a singing speech wherein

the rhythm is dictated by natural
pronunciation of the word. Recitative is
sung in free and flexible rhythm with basso
continuo accompaniment.
Arioso – the general characteristics of
recitative is declamatory, while arioso is
lyrical. The tempo of arioso is steady. It
has only one basic mood that tends to
dwell on a single emotional stall.
Aria – later on, arioso expanded into aria,
which is a three-part form (ABA). First
section (A) was followed by second
section (B) which is contrasting to the first
one and goes back to first section (A) and
ends in it.
Styles and Forms
 Concerto Grosso

It is the most important form of orchestral

music in the Baroque Period. It employs an
orchestra consisting mainly of strings with a
group of several solo instruments called the
concertino which plays in opposition to the
whole orchestra called tutti. The tutti is
mainly stringed instruments with
harpischord as part of the basso continuo.
The concerto grosso consists of 3
movements: fast; slow; fast that constrast
in tempo and character. The opening
movement is vigorous and determined,
clearly showing the contrast between the
soloist and the tutti. The slow movement is
quieter than the first, often lyrical and
intimate. The last movement is lively and
carefree sometimes with dancelike
character.
 Suite
It is an ordered set of instrumental pieces
meant to be performed at a single sitting.
In the Baroque period, it is an instrumental
genre consisting of several movements in
the same key where some or all of them
are based on the forms and styles of
dance music. Other terms for Baroque
group dances include partita, overture,
and sonata da camera.
These, however, constitute the raw
material for a dance sequence rather than
a sequence that would actually be played.
The classical suite include allemande,
courante, sarabande and gigue.
 Oratorio
It is an extended musical setting of a sacred,
usually non-liturgical text. Oratorio originated
in the informal meetings, or spiritual
exercises, of a group founded by St. Filippo
Neri in 1550. The name came from the
oratory or prayer hall in which the meetings
were held. It is a composition for chorus,
vocal soloists and for the orchestra in a large-
scale. It is a composition with narration.
English oratorio was essentially Handel’s
creation – a synthesis of elements from the
English anthem, French classical drama,
Italian opera seria and oratorio volgare, and
the German protestant oratorio. For Handel,
oratorio normally meant a-three-act dramatic
work on a Biblical subject, with prominent use
of the chorus, performed as a concert in a
theater. The Messiah is the well-known
oratorio of Handel where the Hallelujah
chorus was taken. The Messiah deals with a
New testament subject but with no plot. It is
meditative rather than dramatic.
TEN GREAT COMPOSERS

Baroque Period
 1. Johann Sebastian Bach
• Coming in at number one is Johann
Sebastian Bach. Bach was a genius
keyboardist (mastering the organ and
harpsichord) and brilliant composer. Bach
brought baroque music to its culmination,
writing music for nearly every type of musical
form.
• Popular Works: Air in G String, Double Violin
Concerto, Brandenburg, Concerto No.3, B
Minor Mass, and The Unaccompanied Cello
Suites
 2. George Frideric Handel
• Born in the same year as J.S. Bach in a town
fifty miles away, George Frideric Handel,
who later became a British citizen, led a
much different life than Bach. Handel, too,
composed for every musical genre of his
time, even creating the English oratorio.
• Popular Works: The Messiah, Music for the
Royal Fireworks, and Water Music
 3. Antonio Vivaldi
• Vivaldi wrote over 500 concertos and is
believed to have invented ritornello form (a
theme returning throughout the piece).
However, much of Vivaldi’s music lay
“undiscovered” until the early 1930’s; this
newly discovered music earned Vivaldi the
title “The Viennese Counterpart to Bach and
Handel”.
• Popular Works: The Four Seasons, Gloria,
and Con Alla Rustica In G
 4. George Philipp Telemann
• A good friend of both Bach and Handel,
George Philipp Telemann was also a
distinguished musician and composer of
his time. Telemann’s incorporation of
unusual instrumentation in his concertos is
one of the things that made him unique.
• Popular Works: Viola Concerto in G, Trio
Sonata in C minor, and the Paris Quartets
 5. Arcangelo Corelli
• Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian teacher,
violinist, and composer. Corelli’s mastery
of the tone of the newly invented violin
earned him great reviews throughout
Europe. He is coined to have been the first
person to create basic violin technique.
• Popular Works: Concerto Grossi,
Christmas Concerto, and Sonata de
camera in D minor
 6. Henry Purcell
• With a lifetime of only thirty-five years, Purcell
achieved such musical greatness as being
considered one of England’s greatest
composers and the most original composer of
his time. Purcell was extremely talented in
word-setting and composed very successful
works for stage.
• Popular Works: Dido & Aeneas, The Fairy
Queen, and Sound of Trumpet
 7. Domenico Scarlatti
• Domenico Scarlatti, son of Alessandro
Scarlatti (another well-known baroque
composer), wrote 555 known harpsichord
sonatas, of which, over half was written in the
last six years of his life. Scarlatti made use if
Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish dance
rhythms throughout many of his works.
• Popular Works: Essercizi per Gravicembalo
(sonatas for harpsichord)
 8. Jean-Philippe Rameau
• A French composer, Jean-Philippe Rameau]’s
music was known for its bold melodic lines
and harmonies. Aside from harpsichord,
Rameau]’s greatest contribution to music was
in tragedie lyrique opera. His wide use of
moods and musical colors were beyond those
of his counterparts.
• Popular Works: Hippolyte et Aricie and Castor
et Pollux, Trait, and Les Indes galantes
 9. Johann Pachelbel
• Johan Pachelbel taughtJohann Christoph
Bach (J.S. Bach’s older brother) music
J.C. Bach said that J.S. Bach greatly
admired Pachelbel’s music. Pachelbel’s
music is considered by many to be
stylistically related to J.S. Bach’s.
• Popular Works:Canon in D, Chaconne in F
minor, and Toccata in C minor for organ
10. Giovanni Battista Sammartini
• Giovanni Battista Sammartini is one of the
earliest composers of the symphony (sixty-
eight of them have survived). Many
believe his symphonic wroks and thematic
development are the precursors to Haydn
and Mozart.
• Popular Works: Sonata No.3, Recorder
Sonata in A minor
Renaissance Period and
Palestina
Renaissance means rebirth. It was a period of
adventure and exploration. In this period, there
was an intellectual organization that was
focused on individual’s accomplishments which
is called Humanism. Texture in music is chiefly
polyphonic although homophonic style is also
used in light music and dances. There is a
gentle flow in rhythm and melodies are easy to
sing.
 Main forms of Sacred Renaissance are:
• Motet is one of the most important forms of
polyphonic music. Derived from the French
word mot, it originated in the practice of
Perotin and his contemporaries at Notre
Dame, Paris of adding words to the upper
voice or voice of a Clauscula. It is an
unaccompanied choral composition based on
a Latin sacred text. In a motet, all the voices
are singing the same text in a unified piece.
• Mass is similar to motet but is longer. It
follows the Catholic church religious service
and is sung in a specific order. Giovanni
Pierluigi da Palestrina was the famous Italian
composer of the period, who wrote music for
the Catholic Church. An example of a mass
is Pope Marcellus Mass by Palestrina.
 Characteristics of the Renaissance
Music

1. Vocal music was important than

instrumental music. Renaissance
composers used the word painting to
denote a musical representation of a
specific line or image.
2. There is gentleness rhythm, singers will
enjoy singing renaissance songs
because melodies were easy to
remember.

3. Texture is thicker in this period, the use of

polyphonic texture is very obvious
because there are more than four voices
arranged in a composition
Madrigal
The term madrigal has two distinct
unconnected meanings: a poetic and musical
form of 14th century Italy and a 16th or 17th
century setting of secular verse. It is a piece
for several solo voices set to a short poem,
usually about love using the vernacular
language. During a courtly social gatherings
and meetings of learned and artistic societies,
madrigals are sung.
Lute and harpischord are usually the
accompaniment of a madrigal. Lute was one
of the most popular instruments of the
Renaissance. Lute has a pear0shaped body
with frets and a varying number of strings.
 Troubadours and Trouveres
Lyric poets or poet-musicians of France in
the 12th and 13th centuries. Poets working
in the south of France are generally
termed troubadours; those of the north,
writing in French are called trouveres.
Troubadours were often of nobility and high
social standing but they could come from any
social background as long as they conformed
to courtly ideals and courtly love. The main
topic of troubadours’ poetry is love in its
various aspects. Troubadour songs are
strophic.
 The principal genres are:
• Canso – courtly love song
• Dansa – mock-popular song based on a
dance form
• Descort – a lover’s apologia
• Gap – a challenge
• Pastorela – a n amorous encounter between
a knight and a shepherdess
• Plank – a lament
• Sirvantes – a satirical poem written in local
language and set to music from a
borrowed melody
• Tenso, apartimen and joc-partit – songs of
debate
• Vers – an early term used by the
troubadours
The French of the trouveres was not
standardized but rather a collection of
related, regional languages. The tradition is
close to that of the troubadours and parallels
exist, including the fact that it is essentially
courtly poetry celebrating love or fine armour
in a refined mode of expression.