Music History Moment #1

The Baroque Era

The 17th and 18th centuries was a period of kings and courts in Western Europe; a period of discovery and advancement in the natural sciences; a period of palaces and churches, decorated with pomp and ostentation, and the music of the period reflected all of this. From around 1600, when the first operas were composed in Italy, to the death of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1750, the period we know today as the Baroque was in full flower. Opera required a new style of music, and so the concept of a single melodic line composed over a strong bass with supporting harmonies was invented – a sharp departure from the polyphonic choral music of the previous era. The period also saw the perfection of the art of instrument-making, including stringed instruments, keyboard instruments, and the new transverse flute, resulting in much instrumental music being written for the first time, and the rise of virtuoso performers to play it. From the ceremonial music of Venice in the early 1600s to the splendid English oratorios of George Frideric Handel and the imposing Passion settings of J.S. Bach, the Baroque was a period filled with glorious music of pomp, drama, and heightened expression to celebrate and exalt the courts, churches, and opera houses of the era.

Major Composers

Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612) Sacred motets, instrumental canzone

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) Operas, sacred music, madrigals

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) Violin sonatas, Concerti grossi

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) Anthems, songs, chamber music, theatre music, semi-operas

François Couperin (1668-1733) French keyboard suites

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Concertos for various instruments, sonatas, sacred music

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) Concertos, orchestral suites

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) Sacred music, keyboard music, operas

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Concertos, sonatas, cantatas, keyboard music, sacred music

Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) Keyboard sonatas

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Concertos, keyboard music, sacred music, operas, oratorios