The Baroque period in European music lasted from about 1600 to about 1750. It was preceded by the Renaissance and followed by the Classical period. This era followed the Renaissance, and was followed in turn by the Classical era. The word baroque comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning misshapen pearl. This is a negative description of the ornate and heavily ornamented music of this period. Later, baroque came to apply to the architecture of the time.
As late as 1960 there was still considerable dispute in academic circles whether it was meaningful to lump together the diverse music of the very early composers such as Jacopo Peri, with later composers such as J.S. Bach under a single rubric (Baroque). Nevertheless, the term has become accepted for this broad range of music during this time.oque period does have common trends from beginning to end. Theatrical and dramatic expression in both sacred and secular music is present throughout. Both architecture and music are more ornate and decorative than the simpler styles of earlier (Medieval and Renaissance) periods. The harpsichord is the established keyboard instrument. Opera and expressive song are an important genre. The trend to combine instruments and voices in compositions continues in comparison to the a’capella tradition of the Renaissance. Virtuosity of performing musicians characterizes the period. Use of dynamics develops and major and minor tonalities become established in comparison to the modes of earlier periods.
Evolving secular music in the Baroque: In earlier times the expression of emotion in music was limited by the church traditions. Churches in the baroque were still very important but, the nobility became more prominent in employing many composers. They became active patrons of music. Thus the courts became important venues for expressive secular music.
Baroque Art: (This picture below illustrates typical traits of art in the Baroque period. In the picture your attention is drawn to focus to the center and to the rear of the hall. Note the symmetry and balanced architecture with the columns on either side is also typical of the Baroque. Finally note the ornate decorative columns statures and ceiling. This traits alludes to the “extravagance” which also characterizes the period. All of these characteristics represent the style of the Baroque in art and architecture)
Age of Reason: This was the European period that is often called the “Age of Reason.” Brilliant minds such as Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, Rene Descartes, and Francis Bacon were laying the foundations for modern science and mathematics. Impressed with the insights that were gained in those fields, other influential thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke sought to apply similar strict rules of observation and reasoning to philosophy and political science. Many historians believe that this was a critical period that set Europe on its course away from the static or backwards-looking viewpoints of the middle ages and Renaissance, and towards the forward-momentum stance that led inexorably to our modern world.
Two Contrasting Characteristics (order and emotion)
Two contrasting general traits characterize the Baroque. First there is discipline and order underlying much of Baroque music, perhaps reflecting the ideals of the age of reason. In music particularly, the orderly progression of the harmony and the discipline of complex counterpoint are hallmarks of this era. This trait is also reflected in Art and other disciplines of the period. Second, the Baroque composers also displayed a very strong interest in freedom of expression and emotion or “affections” through music. Thus fantasies and toccatas exhibit a freedom of expression that has very little to do with reason and orderly progression. There is no mistaking the joy, pathos, or passion expressed in much of this era’s most popular works. In addition, even the more staid religious works often seek to express an effective element of mysticism or massive grandeur.
Doctrine of the Affections
The doctrine of the affections was an elaborate theory based on the idea that the passions could be represented by their outward visible or audible signs. “Affections are not the same as emotions; however, they are a spiritual movement of the mind” (Palisca 1991, p. 3). They first came to general prominence in the mid-seventeenth century amongst the French scholar-critics associated with the Court of Versailles, helping to place it at the center of artistic activity for all of Europe. This reference, however, was only first devised in the twentieth century by German musicologists to describe this aesthetic theory.
- Admiration (admiration)
- Amour (love)
- Haine (hatred)
- Désir (desire)
- Joie (joy)
- Tristesse (sorrow)
Another authority also mentions sadness, anger, and jealousy (Buelow 2001).
Musical characteristics:
Compared to the Renaissance the Baroque is the earliest period in European music whose music is still a part of music widely heard today. One reason may be that the music of earlier times (especially the middle ages) was modal rather than tonal. It was not based on chords and harmonies in major and minor keys with which we are familiar. During the Baroque the major/minor tonal system that still dominates Western Music was established. The harmonies of medieval music lack the use of the interval of thirds, the interval from which modern (triadic) chords are built. Instead, medieval music was based on the open intervals of fourths and fifths giving the early music an open, hollow sound less familiar to the modern ear.
The selection below is a fine example of a baroque melody. Notice the continuous “unwinding” character (repetition) of the melody. The use of sequence (repetition of a motive at different pitch levels) is characteristic. Textures then to be very consistent throughout a baroque work representing the fact that only one affection is present. The the use of the basso continuo style of harmony (discussed below) is characteristic.
The Baroque Harmony: The appearance of intervals of thirds which began in the Renaissance as opposed to the more typical 4ths and 5ths characterized the baroque harmony. Thirds and sixths were used in parallel motion (next to each other) in a practice called fauxbourdon. This practice lead to the formalized use of chords or a vertical dimension to texture. While the basic texture of the Renaissance – a complex polyphony of equal, independent, contrapuntal voices – continued to develop in the Baroque, it is important to recognize the introduction of this vertical dimension of faubourdon: intervals of thirds and sixths.
The above textures suggest trends which lead to the development of tonal harmony. Major and minor tonalities have a home position called the tonic The name of this note will name the key of a section or work and represents the home position of the key. The three note chord built (in thirds) upon this tonic note represents the home base or tonic chord. Chords may then be built upon each note of the scale. The progression of chords reflects a subtle departure and return to this tonic chord (home base). Thus the chord with the greatest stability in a work is called the tonic its root of the tonic chord is considered to be the key of a work. You can experience the above if you sing the last few notes of the SS Banner (“…and the home of the brave”). The word “brave” gives a sense of finality and ending to the song. It rests on the home chord – the tonic!. This concept of tonal harmony continued throughout the centuries to our own times. Composers of the mature Baroque used major and minor chords in the kinds of chord progressions and cadences quite familiar to those of our present day.
Importance of the bass line in harmony: The voices, or lines, of Renaissance music, and of some Baroque counterpoint (the fugue for example), were typically equal in importance. However in much of Baroque music, the various lines were rapidly losing their equality. Instead, the line with the highest pitches or in the highest register (traditionally what we hear as the melody), and the lowest line (the bass) became the most important parts, with the middle lines simply filling in the harmony. In baroque music especially, harpsichord players were often expected to improvise an accompaniment given the bass line with some extra notation symbols illustrating the chord to be played. This melody-and-bass-dominated texture, with the bass outlining or strongly implying the harmony though quite distinctive in structure and sound in the Baroque, dominates in most traditional Western music genres and styles. This is a significant building block in the establishment and development of our western harmony.
The Basso Continuo
Listen carefully to the Video below. The moving flute melody is in the high register and easy to hear. Listen more carefully for the harpsichord part performing the harmony If you listen even more carefully you will also hear a low bass line supporting the harmony here. So the harpsichord (“plucked” keyboard notes fills in the harmony with chords in the middle register in addition providing the bass line .
Illustration of how the basso continuo, a defining feature of Baroque music, creates a bottom line on top of which a solo instrument like a violin expresses the melody.
Below is another example. Here you should be able to hear the cello doubling the bass line with the harpsichord. The Basso Continuo is discussed in more detail in the next page: History of the Baroque.
Form in the Baroque
As mentioned above, there was a great variety of musical forms popular with Baroque composers. Some of these, such as the highly contrapuntal fugues and inventions, are closely associated with this period. Others, including fantasies, variations, suites, sonatas, sinfonias, and concertos, proved more influential, with many major composers using, developing and experimenting with these forms throughout later eras.