Music of the Baroque Period
(1600-1750)
Baroque Historical Highlights
Age of Absolutism; Kings and Queens are allpowerful
 Known for extreme decadence and
extravagance of aristocracy (e.g. Louis XIV and
his palace of Versailles)
 Church Splits in Two; Europe split into Catholic
countries (Italy, France, Spain) and Protestant
countries (England, Germany, Netherlands,
Sweden)

The Palace at Versailles
The Royal Chapel, Hall of Mirrors & Royal Coach
The King’s Bedroom, Marie Antoinette’s Room, The
Opera House
“Baroque” Defined

Baroque means exaggerated or overornamented; these adjectives relate to music
and visual arts
Baroque Artistic Highlights

Emphasis on DRAMA (extreme and heightened
emotion) in music and visual arts
– Caravaggio’s paintings show this emphasis on
DRAMA
Baroque Musical Highlights
Birth of OPERA - theatrical presentations with
music and elaborate stage spectacle
 New focus on instrumental music and
instrumental accompaniment to voices
 New emphasis on chords and use of BASSO
CONTINUO

Baroque Music Style Characteristics
Timbre
new emphasis on instrumental music & instrumental accompaniment to
voices
Rhythm
beat is emphasized; lots of forward motion
Melody
elaborate, ornamented, continuously expanding, long and winding
Form
one main theme repeated over and over
Dynamics
sudden changes from loud to soft and soft to loud called terraced dynamics
Texture
more rapid changes in texture (homophony, imitative polyphony) throughout
a single movement or piece of music
Harmony
new emphasis on chords; orchestra mainly consists of strings and basso
continuo (bass melody instrument like cello or bassoon + chord generating
instrument harpsichord, organ, or lute)
Mood
the same mood throughout movement; this heightened emotional state
called affect (vocal music is exception; vocal music has many changes of
mood, but closely follows text)
Baroque Music Genres

Vocal Music Genres
– Opera
– Oratorio
– Cantata

Instrumental Music
Genres
– Chamber Music
– Concerto Grosso
Opera
Sung theatrical work
 Staged with costumes and sets
 Example: HENRY PURCELL "Dido's Lament"
from Dido and Aeneas CD#1/69-70

Henry Purcell
HENRY PURCELL "Dido's Lament"
from Dido and Aeneas
 Aria vs. Recitative
Aria

Song for solo voice with orchestral
accompaniment
– usually expressing an emotional state
through its outpouring of melody
– found in operas, oratorios, and cantatas
Recitative

Vocal line in opera, oratorio, or cantata
that imitates the rhythms and pitch
fluctuations of speech, often serving to
lead into an aria
Libretto

Text of an opera
Librettist

Dramatist who writes the libretto, or text,
or an opera
HENRY PURCELL "Dido's Lament"
from Dido and Aeneas
 Listen for Basso continuo in
Recitative
Basso Continuo (‘continuous bass’)

Baroque accompaniment made up of a
bass part usually played by two
instruments:
– A keyboard (or other chord-making
instrument, such as a lute or organ), and
– A low melodic instrument (such as cello or
a basson)
HENRY PURCELL "Dido's Lament"
from Dido and Aeneas
 Aria built on Ground bass
Ground Bass (basso ostinato)

A repeating bass line
– This one has dark-sounding harmony and
is descending in pitch

Variation form in which a musical idea in
the bass is repeated over and over
while the melodies above it constantly
change
– Common in Baroque music
Dido’s Lament from Dido and Aeneas
Dido sings:
Thy hand, Belinda, darkness shades me,
On thy bosom let me rest;
More I would be death invades me;
Death is now a welcome guest.
Dido’s Lament from Dido and Aeneas
When I am laid, am laid in earth, may my
wrongs create
No trouble in thy breast.
Remember me! But ah! Forget my fate.
Oratorio
 Like opera, but unstaged
 Uses a religious story
 Example: GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL’s
Messiah
– "Hallelujah" CD#2/11-16
– "Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted" CD#2/10
George
Frideric
Handel
G.F. Handel’s “Ev’ry Valley Shall
Be Exalted” from The Messiah
 Listen for
– Terraced dynamics
– Emphasis of beat
– Ornamented melody
– Continuous affect
– Word painting
Terraced Dynamics
 Abrupt alternation between loud and
soft dynamic levels
 Characteristic of Baroque Music
– Not found in Medieval or Renaissance Music
Affections /Affect p.95 of text
 The expression of one basic mood in
Baroque music
 Specific rhythms or melodic patterns
were associated with specific moods
 Not characteristic of OPERA, but found
in oratorio and cantatas
G.F. Handel’s “Ev’ry Valley Shall
Be Exalted” from The Messiah
Ev’ry valley.
(text painting highlighted in blue and purple)
Ev’ry valley shall be exalted, and ev’ry
mountain and hill made low,
The crooked straight, and the rough
places plain.
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL’s
"Hallelujah” Chorus from Messiah
Listen for
–Changes in texture
• Hymn-like Homophony
• Imitative Polyphony
• Pedal Point
–Emphasis of beat
Cantata
Like opera, but unstaged, with religious text
 Performed ONLY in churches
 Examples: J.S. BACH Cantata No. 140: Wachet
auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Sleepers Awake) Mvt. 4
[Tenor Chorale] CD#1/71-73 & Mvt. 7 [Chorale]
CD#1/74-75

Chorale

Hymn tune sung to a German religious
text
Johann
Sebastian
Bach
J.S. BACH Cantata No. 140:
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
(Sleepers Awake)

Mvt. 4 [Tenor Chorale]
– Listen for
• Ornamented melody
• Continuous affect

Mvt. 7 [Chorale]
– Listen for
• Hymn-like homophony
• Complete and incomplete
cadences
Chamber Music
Uses a small group of musicians, with one player
to a part
 Meant for smaller, more intimate performance
venues
 Includes music for solo instruments

– J.S. Bach’s Organ Fugue in G Minor “The Little”
Fugue

Polyphonic composition based on one
main theme, or subject
J.S. BACH Organ Fugue in G Minor
(The "Little")

Fugue form (features imitative polyphony)
– Subject (Main Theme) stated in different “voices”
during Exposition
– Exposition followed by alternating Episodes (nonimitative) and Subject Entries (imitative)
– Countersubject - countermelody that accompanies
Subject in Exposition & Subject Entries

Picardy Third
Concerto Grosso

Composition for several instrumental
soloists and small orchestra
– common in late Baroque music
Concerto Grosso

Ritornello form - Ritornello (a homphonic or
polyphonic block of music) alternating with
Episodes (contrasting melodic, softer dynamics,
virtuosic scales and arpeggios)

Tutti vs. Soli groups
Tutti
In Italian, “all”
 The full orchestra, or a large group of
musicians contrasted with a smaller
group

– Often heard in Baroque music
Solo, Soli
In Italian, “one” or “ones”
 The individual instrument or vocalist
featured or a small group of individual
musicianss contrasted with a larger
group

– Often heard in Baroque music
Antonio
Vivaldi
Examples of Baroque Concerto
Grosso

J.S. Bach
– Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major
– Movement 1

Antonio Vivaldi
– Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra, Op. 8, No.
1, La Primavera [Spring]
– from The Four Seasons
– Movement 1
Bach Brandenburg

Soli - EPISODE
– Flute
– Violin
– Harpsichord

Tutti group - RITORNELLO
– Full orchestra - string and basso continuo