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The word baroque has meant bizarre, flamboyant, and elaborately ornamented. However, most historians use it to indicate a period in the arts. The best characterization of the baroque style is that it fills space-canvas, stone, or sound- with action or movement. Example: Judith slaying Holofernes

Artists used their materials to expand color, depth, and contrasts of light and dark. They wanted create very structured worlds. The aristocracy loved this style because it was over the top and showed the power and wealth. For example, the Palace of Versailles.

The aristocracy was very rich and powerful, while most of the population did well to survive. European rulers surrounded themselves with luxury. For these rulers, a way to express their greatness was to build amazing palaces and have magnificent entertainment for their court. Some examples are balls, banquets, ballets, operas, and plays. The entertainment was extremely extravagant.

The baroque period is known as the “age of absolutism” because many rulers exercised absolute power over their subjects. The church also shaped the baroque style. By this time the Reformation had swept across Europe and there Protestant and Catholic Nations. Protestant Nations:Catholic Nations: EnglandFrance HollandSpain DenmarkItaly SwedenAustrian Empire Parts of Germany

Unity of Mood- If a piece starts happy it will end happy. Rhythm- The rhythm is introduced at the beginning will be heard through out. Melody- The melody that is heard in the beginning will be heard again and again. Dynamics-the increase or decrease of volume in music. Terraced Dynamics- the alternation between loud and soft. The first keyboard instrument to make gradual dynamic changes was the clavichord.

Texture- Music in the baroque period was mostly polyphonic (many different voices going at the same time). The most important voices were the very top and bottom. Chords and the Basso Continuo (figured Bass)- Chords and the bass part became more important in the baroque period. This lead to an accompaniment called Basso Continuo or Figured Bass- made up of a bass part together with numbers (figures) which specify the chords to be played above it.

Form- the organization of Music. How it can be divided into sections. Concerto Grosso- a form in which a small group of instruments are featured with a large group (tutti). Ritornello- form based on alternation between solo sections and tutti sections. Typical Concerto Grosso movement:

A fugue is a polyphonic composition based on one main theme. The subject is the one main theme that is passed around to all the voices. The counter subject is a line that accompanies the subject in another voice. Between presentations of the subject, there are often transitional sections called episodes.

Inversion is when the subject is turned upside down. A fugue usually convey a single mood and a sense of continuous flow. Typically, there is short piece preceding a fugue called a prelude.

Cantata- the principal means of musical expression in the Lutheran service. Chorale- a hymn tune usually set a German religious text. Oratorio- a large scale composition for chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra; it is usually set to a narrative text.

Opera started in Italy through a group called the Camerata. This group was made up of nobles, poets, and composers who began to meet in Florence around They wanted to create a new vocal style modeled after ancient Greek tragedy. The Baroque period marked the rise of great singers. The most famous singers were the castrati, which were male singers who had been castrated before puberty.

Da Capo- from the beginning. Literally means the head. Da Capo Aria – An Aria that is in ABA form. One of the main attractions to opera is the aria, which is a song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment. Opera composers often lead into arias with recitative, which is a vocal line that imitates the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech.

By modern standards, the Baroque orchestra was considered small, consisting of from ten to thirty or forty players. The nucleus was the basso continuo (harpsichord plus cello, double bass, or bassoon) and upper strings (first and second violins and violas). Use of woodwind, brass and percussion instruments were variable. A movement is a piece that sounds fairly complete and independent, but is part of a larger composition.

Johann Sebastian Bach (21 March 1685,– 28 July 1750) was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. Although he did not introduce new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France.

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741), nicknamed ("The Red Priest") because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over 40 operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons.

George Frideric Handel (German: Georg Friedrich Händel; pronounced ) (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music. He received critical musical training in Halle, Hamburg and Italy before settling in London (1712) and becoming a naturalised British subject in By then he was strongly influenced by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.1