Baroque Period

History of Baroque Music and

Origins

Baroque theatre in Český Krumlov Teatro Argentina (Panini, 1747,Musée du Louvre)

 Baroque Music
Baroque music, written between 1600 and 1750, was a Western art form that followed the
Renaissance and Classical periods. The term "baroque" is derived from the Portuguese word
"barroco," which means deformed pearl.
Baroque music, influenced by composers like Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel,
Alessandro Scarlatti, Domenico Scarlatti, , Antonio Vivaldi, Henry Purcell, and Telemann, is a
significant part of classical music, widely studied and performed.
The Baroque period saw the creation of 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, cantata, oratorio, concerto, and sonata as musical
genres. Many musical terms and concepts from this era are still in use today.
 ETYMOLOGY
Periods of Western classical music
AD / CE
Early
Medieval c. 500–1400
Renaissance c. 1400–1600
Common practice
Baroque c. 1600–1760
Classical c. 1730–1820
Romantic c. 1815–1910
Modern and contemporary
Modern c. 1890–1930
20th century 1901–2000
Contemporary c. 1975–present
21st century 2001–present
 History of European art music

The term “Baroque” is generally used by music historians to describe a broad range of styles from a wide geographic

region, mostly in Europe, composed over a period of approximately 150 years. The term "baroque" was first applied to

music in 1733, but it was first used in a satirical review of Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie. The term was later applied to

music in the 20th century, with Curt Sachs applying Heinrich Wölfflin's theory of the Baroque to music. However, critics

questioned the application of Wölfflin's categories to music, leading to independent attempts by Manfred Bukofzer and

Suzanne Clercx-Lejeune to avoid incorporating plastic arts and literature theories into music. Academic debates persisted in

France and Britain over the significance of combining diverse music like Jacopo Peri, Domenico Scarlatti, and J.S. Bach

under a single rubric, distinguishing Baroque from Renaissance and Classical periods.
 History
The Baroque period is divided into three major phases: early, middle, and late. Although they overlap in
time, they are conventionally dated from 1580 to 1630, from 1630 to 1680, and from 1680 to 1730.

Early baroque music (1580–1630)

The Florentine Camerata, a group of humanists, musicians, poets, and intellectuals in
late Renaissance Florence, aimed to guide arts trends, particularly music and drama.
They based their ideals on Classical Greek musical drama, rejecting polyphony and
instrumental music and discussing ancient Greek instruments like monody. Early
realizations of these ideas, such as Jacopo Peri's Dafne and L'Euridice, marked the
beginning of opera and a catalyst for Baroque music. The use of figured bass and
harmony, directed towards tonality, marked the shift from the Renaissance into the
Baroque period. Claudio Monteverdi furthered this transition with his operas L'Orfeo
and L'incoronazione di Poppea.

Claudio Monteverdi in 1640

 Middle baroque music (1630–1680)
The Age of Absolutism, characterized by Louis XIV's centralized court and court system, influenced Europe's court
culture and music. Increased church and state patronage led to increased demand for organized public and chamber
music.

The middle Baroque period in Italy saw the emergence of the bel-canto style in cantata,
oratorio, and opera during the 1630s. This style, which contributed to the development of
Baroque and later Classical music, was characterized by a new concept of melody and
harmony that elevated music's status to equality with words. The style was characterized by a
simpler, more polished melodic style, often in a ternary rhythm, and was built from short,
cadentially delimited ideas based on stylized dance patterns. Harmonies were simpler than in
the early Baroque monody, and bass lines were more integrated with the melody, resulting in
contrapuntal equivalence and the differentiation of recitative and aria. The most important
innovators of this style were Romans Luigi Rossi and Giacomo Carissimi, and Venetian
Francesco Cavalli. The middle Baroque period had no bearing on Johann Fux's theoretical
work, which systematized the strict counterpoint characteristic of earlier ages. Jean-Baptiste
Lully, a court style composer, purchased patents from the monarchy to be the sole composer of
Jean-Baptiste Lully operas for the king and prevent others from staging them.
 Musically, he did not establish the string-dominated norm for orchestras, which
was inherited from the Italian opera, and the characteristically French five-part
disposition(violins, violas—in hautes-contre, tailles and quintes sizes—and bass
violins)had been used in the ballet from the time of Louis XIII. He did, however,
introduce this ensemble to the lyric theatre, with the upper parts often doubled by
recorders, flutes, and oboes, and the bass by bassoons. Trumpets and kettledrums
were frequently added for heroic scenes..
 Arcangelo Corelli is remembered as influential for his achievements on the other side
ofmusical technique—as a violinist who organized violin technique and pedagogy—and
inpurely instrumental music, particularly his advocacy and development of the concerto
grosso. Whereas Lully was ensconced at court, Corelli was one of the first composers to
publish widely and have his music performed all over Europe.

The concerto grosso, like Lully's opera, uses strong contrasts, transitioning between
full orchestra and smaller group sections, and juxtaposing fast and slow sections.
Antonio Vivaldi, a student, later adapted these principles for his works.

Dieterich Buxtehude, a church musician, held the positions of organist and

Werkmeister at the Marienkirche in Lübeck. He served as the church's secretary,
Arcangelo Corelli treasurer, and business manager, and organized and directed the Abendmusiken
concert series, featuring sacred dramatic works.
 Late baroque music (1680–1730)

Through the work of Johann Fux, the Renaissance style

of polyphony was made the basis for the study of
composition

A continuous worker, Handel borrowed from others and

often recycled his own material.He was also known for
George Frideric Handel reworking pieces such as the famous Messiah, which
premieredin 1742, for available singers and musicians

Johann Sebastian Bach, 1748

Timeline of Baroque composers