Chapter 7
The Early Baroque
Period
Style Features of
Early Baroque
Music
Key Terms
Basso continuo
Ground bass
Basso ostinato
Functional harmony
Style Features of Early
Baroque Music
Extravagance & emotional expression tempered
by scientific inquiry and logic
Methodical use of musical elements to express
emotions
• Rhythm and Meter
 Influence of dance rhythms
• Functional Harmony
 Major and minor scales
• Texture: Basso Continuo
 Importance of instrumental music
LETS LOOK AT THESE INDIVIDUALLY
Rhythm and Meter
Baroque rhythm ranged between two
extremes—
• Free speech-rhythms of recitative
• Vivacious regularity of dance music
Strong beat and regular meter give much
Baroque music a clear rhythmic feel
Consistent repetition of patterns
strengthens rhythmic feel
Different patterns appropriate for different
emotions
Texture: Basso Continuo
Consistent feature of Baroque music
• Similar to rhythm section in jazz or rock bands,
and just as ubiquitous
Basso continuo played by:
• Bass melody instruments (cello or bass)
• Chording instruments (keyboard or lute)
Advantages of continuo:
• Strong, reinforced bass line
• Strong harmonic foundation—chording
instruments continuously adds chords
Texture: Ground Bass
Ground bass = repeating bass line
• Ground bass compositions build melodies and
harmonies over this basso ostinato
Ostinato is a near-universal practice
• Purcell, “Dido’s Lament”; Sudanese Song;
Frescobaldi, Passacaglia; Elephant-Hunt Song
Functional Harmony
Relies on major and minor scales with
their strong pull toward tonic
Chords formerly result of melodic thinking,
polyphonic combinations of lines
In continuo-based textures, more focus on
chords & chord progressions
Composers worked to construct effective
chord progression over strong bass line
Resulting harmonies more predictable,
purposeful—more modern!
Functional Harmony (2)
Harmony now capable of greater emotional
& dramatic expression
• Strong pull to tonic creates sense of stability,
inevitability
• At the same time, it strengthens the disruption
& disorientation created by dissonances or
modulations
Composers systematically create
emotional states ranging between these
extremes