The Baroque
Period
Baroque architecture:
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/en
try/Baroque_Architecture
Baroque orchestral music
 Music composed between 1600 (first operas) and
1750 (death of J.S. Bach)
 Barocca (Portugese) – Irregular shaped pearl in
elaborate jewellery
 Ornamental and elaborate music, often Polyphonic
or Contrapuntal textures (for example, And the
Glory of the Lord)
 Orchestra started to take shape
 Violins replaced lutes and flutes replaced recorders
 Baroque orchestra: based on strings
 Woodwind, brass & percussion varied
Baroque orchestral music
• Harpsichord was the most popular keyboard
instrument (plucked). The dynamic cannot change!
• The Continuo consisted of a keyboard instrument
(harpsichord or organ) alongside a cello or bassoon
and was used to play the bass line and fill in the
harmonies
• Woodwind and percussion used less often
• Brass instruments had no valves - limited to notes of
the harmonic series
Natural trumpets and Natural horns were used.
Natural trumpet music could be incredibly high…
• Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
Baroque orchestral music
• Famous Baroque composers:
Monteverdi (1567 – 1643)
Scarlatti (1685 – 1757)
Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)
Corelli (1653 – 1713)
Purcell (c. 1659 – 1695)
Couperin (1668 – 1733)
Rameau (1683 – 1764)
Lully (1632 – 1687)
J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750)
Handel (1685 – 1759)
Homework: Find one piece of music by any one of these
composers and be prepared to talk about it from the
point of view of the Baroque era and the five Areas of
Study!
Baroque genres: The Suite
• The Suite is a collection of dances
• The dances were usually in the same key and in
binary form (2 sections), with each section
repeated
• Often, two dances were put together. An example
is the Minuet and Trio (how many beats per bar?)
• The minuet would then be repeated at the end,
putting the whole piece in ternary form
• Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks contains two
minuets and is played on baroque instruments in this
recording
• What is the tonality of the Minuet? And the Trio?
• Here is a clip showing an orchestra of baroque
instruments
Baroque genres: The Concerto
• An instrumental composition that features a soloist (or
small group of soloists) contrasted against a larger group
of accompanying instruments
• Dynamics and Timbre could be contrasted
• Two types: solo concerto and concerto grosso
• Bach wrote 6 Brandenburg Concertos. The scores can
be found here
• Concerto grosso:
soloists are called the concertino
accompanists are called the ripieno
• When the instruments play together it is called a tutti
• When the soloists play, they play episodes
When a piece in a minor key ends in a major key, it is
called a Tierce de Picardie
More baroque listening
• Pachelbel’s Canon
This features a Ground Bass (a repeated bass line
over which different melodies are added,
producing a contrapuntal texture)
• Vivaldi’s Spring from ‘The Four Seasons’ opens with
a solo violin playing a duet with another violin.