Music of the Baroque Period

This is a brief introduction to the Baroque period which lasted from about 1600-1750. This period includes several composers that we now hear on “classical” music stations. You are probably familiar with such names as Bach, Handel, and Pachelbel, whose Canon is used in many modern weddings.

You have almost certainly heard snippets of these composers on TV shows, commercials, or movies. In this section, we will add some context and history to these and many other personalities from the Baroque Era.

It’s appropriate that we hear Handel and his contemporaries in commercials today considering the Baroque era was essentially the first age in which music became a commercial commodity. Opera in the seventeenth century was the entertainment equivalent of movies today. The biggest opera stars in 1720 were followed around by paparazzi and gossiped about just as are, say, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. You’ll encounter more on that when you get to the opera portion of this learning chapter.

The term “Baroque” has an interesting and disputed past. The term “Baroque” is thought to have derived from the Italian word barocco. Philosophers during the Middle Ages used this term to describe an obstacle or veerings from schematic logic. Later the term came to denote or bring attention to any contorted idea, obscure thought, or anything different, out of the ordinary, or strange. Another possible origin is from the Portuguese term barrocco, in Spanish barrueco. Jewelers use this term even today to describe irregular or imperfectly shaped pearls: a baroque pearl. The Baroque period is a time of extremes resulting from events stemming back to the Renaissance. The conflict between the reformation and counter-reformation, and the influence of Greek/Roman culture as opposed to medieval roots are present throughout the Baroque era.

In art circles, the term baroque came to be used to describe the bizarre, irregular, grotesque, or anything that departs from the regular or expected. This definition was adhered to until 1888 when Heinrich Woolfflin coined the word as a stylistic title or designation. The baroque title was then used to describe the style of the era. The term “rococo” is sometimes used to describe art from the end of the Baroque period, from the mid to late eighteenth century. The rococo took the extremes of baroque architecture and design to new heights with ornate design work and gold gilding (see figure of a rococo church). Historical events and advances in science influenced music and the other arts tremendously. It is not possible to isolate the trends of music during this period without briefly looking into what was happening at the time in society.

Music Comparison Overview

General Trends of Baroque Music

The characteristics highlighted in the chart above give Baroque music its unique sound and appear in the music of Monteverdi, Pachelbel, Bach, and others. To elaborate:

1. Definite and regular rhythms in the form of meter and “motor rhythm” (the constant subdivision of the beat) appear in most music. Bar lines become more prominent.
2. The use of polyphony continues with more elaborate techniques of imitative polyphony used in the music of Handel and Bach.
3. Homophonic textures, (melody plus accompaniment), emerge including the use of basso continuo (a continuous bass line over which chords were built used to accompany a melodic line).
4. Homophonic textures lead to increased use of major and minor keys and chord progressions.
5. The accompaniment of melodic lines in homophonic textures is provided by the continuo section: a sort of improvised “rhythm section” that features lutes, viola da gambas, cellos, and harpsichords.
6. Continuo sections provide the basso continuo (continuous bass line) and are used in Baroque opera, concerti, and chamber music.
7. Instrumental music featuring the violin family—such as suites, sonatas, and concertos emerge and grow prominent. These compositions are longer, often with multiple movements that use defined forms having multiple sections, such as ritornello form and binary form.
8. Composers start to notate dynamics and often write abrupt changes between loud and softs, which are called terraced dynamics.

Jeff Kluball and Elizabeth Kramer from “Understanding Music, Past and Present,” Remixed and Adapted by Amy McGlothlin