{"id":795,"date":"2017-02-10T15:59:32","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T15:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-music-rford\/?post_type=chapter&p=795"},"modified":"2020-04-11T21:51:25","modified_gmt":"2020-04-11T21:51:25","slug":"the-baroque-period","status":"web-only","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-music-rford\/chapter\/the-baroque-period\/","title":{"raw":"he Baroque Period - Characteristics\u00a0and comparisons to the Renaissance.","rendered":"he Baroque Period – Characteristics\u00a0and comparisons to the Renaissance."},"content":{"raw":"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. \u00a0This era followed the Renaissance, and was followed in turn by the Classical era. The word <\/span>baroque<\/em>\u00a0comes from the Portuguese word <\/span>barroco<\/i>, meaning <\/span>misshapen pearl. <\/i>This is\u00a0a negative description of the ornate and heavily ornamented music of this period. Later, baroque came to apply to the architecture of the time.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAs late as 1960 there was still considerable dispute in academic circles whether it was meaningful to lump together the diverse music of the \u00a0very early composers such as Jacopo Peri, \u00a0with later composers such as J.S. Bach under a single rubric (Baroque)<\/em>. Nevertheless, the term has become \u00a0accepted for this broad range of music during this time.oque period does have common trends from beginning to end. \u00a0Theatrical and dramatic expression in both sacred and secular music is present throughout. \u00a0Both architecture and music are more \u00a0ornate and decorative than the simpler styles of earlier (Medieval and Renaissance)<\/em> periods. The harpsichord \u00a0is the established keyboard instrument. Opera and expressive song \u00a0are an important genre. The trend to combine \u00a0instruments and voices in compositions continues in comparison to the a'capella tradition of the Renaissance. \u00a0Virtuosity of \u00a0performing musicians characterizes the period. Use of dynamics develops \u00a0and major and minor tonalities \u00a0become established \u00a0in comparison to the modes of earlier periods.\r\n\r\nEvolving secular music in the Baroque:<\/strong> In earlier times the expression of \u00a0emotion in music was limited by \u00a0the church traditions. Churches in the baroque were still very \u00a0important but, the nobility became more prominent in \u00a0employing many composers. \u00a0They \u00a0became active patrons of music. \u00a0Thus the courts became important venues for expressive secular music.\r\n\r\nBaroque Art:\u00a0<\/strong>(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 \u00a0to 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 \u00a0ornate decorative columns statures \u00a0and ceiling. This traits alludes to the \"extravagance\" \u00a0which also characterizes the period. \u00a0All of these characteristics \u00a0represent the style of the Baroque in art and architecture)\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n\r\nAge of Reason: \u00a0<\/strong>This was the European period that is often called the \u201cAge of Reason.\u201d<\/em> 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.\r\n\r\n
<\/section>
<\/section>
\r\nTwo Contrasting Characteristics \u00a0(order and emotion)<\/strong>\r\nTwo contrasting general \u00a0traits characterize the Baroque. \u00a0First there is discipline and order<\/strong><\/em> underlying much of Baroque music, perhaps reflecting the ideals of the age of reason. In music particularly, \u00a0the 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.\u00a0 Second, the Baroque composers also displayed a very strong interest in freedom \u00a0of expression and emotion<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0or \u201caffections\u201d<\/strong> through music. \u00a0Thus 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\u2019s most popular works. In addition, \u00a0even the more staid religious works often seek to express an effective element of mysticism or massive grandeur.<\/section>
\r\nDoctrine of the Affections<\/strong><\/section>
https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=136&action=edit<\/span>\r\n<\/strong>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.\u00a03). They \u00a0first 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 \u00a0to describe this aesthetic theory.\r\n<\/strong><\/section>
This \u00a0practice of composing music expressing a single emotion (affect) is unique to the Baroque era. If a single \u00a0section of piece required more than one affection \u00a0composers would break up the work \u00a0into shorter phrases and setting each as a separate movement \u00a0(with its own affection).\u00a0 Descartes held that there were six basic affects, which can be combined together into numerous intermediate forms (Descartes 1649, p.\u00a094):\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Admiration<\/i> (admiration)<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Amour<\/i> (love)<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Haine<\/i> (hatred)<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. D\u00e9sir<\/i> (desire)<\/li>\r\n \t
  5. Joie<\/i> (joy)<\/li>\r\n \t
  6. Tristesse<\/i> (sorrow)<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nAnother authority also mentions sadness, anger, and jealousy (Buelow 2001).\r\n\r\nMusical characteristics:\r\n<\/strong>Compared to the Renaissance\u00a0the Baroque is the earliest period in European music whose music is still a part of music \u00a0widely heard today. \u00a0One reason may be that the music of \u00a0earlier times (especially\u00a0 the middle ages) \u00a0was modal rather than tonal<\/span>. It was not based on chords and harmonies in major and minor keys with which we are familiar<\/em>. During the Baroque \u00a0the major\/minor tonal system that still dominates Western Music was established. \u00a0The \u00a0harmonies of medieval music \u00a0lack \u00a0the use of \u00a0the interval of thirds, the interval from which \u00a0modern (triadic) chords are built. \u00a0Instead, medieval music was based \u00a0on the open intervals of fourths and \u00a0fifths giving the early music \u00a0an open, hollow sound \u00a0less familiar to the modern ear.<\/span>\r\n<\/strong>\r\n\r\n<\/section><\/section>
    The Baroque Melody and Texture:\r\n<\/strong>The selection below is a fine example of a baroque \u00a0melody. Notice the \u00a0continuous \u00a0\"unwinding\" character \u00a0(repetition) \u00a0of the melody. The use of sequence (repetition of a motive \u00a0at different pitch levels) is characteristic. \u00a0Textures then to be very consistent throughout a baroque work \u00a0representing the fact that only one affection is present. The the use of the basso continuo style of harmony (discussed below) \u00a0is characteristic.<\/section>
    <\/section><\/section><\/section>
    \r\nThe Baroque \u00a0Harmony: <\/strong>\u00a0The appearance\u00a0 of intervals of\u00a0\u00a0thirds<\/span>\u00a0 which began in the Renaissance as opposed to the more typical\u00a0 4ths and 5ths characterized the baroque harmony. Thirds\u00a0 and sixths\u00a0 were used in parallel\u00a0 motion (next to each other) in a practice called\u00a0\u00a0fauxbourdon<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 This practice lead to the formalized use of chords or\u00a0 a\u00a0 vertical dimension to texture. While the basic texture of the Renaissance -\u00a0 a complex polyphony of equal, independent, contrapuntal voices - continued to develop\u00a0 in the Baroque, it is important to \u00a0recognize the introduction of this vertical \u00a0dimension of faubourdon:\u00a0 intervals \u00a0of thirds and \u00a0sixths.<\/span><\/section>
    \r\n

    The above\u00a0 textures suggest trends \u00a0which \u00a0lead to the development of tonal harmony. Major and minor tonalities have a home position called the tonic \u00a0The name of this note will name the key of a \u00a0section or work and represents the home position of the key. The \u00a0three note chord built (in thirds) \u00a0upon this tonic note represents the home base or \u00a0tonic chord. Chords may then \u00a0be built \u00a0upon each note of \u00a0the scale. The progression of chords reflects a subtle departure and return to this tonic chord (home base). Thus the \u00a0chord 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 \u00a0of 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 \u00a0- the tonic!. This\u00a0concept of tonal \u00a0harmony \u00a0continued throughout the centuries to our own times. Composers of the mature Baroque used \u00a0major and minor chords in the kinds of chord progressions and \u00a0cadences \u00a0quite familiar to those of our present day.<\/p>\r\nImportance of the bass line in harmony: \u00a0<\/strong>The voices, or lines, of Renaissance music, and of some Baroque counterpoint \u00a0(the fugue for example), were typically equal in importance. However \u00a0in much of Baroque music, the various lines were rapidly losing their equality. Instead, the line with the highest pitches<\/em> or in the highest register \u00a0(traditionally what we hear as the melody), and the lowest line<\/em> (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 \u00a0played. 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, \u00a0dominates in most \u00a0traditional Western music \u00a0genres and styles. This is a significant building block in the establishment and development of our western harmony.\r\n\r\nThe Basso Continuo<\/strong>\r\nListen carefully to the Video below. The\u00a0 moving flute\u00a0 melody is in the high register and \u00a0easy to hear. Listen more carefully for the harpsichord\u00a0 part performing\u00a0 the harmony If you listen even more carefully you will also hear a low bass line supporting the harmony here. So\u00a0 the harpsichord \u00a0(\"plucked\" \u00a0keyboard notes \u00a0fills in the harmony with chords in the middle register \u00a0in addition providing the bass line .\r\n\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qP65lJJG5BI[\/embed]\r\n\r\nIllustration of how the basso continuo,<\/span> a defining feature of Baroque music, creates a bottom line on top of which a solo instrument like a violin expresses the melody.\r\n\r\nBelow is another example. Here you should\u00a0 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.<\/em>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/wTGVOvTv0zE\r\n\r\n

    \r\n

    Form in the Baroque<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

    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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section>

    \r\n

    <\/h3>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/section><\/section><\/section><\/section>","rendered":"

    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. \u00a0This era followed the Renaissance, and was followed in turn by the Classical era. The word <\/span>baroque<\/em>\u00a0comes from the Portuguese word <\/span>barroco<\/i>, meaning <\/span>misshapen pearl. <\/i>This is\u00a0a negative description of the ornate and heavily ornamented music of this period. Later, baroque came to apply to the architecture of the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

    As late as 1960 there was still considerable dispute in academic circles whether it was meaningful to lump together the diverse music of the \u00a0very early composers such as Jacopo Peri, \u00a0with later composers such as J.S. Bach under a single rubric (Baroque)<\/em>. Nevertheless, the term has become \u00a0accepted for this broad range of music during this time.oque period does have common trends from beginning to end. \u00a0Theatrical and dramatic expression in both sacred and secular music is present throughout. \u00a0Both architecture and music are more \u00a0ornate and decorative than the simpler styles of earlier (Medieval and Renaissance)<\/em> periods. The harpsichord \u00a0is the established keyboard instrument. Opera and expressive song \u00a0are an important genre. The trend to combine \u00a0instruments and voices in compositions continues in comparison to the a’capella tradition of the Renaissance. \u00a0Virtuosity of \u00a0performing musicians characterizes the period. Use of dynamics develops \u00a0and major and minor tonalities \u00a0become established \u00a0in comparison to the modes of earlier periods.<\/p>\n

    Evolving secular music in the Baroque:<\/strong> In earlier times the expression of \u00a0emotion in music was limited by \u00a0the church traditions. Churches in the baroque were still very \u00a0important but, the nobility became more prominent in \u00a0employing many composers. \u00a0They \u00a0became active patrons of music. \u00a0Thus the courts became important venues for expressive secular music.<\/p>\n

    Baroque Art:\u00a0<\/strong>(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 \u00a0to 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 \u00a0ornate decorative columns statures \u00a0and ceiling. This traits alludes to the “extravagance” \u00a0which also characterizes the period. \u00a0All of these characteristics \u00a0represent the style of the Baroque in art and architecture)<\/p>\n

    \"image\"
    \n<\/a><\/p>\n

    Age of Reason: \u00a0<\/strong>This was the European period that is often called the \u201cAge of Reason.\u201d<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

    <\/section>\n
    <\/section>\n

    \nTwo Contrasting Characteristics \u00a0(order and emotion)<\/strong>
    \nTwo contrasting general \u00a0traits characterize the Baroque. \u00a0First there is discipline and order<\/strong><\/em> underlying much of Baroque music, perhaps reflecting the ideals of the age of reason. In music particularly, \u00a0the 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.\u00a0 Second, the Baroque composers also displayed a very strong interest in freedom \u00a0of expression and emotion<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0or \u201caffections\u201d<\/strong> through music. \u00a0Thus 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\u2019s most popular works. In addition, \u00a0even the more staid religious works often seek to express an effective element of mysticism or massive grandeur.<\/section>\n
    \n

    \nDoctrine of the Affections<\/strong><\/section>\n
    https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=136&action=edit<\/span>
    \n<\/strong>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.\u00a03). They \u00a0first 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 \u00a0to describe this aesthetic theory.
    \n<\/strong><\/section>\n
    This \u00a0practice of composing music expressing a single emotion (affect) is unique to the Baroque era. If a single \u00a0section of piece required more than one affection \u00a0composers would break up the work \u00a0into shorter phrases and setting each as a separate movement \u00a0(with its own affection).\u00a0 Descartes held that there were six basic affects, which can be combined together into numerous intermediate forms (Descartes 1649, p.\u00a094):<\/p>\n
      \n
    1. Admiration<\/i> (admiration)<\/li>\n
    2. Amour<\/i> (love)<\/li>\n
    3. Haine<\/i> (hatred)<\/li>\n
    4. D\u00e9sir<\/i> (desire)<\/li>\n
    5. Joie<\/i> (joy)<\/li>\n
    6. Tristesse<\/i> (sorrow)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Another authority also mentions sadness, anger, and jealousy (Buelow 2001).<\/p>\n

      Musical characteristics:
      \n<\/strong>Compared to the Renaissance\u00a0the Baroque is the earliest period in European music whose music is still a part of music \u00a0widely heard today. \u00a0One reason may be that the music of \u00a0earlier times (especially\u00a0 the middle ages) \u00a0was modal rather than tonal<\/span>. It was not based on chords and harmonies in major and minor keys with which we are familiar<\/em>. During the Baroque \u00a0the major\/minor tonal system that still dominates Western Music was established. \u00a0The \u00a0harmonies of medieval music \u00a0lack \u00a0the use of \u00a0the interval of thirds, the interval from which \u00a0modern (triadic) chords are built. \u00a0Instead, medieval music was based \u00a0on the open intervals of fourths and \u00a0fifths giving the early music \u00a0an open, hollow sound \u00a0less familiar to the modern ear.<\/span>
      \n<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n

      \n
      \n
      The Baroque Melody and Texture:
      \n<\/strong>The selection below is a fine example of a baroque \u00a0melody. Notice the \u00a0continuous \u00a0“unwinding” character \u00a0(repetition) \u00a0of the melody. The use of sequence (repetition of a motive \u00a0at different pitch levels) is characteristic. \u00a0Textures then to be very consistent throughout a baroque work \u00a0representing the fact that only one affection is present. The the use of the basso continuo style of harmony (discussed below) \u00a0is characteristic.<\/section>\n
      <\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n
      \n
      \n

      \nThe Baroque \u00a0Harmony: <\/strong>\u00a0The appearance\u00a0 of intervals of\u00a0\u00a0thirds<\/span>\u00a0 which began in the Renaissance as opposed to the more typical\u00a0 4ths and 5ths characterized the baroque harmony. Thirds\u00a0 and sixths\u00a0 were used in parallel\u00a0 motion (next to each other) in a practice called\u00a0\u00a0fauxbourdon<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 This practice lead to the formalized use of chords or\u00a0 a\u00a0 vertical dimension to texture. While the basic texture of the Renaissance –\u00a0 a complex polyphony of equal, independent, contrapuntal voices – continued to develop\u00a0 in the Baroque, it is important to \u00a0recognize the introduction of this vertical \u00a0dimension of faubourdon:\u00a0 intervals \u00a0of thirds and \u00a0sixths.<\/span><\/section>\n
      \n

      The above\u00a0 textures suggest trends \u00a0which \u00a0lead to the development of tonal harmony. Major and minor tonalities have a home position called the tonic \u00a0The name of this note will name the key of a \u00a0section or work and represents the home position of the key. The \u00a0three note chord built (in thirds) \u00a0upon this tonic note represents the home base or \u00a0tonic chord. Chords may then \u00a0be built \u00a0upon each note of \u00a0the scale. The progression of chords reflects a subtle departure and return to this tonic chord (home base). Thus the \u00a0chord 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 \u00a0of 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 \u00a0– the tonic!. This\u00a0concept of tonal \u00a0harmony \u00a0continued throughout the centuries to our own times. Composers of the mature Baroque used \u00a0major and minor chords in the kinds of chord progressions and \u00a0cadences \u00a0quite familiar to those of our present day.<\/p>\n

      Importance of the bass line in harmony: \u00a0<\/strong>The voices, or lines, of Renaissance music, and of some Baroque counterpoint \u00a0(the fugue for example), were typically equal in importance. However \u00a0in much of Baroque music, the various lines were rapidly losing their equality. Instead, the line with the highest pitches<\/em> or in the highest register \u00a0(traditionally what we hear as the melody), and the lowest line<\/em> (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 \u00a0played. 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, \u00a0dominates in most \u00a0traditional Western music \u00a0genres and styles. This is a significant building block in the establishment and development of our western harmony.<\/p>\n

      The Basso Continuo<\/strong>
      \nListen carefully to the Video below. The\u00a0 moving flute\u00a0 melody is in the high register and \u00a0easy to hear. Listen more carefully for the harpsichord\u00a0 part performing\u00a0 the harmony If you listen even more carefully you will also hear a low bass line supporting the harmony here. So\u00a0 the harpsichord \u00a0(“plucked” \u00a0keyboard notes \u00a0fills in the harmony with chords in the middle register \u00a0in addition providing the bass line .<\/p>\n