Baroque Music (1600-1750)
For the last four hundred years, Western culture has lived off the intellectual advances created in the seventeenth century. From ideas of political equality to the economic system of capitalism, from discoveries about the solar system to the invention of calculus, Europeans in the 1600s laid the groundwork for social and scientific development for future generations.
The same can be said for music. Some of the most common and familiar genres of music were invented in the seventeenth century including: opera, the oratorio, the vocal cantata, overtures, concertos, solo and trio sonatas, keyboard sonatas, the fugue, the chaconne, and the passacaglia. During that century, Italian composers created the first recitatives, Venetian singers became the first divas, the first orchestras were organized in Paris and Rome, a French girl became the first publicly recognized child prodigy in music, and a London entrepreneur came up with the idea of holding public musical concerts. Composers during this time also responded to the desire for more dramatic music by writing music that was more theatrical and dramatic than ever before. Detailed and expressive musical styles that were traditionally performed on the stage were being performed in church services, changing the traditional views of church music. Of great significance was the new found rival between vocal music and instrumental music. Instrumental music had proven to be just as difficult, as important, and contain as much emotional content as had previously only been found in vocal music. Of great significance, especially to music theorists, is that tonality, the system of major and minor keys oriented around a central pitch, emerged as the fundamental musical language of Europe, and remained as such for over two centuries. All of these examples listed and many other aspects of music that had first been introduced in the seventeenth century are among those that we come across most often today and utilize in our musical endeavors.
The Baroque period can be broken down into three phases: early (1600-1640), middle (1640-1680), and late (1680-1750). Although the Baroques music that is most famous today comes from the late period, the earliest was one of the most revolutionary periods in music history. Claudio Monteverdi, an early Baroque composer, worked to compose with much more passion and dramatic contrast than any composers had previously done. Monteverdi composed only vocal and dramatic works, including sacred pieces, madrigals, and operas. He was very strict in his composing and worked to ensure that his music was always a perfect match for the text to which it belonged. He was very talented in his abilities to create expressive sections of music and to combine styles and genres. As a result, he captured many feelings and personalities in his music.
Monteverdi was born in Cremona, Italy and was trained by the cathedral’s music director. He was considered to be a prodigy as a composer, publishing two volumes of sacred music by the age of sixteen, a collection of canzonettas by seventeen, and three books of madrigals while a young man in his twenties. He was also an accomplished violin and viola player. Please listen to the three following samples of compositions by Claudio Monteverdi, the first great composer of the Baroque period:
Characteristics of Baroque Music
Specifically, there are many characteristics of baroque music. There is a distinct mood in each piece of baroque music. If a composition opens with joyful sounds, it will remain joyful throughout. On the other hand, if a piece starts out with sad sounds of grief, it will remain somber throughout. Joy, grief, and agitation were the three main moods, or affections, at that time. Baroque composers molded a musical language to depict these emotions; specific rhythms or melodic patterns were associated with certain moods. The only exception to this baroque principle of unity of mood is found in vocal music. Drastic changes of emotion in a text sometimes resulted in changes in the music. However, one mood is kept consistent for a period of time before it changes.
Unity of mood is first exemplified by continuity of rhythm. Rhythmic patterns used in composing the beginning of a piece are used throughout the entire composition. Baroque melodies also created feelings of continuity. Opening melodies were heard throughout various sections of the entire composition. Oftentimes, a melody would be presented in various forms, but its character remained intact. This created a sense of directed motion which usually was the result of a melodic sequence, successive repetition of a musical idea at higher or lower pitch levels. A melody from baroque music gives an impression of dynamic expansion rather than symmetry.
The dynamic level, or volume, of baroque music tends to also remain constant for stretches of time. When they do change, they change suddenly for dramatic effect. The alternation between loud and soft is known as terraced dynamics. The primary instruments of the baroque period, the organ and harpsichord, were well suited for a constant dynamic level.
Early baroque composers favored homophonic music textures, where late baroque composers favored polyphonic textures. Homophony, as you should recall from previous units, is when the composition has one melody that is accompanied by chords that move together and often in the same direction. Polyphony is when there are two or more lines of melody moving at the same time and each is independent of the other.
Chords are three or more simultaneous notes heard as a single entity. During the baroque period of music history, chords became an increasingly important and significant part of the compositions. Typically as a piece was being written, a composer tried to fit in chords that went well with the melodic line although sometimes they composed a melody to fit a specific chord progression. This new importance of chords provided a new role for the bass part, which served as the foundation for the harmony. The entire musical structure of a composition was built from the bass part. From this new emphasis on the bass part and chords came the most characteristic feature of the baroque music period, an accompaniment call the basso continuo, or figured bass.
Figured bass is made up of a bass part together with numbers (figures) which specify the chords to be played above it. It is usually played by at least two instruments: an organ or a harpsichord and a low melodic instrument like a cello or bassoon. This system of notating chords is similar in principle to the chord indications found on modern song sheets from which jazz pianists improvise. Using the figured bass notation, it gave an advantage of emphasizing the bass parts’ importance and also provided a steady flow of chords. An example of figured bass, or basso continuo, is shown below.
As a result of basso continuo composition, chords were more thought of as consonant sounds. This led to a view of dissonance as a note that did not fit into a chord. Due to all of the musical theory changes, a greater variety of dissonances was tolerated and accepted. Chromaticism followed a similar development from experimentation around the turn of the century to freedom with an orderly scheme by mid-century. Chromaticism was primarily used to express intense emotions in vocal works, to provide harmonic exploration in instrumental compositions, and to create distinctive subjects for treatment in imitative counterpoint.
All of the new harmonic and chordal techniques changed during the Baroque era. Treble vs. bass polarity and the use of the basso continuo changed the balance of parts, replacing the polyphony of equal voices typical of the sixteenth century with an emphasis on the bass. Counterpoint started to be driven by the harmony of the composition. For example, in imitative counterpoint the individual melodic lines became less important than the series of chords in the bass part.
Like the Renaissance composers that came before them, baroque composers used music to depict the meaning of specific words. For example, heaven might be represented with a high pitch, and hell represented with a low pitch. Rising scales were used to make us think of upward motion and ascension whereas descending scales meant the reverse. Descending chromatic scales, scales in half steps going down, were representative of grief and pain.
The Orchestra
During this era, the orchestra also evolved into a performing group based on instruments of the string family. A violin is the soprano member of the strings and is shown below.
Please listen to the following samples of violin music from the Baroque period:
Another member of the string family is the viola. The viola is the alto member of the string family. Please listen to following sample of a viola:
The cello, as seen here, is the tenor member of the string family. Contrary to the violin and viola which can be played while standing or sitting, the cello is always played in a seated position. Please listen to the following sample from Bach’s Prelude from the Suite No. 1 in G Major for unaccompanied cello.
The string bass, also known as the double bass, is just that, the bass member of the strings. It plays the lowest notes and is also the largest member of the violin family. Please listen to the following example of the string bass:
The baroque orchestra was small, according to today’s standards, and was made up of anywhere from ten to forty players. Its instrumental makeup was flexible and could change from piece to piece depending on the needs of the compositions. Its nucleus, which remained consistently needed and used, was the basso continuo of the harpsichord, cello, double bass, and /or bassoon and the upper strings of the first and second violins and violas. Use of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments became more available during this time. Flutes, oboes, trumpets, horns, trombones, and the tympani could be added to the basso continuo parts. This flexibility and variations among instrumental setups differs from the standard orchestra of later periods that consists of four sections or families of instruments: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
The baroque trumpet much like the early French horn had no valves but was given rapid, complex melodic lines to play in a high register. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and others chose their orchestral instruments with care and obtained beautiful effects from specific tone colors. During the baroque period of music, tone color was not as important as melody, rhythm, and harmony. Composers often arranged their works and the works of others using different instrumental combinations. A standard orchestra representation is shown below.
The Opera
Another invention during the baroque period in music history was the opera. An opera is a drama with continuous or nearly continuous music that is staged with scenery, costumes, and action. The word opera itself is Italian for “work”. The text for an opera is known as the libretto which is Italian for “little book”. Opera itself is a union of poetry, drama, and music, all brought to life through performance. Since its beginnings around 1600, opera became the leading genre of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
There are two schools of thought to the invention of opera. One idea is that opera was a blend of the already existing genres, including plays, theatrical spectacles, dance, madrigals, and solo song. The other idea is that opera was a new invention, an attempt to recreate in modern terms the experience of Greek tragedy: a drama, sung throughout, in which music conveys the emotional effects. Both schools of thought about the invention of opera are true because composers of opera used both of these techniques. Claudio Monteverdi, whom we discussed earlier, was the first great composer of opera.
The first public opera house was opened in Venice, Italy in 1637. Venice was ideal for public operas because it had a reputation for freedom from religious and social restraints. From Venice, opera spread because touring companies took the opera to Bologna, Naples, Lucca, Genoa, and other Italian cities. In the 1650s, permanent opera houses were built in Florence and Naples, with others soon to follow. As this was happening, operas were also spreading to other countries. Italian operas were also being staged in Paris, France, various sites in England, and in Vienna, Austria.
Like a play, an opera had anywhere from one to five acts subdivided into scenes. A single act contained an array of vocal and orchestral pieces. Some sections ended abruptly with room for applause from the audience while others continued straight into the next with no time or break for the applause. Also like a play, an opera opens with a purely instrumental piece called an overture or prelude. The prelude usually contains musical material that is later heard in the opera and therefore sets the mood and the tone.
The main attraction of an opera is the aria, a song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment. It is written as an outpouring melody expressing a very emotional state. An aria usually lasts several minutes, and it is a complete piece with a definite beginning, high point, and a definite ending. Opera composers often lead into an aria with a recitative, a vocal line that imitates the rhythms and pitch inflections of speech. A recitative usually contains words that are sung quickly, clearly, and often on repeated tones. There is usually one syllable per note unlike the aria where a syllable may be stretched over many notes. Operas also have vocal compositions for more than one singer. Duets are pieces for two singers, trios are compositions for three singers, quartets are performed by four singers, quintets are written for five singers, and sextets are pieces for six singers. When three or more performers are involved in the composition, the work is known as an ensemble.
An opera also has a chorus made up of courtiers, sailors, peasants, prisoners, ballroom guests, and so on. Their role is to generate an atmosphere for the actions taking place and to also make comments on what is occurring on the stage. Their sound creates a background for the soloists. Just above center stage of an opera is the prompter’s box. The audience never sees the prompter and generally does not even know that there is one. His/Her job is to give cues and remind the singers of words or pitches if the accidentally forget while they are on stage. Dance in opera is generally incidental. It is used for ornamental purposes during interludes. On a grander scale, dance is used as part of the setting – in a ballroom, a festival, a court, or at a country fair – while the soloists who are downstage continue the action of the plot.
The central nucleus of the opera performance is the orchestra pit. The orchestra is seated in front of the stage in an area that is lowered so it is in front of the stage but at a lower level so not to distract from the performers and actions on the stage. An opera symphony is made up of the same instrumentation as a full symphony orchestra, but usually contains a smaller string section. Please refer back to the orchestra diagram if needed. The orchestra supports the singers but is also utilized to enhance the moods and affections presented on the stage. The conductor shapes the work by setting the tempos, cueing in the singers, and indicating subtle or abrupt dynamic changes.
Types of Instrumental Music
There are many ways to categorize Baroque instrumental music, but there are four predominant ways in which it is classified: nationality, venue, performing forces, and types of pieces. Nationality is one way to classify or categorize music of this time period. Italian, French, German, English, and Spanish composers all preferred different styles and genres of music, and therefore composed using different elements and ideas depending on their preferences. Other historians choose to classify the instrumental music of this time according to the venue in which it was performed or by the social function. Like vocal music, instrumental music was composed and performed for all three social happenings: church, chamber, and theater. When looking at the categories according to the third means of classifying, performing forces, there are solo works for keyboard, lute, guitar, or harp; chamber works for soloist or chamber group with a basso continuo part; and large ensemble works for two or more players on each part. The last way to categorize instrumental music of the baroque period is by the types of pieces.
The following is a table listing the broad categories that were used until 1650.
After 1650, composers began to specify the exact instrumentation needed or orchestration that they wanted used for the performances of their works. After 1650, the prelude, toccata, fugue, chorale or chant setting, variations, and the suite became the primary types of keyboard composition. Compositions for ensembles were divided into two categories: sonata and related genres and suite and related genres. Music written for large ensembles was grouped into suites, sinfonias, and the new genre of the instrumental concerto. Following is a table of the compositions and their individual descriptions/definitions:
One of England’s leading composers of dramatic music was Henry Purcell. His entire musical career was supported by royal patronage. His father was a member of the Chapel Royal, but died just prior to Henry’s fifth birthday. Henry Purcell joined the Chapel Royal himself as a choirboy and proved his own musical talents as composer. He published his first song at the young age of eight years old. He was considered to be a prodigy by those around him. During his life, although it was short, he wrote great amounts of music in almost all genres. He focused on composing vocal pieces for home performances, the theater, and choral music for Anglican ceremonies and services. He is most famous for his writing of the miniature opera Dido and Aeneas, and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, called The Fairy Queen.Please now listen to The Fairy Queen.
Please listen to the following two samples from the middle baroque period.
This completes the overview of the Baroque musical characteristics and covers the early and middle Baroque periods of music history.
Below are additional educational resources and activities for this unit.
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Early baroque composers favored homophonic music textures, where late baroque composers favored polyphonic textures. Homophony, as you should recall from previous units, is when the composition has one melody that is accompanied by chords that move together and often in the same direction. Polyphony is when there are two or more lines of melody moving at the same time and each is independent of the other.
The main attraction of an opera is the aria, a song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment. It is written as an outpouring melody expressing a very emotional state. An aria usually lasts several minutes, and it is a complete piece with a definite beginning, 
