Baroque music is a style of Western classical music composed between the years 1600 and 1750, in what is commonly termed the 'Baroque period'. The word 'baroque' originates from the Portuguese 'barroco', and originally referred to an irregularly shaped pearl. Ornate and elaborate, Baroque music mirrored the style of architecture and art common in the 17th and early-mid 18th centuries and was widely composed and performed across Europe.
Baroque music: how it began
Before the Baroque period came the Renaissance period (c.1400-1600). In the Renaissance times music was predominantly composed for religious occasions. Such compositions such as the masses of the great Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina were often polyphonic, meaning that there were multiple musical lines sounding simultaneously. Pieces were predominantly written using modes, the predominant system of tonality at the time.
There was some cross-over between the late Renaissance and early Baroque. The Baroque period began around the year 1580 and was similar to the Renaissance in some ways and a departure from it in others, which we will explore in the following sections.
Baroque music: developments in polyphony
Baroque music, like a lot of Renaissance music is predominantly polyphonic. Most Baroque compositions feature multiple simultaneous melodies that are intended to be played or sung by different musicians (or by the same musician in keyboard music) at the same time. These melodies form what is known as counterpoint and Baroque music is often said to feature 'contrapuntal textures'.
Polyphony and counterpoint in particular were developed on in the Baroque period. In Renaissance times, counterpoint was largely linear, or horizontal in nature. Essentially, instrumentalists or vocalists' musical parts were distinct from one another, and although they copied each other, or 'imitated' each other at points, there was limited interdependence between the lines. This changed in the Baroque, and the 'vertical' aspect in the combination of multiple musical lines gained significance. This brings us onto the next section.
Baroque music: the emergence of modern harmony & tonality
Modern harmony and tonality as we know it was established in the early Baroque period. Let's deal with tonality first. In Baroque music, each piece (or movement in a piece) is written in a single key, for instance C major or G major, or A minor. The system of keys replaced that of modes in the early Baroque period.
In each key, there are several chords, which are triads made up of three notes. Each chord was thought of as having a function, and music was goal-oriented, starting at the tonic or the home key and chord, proceeding on a musical journey through varying keys and returning back to the tonic at the end of the piece. The system or chords within keys and their function later led to a concept known as 'functional harmony'. Perfect cadences were often used at the end of a piece to provide a sense of closure.
Harmony arose out of the vertical aspect of contrapuntal Baroque music. In contrast to a lot of Renaissance polyphony, which is mainly linear and horizontal, in Baroque music the musical lines also form vertical chords at several points, which creates chord progressions and therefore harmony. Baroque composers were skilled at writing the musical parts in such a way as to produce musically desirable chord progressions.
In early-mid Baroque times, tuning had not yet become standardised. This meant that not all keys were equally usable as some intervals would sound out of tune. Later in the Baroque period, well-tempered or equal-tempered tunings meant that each key could be used and the composer could freely change or modulate between different keys.
Baroque music: ornamentation and decoration
Baroque music features a lot of ornamentation and decoration. This is in the form of trills, mordents and other ornaments, as well as actual melodic decoration such as passing notes and cadential anticipations.
Ornaments and melodic decoration would sometimes be notated, but in many circumstances would not be written into the score. It was expected that players would add their own decoration to the music at performance time.
Baroque music: the main composers
There were several composers in the Baroque era in several countries in Europe. The German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is undoubtedly the most prominent composer of the Baroque period. Other Baroque composers include the Italian composer and virtuoso violinist Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741) and another German composer Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767). Georg Muffat (c.1653-1704) and Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) are also significant.
Baroque music: the main musical forms and techniques
Baroque music was written in a number of different forms, which like a lot of other aspects of Baroque music, got consolidated towards the start of the Baroque period.
Choral sacred music often took one of two forms, that of the cantata and the oratorio. Cantatas often set biblical or sacred text in several movements, some for full chorus and orchestra and other solo movements featuring a single singer or sometimes two with smaller instrumental forces such as a violin, two violins, viola and continuo, or other instruments and continuo such as flutes, oboe or recorders. These solo movements are often termed 'arias' if they are full pieces of music or 'recitatives' if they are more text-based, in free rhythm (following the rhythm of speech).
Oratorios are similar to cantatas, but often longer and more intricate, telling a sacred musical story.
In a departure from the Renaissance period, Baroque music was also used for entertainment as well as religious functions such as church services. The trio sonata genre was developed in Italy and rapidly spread across Europe. Arcangelo Corelli wrote many trio sonatas and his works were used as a model for other composers well into the 18th century.
The trio sonata took two forms, as the sonata da camera (chamber sonata) and the sonata da chiesa (church sonata). The forms were distinct for their intended playing context as well as musical style. The sonata da camera was intended to be played in private homes, at court concerts or social gatherings, whereas the sonata da chiesa was intended for religious occasions such as mass. The former initially consisted of dance-like movements where the latter had a slow-fast-slow-fast structure.
Keyboard music forms were also developed in the Baroque period. The fugue, a formal contrapuntal composition based upon a theme called a 'fugue subject' developed out of Renaissance imitative polyphony, becoming a standardised form. Often composers would also write a prelude, creating the common 'prelude and fugue' form.
Dance suites were very popular in the Baroque period. Such suites, sometimes entitled partitas, were mostly not intended for actual dancing but for listening, and were comprised of several movements in the same key, with contrasting tempo and musical styles. After an opening Overture or Prelude, there would be an Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue, with optional extra movements such as a Menuet, Gavotte and Bourrée.
The solo concerto and the concerto grosso emerged as forms in the Baroque period. The concerto was designed to display the talent of a solo performer, and for the concerto grosso, a small group of performers. While a concerto featured a solo instrumentalist and string orchestra with continuo, the concerto grosso featured a solo group called the concertino and a string orchestra with continuo called the ripieno. Often concertos and concerto grossi fast movements were written in ritornello form, with a recurring 'main theme' section, with contrasting solo 'episodes' in between main theme statements. The main theme section would occur in different keys throughout the work, returning to the tonic for the last statement. Examples of concerto grossi include J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046-1051.
The ground bass technique, where a bass line is repeated throughout the duration of a composition, gained popularity in the Baroque period. The passacaglia, which was often based on a ground bass or repeated harmonic structure, became a standard form in the Baroque, and passacaglias were written by many composers including J.S. Bach and Georg Muffat.
Baroque music: the orchestra, basso continuo and instrumentation
The orchestra was a new concept in Baroque times. In Renaissance music, most of the music was vocal and often intended to be performed with a single singer to a part in church settings. In Baroque times, composers sought to add a fuller sound to their pieces and began writing for many of the same instrument or voice in what we now refer to as sections.
In the choruses of oratorios and cantatas, choral forces were expanded with many singers to the same part, contrasting the solo movements. Trumpets and timpani provided extra grandeur for works written for special occasions.
Basso continuo was invented in the Baroque period. Essentially it comprised one or more sustaining bass instruments such as a bass viol, often reinforced by a violone sounding an octave lower (like the modern double bass), and one or more chord playing instruments such as a harpsichord, chamber organ or lute. The keyboard player or lutenist would improvise harmonies above the bass line, often reading off what is called figured bass – numbers and accidentals written above or below the bass line indicating the intervals above the bass forming the harmony. Figured bass was a crucial development in the Baroque era.
Trio sonatas were normally written for two melody instruments and basso continuo. The melody instruments were commonly two violins or alternatively, a violin and flute in some works. Solo works for unaccompanied instruments such as the violin and cello were written by composers too.
Keyboard music was written by many composers, especially for the harpsichord and organ. J.S. Bach's works for the organ are especially impressive.
Baroque music: improvisation
Baroque musicians were skilled improvisers and it was expected that musicians would be able to improvise and imitate one another's improvisations at performance time. Keyboard players naturally needed to improvise when reading off figured bass – often only the bass line with figured bass would be provided and the actual chord voicings or the 'upper part' would have to be improvised by the player.
Similarly, melody instrument players also needed to be able to improvise, often adding ornamentation and other melodic decorations that were not written into the score, as well as adding or altering melodic lines as was deemed appropriate for the performance.
Baroque music: recommended listening
- J.S. Bach - Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046-1051
- A. Corelli - Violin Sonatas, Op. 5
- G. Muffat - Passacaglia from Sonata No. 5 in G major
Baroque music: recommended Strybo Digital courses
- Figured Bass - Figured Bass course
- Counterpoint - Advanced Baroque Counterpoint in Two Parts course
- Fugue - Composing a Baroque-style Fugue course
- Trio Sonata - Composing a Baroque-style Trio Sonata course
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