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Special Project
-The Baroque Period

The Baroque period, in which the word, baroque came from the Portuguese, and translating into “rough pearl”, was essentially the declining period after the Renaissance. At first, people said the Baroque artists were tasteless, bizarre, and grotesque, but later everyone’s opinions changed. One man called it, “The Age of Genius” because during this period the fundamentals of astronomy, math, biology, philosophy, botany, and history were born. During this period, people also had a notion that the world was dependent on supernatural powers and that nature is based on laws that can be proven by science and “critical thinking.” People agreed that the world was a fabulous machine and everyone just needed to figure out how it worked, so they would soon be in harmony with the laws of nature. However, centuries later, this was proven wrong. New social customs came about which led to a new democratic idea, which then led to big changes in society. For example, the roles of women, marriage, sex, eating and drinking, manners, and how they dress. The art in the Baroque period was based on a mixture of a couple things; reflecting the art during the Renaissance, “scientific principles”, with lots of emotion; and some art depended on religion, majorly. The architecture was meant to be very tremendous and inspirational. Sculptures tried to capture dramatic movement. Overall, Baroque artists tried to awaken feelings and emotions of everyone and anyone who saw their work. Musicians in the Baroque period began opera. Opera combines drama, poetry, art, dancing, music, history, and myth. Baroque opera basically influenced all other types of music in its attempt to “move the passions of the soul.” One thing they did a lot in their operas was “tone painting”, where emotions of the show affect the music itself. For example, “grief” would set a slow, descending melody, while if they said, “joy” it would be sung with ascending, quick leaps. Rhythm in the Baroque period was a continuous, repetitive, ongoing beat. But they also used another kind of free rhythm, usually in opera recitatives, which were speech like sections between songs, which typically had an irregular beat or none at all. One important factor of the rhythm was the dance, though. The regular movement of the dancers kept the lively beat. In the Baroque period, they added many melodies. They developed far more than what they had had in the Renaissance. Melodies in singing were typically long, flowing, and dramatic, with difficult melody patterns. Instrumental melodies were also slightly extreme, and difficult. They had long, smooth, continuous phrases, along with vigorous melodies. An important development was changing the melodies for the abilities of different instruments. The harmony and counterpoint trends during the Baroque period were homophonic texture, then side by side with polyphony. A texture of low accompaniment with a high melody is often found in the baroque period music. During this period, they used a lot of contrasts of tone colors in their music. For example, vocals against instrumental, brass against string, etc. The orchestra, as we now know it, began in the end of the baroque period as they were developing the use of more string instruments. Many different forms existed in baroque music. Much of it was sectional, either AB (binary), ABA (ternary), or ABACADA (rondo). Although most of the music was structured and organized, some of it was played freely, which brings up improvisation, which was highly developed then.

Composers:
1.) Antonio Vivaldi- a Baroque composer, priest, and violinist. He is mainly known for his instrumental concertos, (mainly for violin) and many operas as well. His best known work is a collection of violin concertos known as, The Four Seasons. He is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers.
2.) George Phillip Telemann- He was a German Baroque composer. He played many instruments and taught himself music against his family’s desires. He wrote a lot of music and was considered one of the leading German composers of all time. His music is an important link between the late Baroque and early Classical.
3.) George Frederick Handel- He was a German/British composer. He was famous for his concertos and operas. His compositions included 42 operas, 29, oratorios, more than 120 duets and trios, and many more. His most famous work was the oratorio, Messiah.
4.) Johann Sebastian Bach- Bach was a German composer, and he played the organ, the harp, and the violin. He didn’t introduce a new form, but he enriched the idea of counterpoint. His pieces were mainly secular and sacred for choirs, orchestras, and keyboard. He composed for every musical category of that time except opera. He was remembered as a great composer, player, and teacher.