A simple overview of Baroque Period music
Introduction
The Baroque period of Western art music, roughly from 1600 to 1750, was characterized by ornate and elaborate musical compositions. This era saw the emergence of new forms such as the concerto, oratorio, and opera, and was marked by a focus on contrasting dynamics, expressive melodies, and intricate polyphony.
The Baroque period was preceded by the Renaissance, an equally important period in Western art musical history. It was during the Renaissance that Equal Temperament - where an octave is split into 12 equal semitones, truly the basis of tonal music - was first established, but it was during the Baroque period that composers began to develop the tonal system we know today. The Baroque period was a time for developing the musical principles of harmony & counterpoint through Equal Temperament, and thus new musical forms (such as fugues, concertos & sonatas for instrumental music and opera, oratorios and cantatas for vocal music) were widely used and explored throughout the period.
Key composers
As with most genres of music, there is a selection of key individuals who lived & composed through the Baroque period who are widely regarded as the best examples of music of this kind.
One of the most prolific, and perhaps the most important, of those composers was Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750). Bach lived and worked predominantly in Germany and was widely regarded as an exceptional organist during his life, also composing much of his music in a religious context. Examples of Bach's most famous works include The Well-Tempered Clavier, The Brandenburg Concertos, The Goldberg Variations, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, and the St Matthew Passion.
Another prolific & important composer is the German-British composer, George Friederich Handel (1685 - 1759). Handel is well known for his operas, oratorios & organ concertos and, like Bach, much of Handel's music output has a religious context. This is typified by his most famous work, the oratorio The Messiah (which includes most popularly the "Hallelujah" chorus). Other popular examples of Handel's work include Zadok the Priest, Water Music and Lascia ch'io pianga (from the opera Rinaldo).
Our final example of a Key Composer during the Baroque period is Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741), who lived & worked throughout many of the major courts of 18th Century Italy. Vivaldi is widely credited with the development of the Concerto, helping it to become established as a musical form, and almost 500 of his concertos survive. The most famous is a 4-concerto cycle entitled The Four Seasons. Whilst Vivaldi wrote a wide catalogue of music, it is these 4 concertos which give Vivaldi his place amongst the greatest composers of the Baroque period.
Instrumentation
In the Baroque period, composers relied on a slightly different range of instruments for their compositions compared to what we might expect today.
Below is a list of some of the most common types of instruments you may find in Baroque period music:
- Harpsichord: A keyboard instrument that produces sound by plucking strings with quills, creating a distinctive bright and crisp tone.
- Organ: A keyboard instrument with multiple pipes that produce sound when air is passed through them.
- Lute: A plucked string instrument with a rounded body and a neck, popular during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
- Viol: A bowed string instrument with a fretless fingerboard and a deep, resonant tone.
- Sackbut: An early form of the trombone, characterized by its telescopic slide for changing pitch.
- Baroque Flute: A wooden flute with a rich and expressive tone, commonly used in Baroque music.
- Baroque Timpani: Large kettledrums played with mallets, adding rhythmic depth to Baroque orchestras. Baroque Timpani were tuned by hand to a single note (usually the tonic & dominant of the scale), unlike today's Timpani which are typically tuned via a foot pedal, allowing the pitch to be adjusted throughout.
- Natural Trumpet: A brass instrument without valves, creating a bold and vibrant sound with limited pitch control.
- Chalumeau: A single-reed woodwind instrument, an early precursor to the clarinet.
- Oboe: A woodwind instrument with a double reed, known for its piercing and expressive sound.
- Bassoon: A large double-reed woodwind instrument producing deep and distinctive tones.
- Serpent: A curved brass instrument with finger holes, used in the Baroque era for bass lines.
- Recorder: A woodwind instrument with a whistle mouthpiece and finger holes, producing a clear and airy sound.
How to identify Baroque Period music
The easiest way to determine whether a piece of music is Baroque is to identify through the composer - much of the Baroque period music which still gets performed today was written by only a handful of composers, the main of whom were listed above.
The next thing to listen for is instrumentation. Baroque period composers had a different range of instruments compared to what we might expect today, so identifying any of those instruments would be a giveaway that the piece of music you're listening to is from the Baroque period.
Other typical features of Baroque Period music to look out for are:
- Contrast and Drama: Baroque music often features sharp contrasts between loud and soft, fast and slow, creating a sense of drama and emotional intensity.
- Ornamentation: Look for intricate and elaborate ornamentation in the melody lines, such as trills, mordents, and turns, which are characteristic of Baroque music.
- Harpsichord and Continuo: Listen for the distinctive sound of the harpsichord or other keyboard instruments playing the continuo part, providing a steady rhythmic and harmonic foundation.
- Terraced Dynamics: Baroque music often employs "terraced dynamics," where the volume shifts suddenly from soft to loud and vice versa, as there were limited means for gradual dynamic changes in this period.
- Contrapuntal Texture: Baroque music is known for its intricate counterpoint, with multiple independent melodies weaving together harmonically.
- Clear Phrasing: Baroque music often features clear and distinct phrasing, with regular phrases that have a clear beginning and end.
- Orchestral and Choral Elements: Larger-scale works often include orchestral and choral components, with a focus on creating grand and majestic soundscapes.
- Use of Ostinato: Some Baroque compositions utilize repeating patterns (ostinato) that provide a rhythmic and harmonic foundation for the music.
Essential Baroque Period Playlist
We have compiled a playlist of 23 essential examples of Baroque Period music into a Spotify & a YouTube playlist.
For more information on each piece of music, check out the accompanying playlist.
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