Important Developments Before the Baroque
During the Renaissance there was an increase in secular humanism. Along with that came the questioning of the religious dogma (teachings) of the time. This led to a demise in the influence by the Roman Catholic church. In attempts to make the music more appealing, the Mass was set to music as the chants became used less and less. The secular counterpart of the Motet that developed was the Madrigal. In addition to the difference of being secular, the text was in the vernacular. The music was still mainly polyphonic though the English had begun to develop homophonic variations of the Madrigal.
Once the Church of England was established, the English Anthem was born. It was among the earliest religious music to be in the vernacular.
Other reform movements going on throughout Europe featured the development of chorales (hymns) among the Lutherans in Germany and the use of the Psalms among the Calvinists in Switzerland and the north of France.
At first, instruments were only used to accompany dances or for other forms of entertainment. Using instruments to accompany vocal works didn’t become common until the late Renaissance and early Baroque.
Keep these development of the Renaissance in mind as we move into the next period of Western musical history, the Baroque.
The Palace at Versailles, France
More on the Baroque
The French word “baroque” means “misshapen pearl”, which suggests the generally ornate and stylized approach to works of art, architecture, and music during these years. This is the period that saw the following musical developments:
- the birth of opera,
- the rise of purely instrumental forms such as the concerto and sonata,
- a solid move to modern-day harmony (major and minor keys, modulation, etc.),
- and a wide adoption of the well-tempered tuning method.
Musically, this was a time of experimentation with homophonic texture while polyphonic composition techniques reached a state of perfection in the work of Johann Sebastian Bach. Also, this was a time to try to make the music follow the expression of human emotion, a primary goal of musical creation called the “doctrine of affections”. Given the length of the era, it is hard to pinpoint a solid, musical thread unless it would be the use of the continuo accompaniment (generally harpsichord and cello) which was played by reading something called “figured bass”, a form of musical shorthand.
Some divide the Baroque into three sub-periods: Early (c.1600-1650), in which the chromaticism and instrumental experiments of the late Renaissance were continued; Middle (c.1650-1700), which saw the rise of genrés like the trio sonata and the aria; and Late (c.1700-1750), in which the more familiar genrés of the sonata and concerto came into being, and reached a zenith in the works of the three masters all born in 1685: J.S. Bach, George Frideric Handel, and Domenico Scarlatti. The highly stylized and elaborate nature of the musical works in these later years eventually gave rise to a reaction among younger composers, leading to a new style developing in the 1730s and 40s - and into a new era we call the Classic period.
Music of the Baroque Period (1600–1750)
New instrumental and choral genres developed: fugue, dance suite, concerto grosso, cantata, oratorio, and opera. From a historical aspect, two composers in the Baroque style stand out: J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel.
It was during the Baroque period that opera was developed. Opera is secular drama set to music. With opera came a strong sense of the major-minor tonal system. For the first time composers wrote with specific tonal colors and instruments in mind. During this musical period technical skill and virtuoso performance capability were valued attributes.
Opera involved three types of musical settings to dramatize some of the Greek tragedies — the recitative, which was used for telling the bulk of the story, the aria, which allowed a main character to give emphasis to the important aspect of the story, and the chorus, which allowed the other supporting characters to interact and add commentary to the action.
Textures in Music
Homophonic texture became an essential ingredient in musical composition, particularly in opera, in which words could be more easily understood and dramatic action more easily advanced. With polyphonic music, words were less easily understood. As a result, polyphonic texture began to fall in popularity because it required a “educated” person to completely comprehend it and a highly proficient person to actually play it. Still, polyphonic techniques endured and were applied to instrumental and keyboard music as well as to choral composition. In fact, Bach went on to further develop polyphonic compositional techniques even while putting out a robust amount of homophonic music. In fact, throughout the Baroque much homophonic and polyphonic music was created.
Tonality
Concepts of tonality, modulation, and chord progressions, as we know them today, became important to composers and performers. A trend that developed was the concept of the continuo and figured bass. These concepts can be compared some aspects of modern jazz and the development of the “lead sheet” in our popular music environment. The difference is that the figured bass system stated the intervals below the bass note. The bass note was written in the bass clef and the intervals (in numbers) were placed below the note. Today the root note of the chord and the type of chord (major, minor, 7th, etc.) is written above the melody line. They have the same effect of serving as shorthand for playing the chord.
The continuo part involved the combination of a keyboard instrument (playing the chords) and a bass instrument (usually a cello) playing the bass line. This could be compared to today’s piano and string bass combination backing up a performer.
The principle composers for this period of music history were J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel. Though there were several other composers, these stood out above the field as being the better known and most proficient in terms of output.
Bach was born, lived and died in Germany. He was a dedicated church musician in the Lutheran tradition. He was an excellent violist and organist. Handel was born in Germany, received most of his musical education in Italy and lived the bulk of his mature life in England writing music for the royal family.
Because of the Reformation, which started in the Renaissance, church music continued to evolve and mature along with secular music. However, the Catholic Church became less dominant while the “protesting” churches increased in influence. As a result, church music in the vernacular became prevalent.
During this period the patron system (employers of composers and musicians) was still made up of the church or the various courts and city-states.
Musical Characteristics
- Composers used homophonic and polyphonic textures; in late Baroque, polyphony was used in instrumental and keyboard works as well as in choral works
- Major-minor tonal system became established - shift from the church modes
- Continuo - a technique used to provide a harmonic basis to the new homophonic, tonal music
- Involved two players: a cellist (or other bass instrument) and a keyboard player, usually a harpsichordist, to improvise on the chords suggested by the bass line
- A musical shorthand (chord symbols) known as figured bass was devised to assist with the improvisation
- Word painting - mirroring the text in the music
Please watch a famous pianist, Vladimir Horowitz, play a well-known work by Domenico Scarlatti entitled Sonata in E. In this video you will hear some polyphonic and homophonic elements mixed together using the techniques of repetition, variation, and contrast. By the way, this video was made when Horowitz was in his 80’s. He was making an appearance in Russia after decades of being away because of World War II and the Cold War. (It may be necessary to skip the ad on You Tube to watch the proper video).
Other musical characteristics
Music of contrasts
- Rhythm was regular, metric, and often energetic
- Melody is often perceived as a continuous expansion of an idea
- Dynamics are contrasting and abrupt, achieved through the adding or taking away of instruments or voices; known as “terraced” dynamics
Instruments
- Instrumental music became as important as vocal music
- Baroque orchestra was smaller and less varied than today’s orchestra
- Primary instruments were those of the violin family, trumpets, oboes, and flutes
- The lute was still popular
- Popular keyboard instruments were the harpsichord and the pipe organ
- Pianoforte was invented and refined during this period
Musical Forms and Genres
Orchestral works
- Concerto—solo instrument with orchestra
- Concerto grosso—involved two or three soloists
- French Overture—slow, fast, slow
- Italian Overture—fast, slow, fast
Dance suites were multi-movement works written for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and keyboards—movements usually included the following stylized dances with other dances frequently interspersed
- Allemande
- Courante
- Sarabande
- Gigue
Chamber music
- Church sonata—usually a four-movement work that, typically, included one solo instrument with continuo (three performers) or two solo instruments with continuo (four performers), the latter commonly known as the trio sonata
- Chamber sonata—ensemble form of the dance suite
Keyboard works
- Single-movement works
- Toccata
- Prelude
- Fantasia
- Fugue—imitative, contrapuntal form built on a single theme Dance suites
Choral music
- Cantata—a sacred work intended for worship; became an integral part of the German Lutheran church service
- Oratorio—musical dramatic form of much larger proportions than the cantata, usually longer and more complex; was intended for concert performance rather than for worship
- Opera—first operas were produced around 1600 in Italy with Orfeo (1608) by Claudio Monteverdi being one of the most important and durable composers
- All of the three types (cantata, oratorio and opera) included arias and recitatives, choruses, instrumental accompaniment, and a narrator (at times)
More Famous Composers of the Period
- Johann Sebastian Bach—a master of tonal counterpoint. Among his best known works are: Mass in B Minor, the Saint Matthew Passion, the Well Tempered Clavier, and the six Brandenburg Concertos
- George Frideric Handel—Messiah (an oratorio) and the orchestral pieces, the Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks.
Other Composers of the Baroque
Here is a list of some of the principal composers of the Baroque era, divided roughly into the three sub-periods discussed above.
Early Baroque (c.1600-1650)
- Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1554-1612)
- John Dowland (c.1563-1626)
- Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
- Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
Middle Baroque (c.1650-1700)
- Dietrich Buxtehude (c.1637-1707)
- Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
- Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
- Henry Purcell (1659-95)
Late Baroque (c.1700-1750)
- François Couperin (1668-1733)
- Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
- Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
- Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Prof. Songer
JCTC - Downtown
