Baroque Music

Baroque music

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History of European art music

Early

Medieval (500 вЂ" 1400)

Renaissance (1400 вЂ" 1600)

Common practice

Baroque (1600 вЂ" 1760)

Classical (1730 вЂ" 1820)

Romantic (1815 вЂ" 1910)

Modern and contemporary

20th century classical (1900 вЂ" 2000)

Contemporary classical (1975 вЂ" present)

Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750.[1] This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance and was followed by the Classical music era. The original meaning of "baroque" is "irregular pearl", a strikingly fitting characterization of the architecture of this period; later, the name came to be applied also to its music. Baroque music forms a major portion of the classical music canon, being widely studied, performed, and listened to. It is associated with composers such as Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel, and Johann Sebastian Bach. The baroque period saw the development of diatonic tonality. During the period composers and performers used more elaborate musical ornamentation; made changes in musical notation, and developed new instrumental playing techniques. Baroque music expanded the size, range and complexity of instrumental performance, and also established opera as a musical genre. Many musical terms and concepts from this era are still in use today.

Contents [hide]

1 History of the Name

2 Styles and forms

2.1 The baroque suite

2.1.1 Allemande

2.1.2 Courante

2.1.3 Sarabande

2.1.4 Gigue

2.1.5 Gavotte

2.1.6 BourÐ"©e

2.1.7 Minuet

2.1.8 Passepied

2.1.9 Rigaudon

2.2 Baroque versus Renaissance style

2.3 Baroque versus Classical style

2.4 Other features

3 Genres

3.1 Vocal

3.2 Instrumental

4 History

4.1 Early baroque music (1600вЂ"1654)

4.2 Middle baroque music (1654вЂ"1707)

4.3 Late baroque music (1680вЂ"1750)

5 Influence on later music

5.1 Transition to the Classical era (1740вЂ"1780)

5.2 After 1760

6 See also

7 Notes

8 References

9 Further reading

10 External links

[edit] History of the Name

Music conventionally described as Baroque encompasses a broad range of styles from a wide geographic region, mostly in Europe, composed during a period of approximately 150 years. The application of the term "baroque", which literally means "irregularly shaped pearl", to this period is a relatively recent development, first used by Curt Sachs in 1919, and only acquiring currency in English in the 1940s. Indeed, as late as 1960 there was still considerable dispute in academic circles whether it was meaningful to lump together music as diverse as that of Jacopo Peri, Domenico Scarlatti and J.S. Bach with a single term; yet the term has become widely used and accepted for this broad range of music. It may be helpful to distinguish it from both the preceding (Renaissance) and following (Classical) periods of musical history. A small number of musicologists argue that it should be split into Baroque and Mannerist periods to conform to the divisions that are sometimes applied in the visual arts.

[edit] Styles and forms

[edit] The baroque suite

[edit] Allemande

Often the first movement of an instrumental suite, the allemande was a very popular dance that had its origins in the Renaissance era, when it was more often called the almain. The allemande was played at a moderate tempo and could start on any beat of the bar. In some suites it could be preceded by a prelude or an ouverture.

[edit] Courante

The courante is a lively French dance in triple meter. The Italian version is called the corrente.

[edit] Sarabande

This is one of the slowest of the baroque dances with a speed of about 40 to 66 beats per minute. It is also in triple meter and can start on any beat of the bar, although there is an emphasis on the second beat, creating the characteristic 'halting', or iambic rhythm of the sarabande.

[edit] Gigue

The gigue is an upbeat and lively baroque dance in compound meter, typically the concluding movement of an instrumental suite. The gigue can start on any beat of the bar and is easily recognized by its rhythmic feel. The gigue is said to have originated in England, its counterpart in folk music being the jig.

These four dance types make up the majority of 17th century suites; later suites interpolate additional movements, sometimes termed intermezzi or gallanteries, between the sarabande and gigue:

[edit] Gavotte

The