Baroque Music Characteristics

The Opera is described as the relationship between words and music. Opera is dramatic staged secular vocal work with orchestral accompaniment .Consisting of alternating recitatives, arias, and chorus numbers. Soloists, solo ensembles, choruses, dancing, dramatic action, costumes, staging are all components of opera. It was important because it added interest in dramas and music and it created interest is homophonic texture. Cantata was another important Baroque style. Cantata extended solo or choral work. It was created for Lutheran worship service. Cantatas include harmonized chorales, polyphonic choruses, arias, recitatives, solo ensembles, and instrumental accompaniment. Oratorio is dramatic work for chorus, solo voices, and orchestra. It is similar to cantata except it is longer and to a larger scale. Most were based on biblical texts to teach and entertain. Chamber music works for solo instruments performing together in small ensembles. Trio Sonatas were important chamber music pieces during the Baroque Period. Church sonatas would be performed in church. Chamber sonatas were meant for concert performance. Finally, orchestra varied in size and instrumentation. This style was favored by royalty and wealthy families. Most court orchestra were made up only bowed stringed instruments although woodwinds and others were gradually

The fifth and final section of Bach’s work is overall the shortest and the most contrasting of all of the other parts. This section is also almost entirely in the tonic major; which is most commonly used as the representation of a final resolution. During the last section, the pedal is used to its greatest extent which covers the full range present on the organ.

Finally another common characteristic between the pieces is that the texture of both is polyphonic. Polyphonic texture shows two of more melodic lines competing for attention. The listener would hear the polyphonic texture during the soloist performances in Bach’s work. One instrument would imitate the other leading to the competition of being heard. This is also seen in Corelli’s sonata. The two violins are the showcase for the melodic lines and are imitated by the bass continuo, played by the organ and cello.

For my concert report, I chose to attend a University Chambers Players performance. Within this classical genre of music, the pieces performed were all homophonic in texture and each melody introduced was supported by chordal accompaniment. All of the pieces performed ranged from an eighteenth to twentieth century time period, and furthermore, each performance employed the use of western world instruments, such as the piano, cello, violin, and viola.

Another true freedom of the new practice was the theory of basso continuo or figured bass. The bass line would

In the Seventeenth-century a new style of composition had its origin in Rome, Italy. This style is known as the cantata da camera or secular cantata. The study of the cantata shows that there were some problems which remained and could not be solved due to the huge numbers of compositions during the baroque era. Vocal chamber music performed in private for the wealthy at their houses, became the most common or popular social entertainment way of the moment. The performing group for this entertainment was cooperated by one, two or three voices accompanied by the basso continuo (which was rarely a pair of solo strings). Something that was crucial for the popularity of this entertainment was the popularity already

During the middle Ages, the Catholic Church was the sole contributor to musical development. The music of the early church was monophonic, and had nonmetric melodies set in one of the church modes, or scales. The rise or development of polyphony came about during the Renaissance period; the Council of Trent wanted polyphonic church music to be created and Palestrina composed the Pope

An analysis of a performance by The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine proves that the concert is an example of three types of classical music. Classical music features numerous instruments played by skilled experts. The instruments used can belong to a range of instrumental groups, including: brass, string, percussion, and woodwind. As the name implies, the instrumental groups used by this ensemble exhibit elements of a symphonic orchestra. Examples of the types of instruments heavily used throughout the concert include: violin, cello, clarinet, flute, trombone, drum, harp, and numerous other percussions. For each instrument, there are multiple players.

If musical instruments were used, they were used alongside vocals. Dance in these times was used in many different ways. Primarily for religious reasons but also at balls, ceremonies, and

Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the most important figures in the Baroque era of music. His music was a large part of the Baroque era and contains many musical principles of the time. The question is, what specific ideas did Bach use in his music? Did he use different Baroque techniques based on what he was writing for? And how were these techniques used in his music? In this paper, I will discover what Baroque era techniques Bach used in some of his music, what kind of compositional models Bach used, and how Bach’s Great Eighteen organ chorales were received.

The music of the Renaissance known as prima practica was very stiff, and in many ways too arranged and structured for the new modern style of the Baroque. Seconda practica, the new Baroque style was a vehicle of spontaneous improvisation and artistic expression, but it failed to displace the prima practica for quite some time. Some composers used both styles of practica; prima practica was used in church music and seconda practica was used in secular vocal music. Monteverdi, the composer who defined prima and seconda practica is known for using the seconda practica in his compositions. He believed that seconda practica with its unconventional dissonances, and unanticipated harmonies, was a more affecting and emotional style. In Baroque composition one of the most important creations established early on was the concept of contrast in volume and tempo. The use of harsh dissonances and unusual harmonies ties back in with the Theory of Affections. In the Baroque era one of the most important establishments was the concept of contrast. This contrast was seen in musical dynamics (loud and soft), instrumental and vocal range (high and low), and in tempos (fast and slow).

Starting with the definition of monophonic and polyphonic. Monophonic is consisting of a single musical line, without accompaniment and polyphonic of an instrument capable of producing more than one note at a time. They also talked about harmony and they defined that as

Monophony, Polyphony, Heterophony, and Homophony are all textures of music. The texture of music is the structure of the different parts. Monophony music is that in which only has one part, while polyphony music consists of multiple parts. Heterophony and homophony are like polyphony, they have multiple parts. Homophony is when the multiple parts move with the same rhythm, this is also referred to as chordal music.

The Baroque Period (1600-1750) was mainly a period of newly discovered ideas. From major new innovations in science, to vivid changes in geography, people were exploring more of the world around them. The music of the baroque period was just as extreme as the new changes. Newly recognized composers such as Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi were writing entirely new musical ideas and giving a chance for new voices to be heard that were normally not thought of sounds. Their musical legacy is still recognized today, and is a treasured discovery of outstanding compositions being reiterated with every performance of them.

The Baroque period spanned from 1600 to 1750. It was a time where new ideas were discovered and original boundaries were broken to reveal completely different aspects to architecture. Seen as an artistic style, Baroque was a powerful period, full of flamboyant concepts, derived to create drama. The Baroque period produced many magnificent buildings, every one extremely detailed.