The Baroque Period of Western Music History circa 1600 to 1750 AD. It may derive from the word barroco in Portuguese meaning “irregular shape.” Originally used in a derogatory fashion to describe artistic trends of this time period, baroque has come to broadly refer to the century and a half beginning in 1600.  ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JoynulAbadinRasel ☕ Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JoynulAbadinR

1. Baroque Era
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2. Contents :
• What’s the eras in music ?...........................................3
• The music eras of time………………………………….....3
• Baroque Era
• Baroque era music genres……………………………3
• Who invented Baroque music?...............................3
• Where did baroque music come from?....................4
• Why is it called Baroque?......................................4
• Baroque Society & Historical Developments………...4
• Music in Baroque Society …………………………...5
• Baroque Music: Three Phases……………………….5-6
• Characteristics of Baroque Music……………………7-8
• Baroque Instrumental Genres……………………….9-10
• Common musical procedures ………………………..11
• Opera ………………………………………………….12
• Parts of the opera……………………………………...12
• The Baroque Sonata…………………………………12-13
• The Baroque Suite ……………………………………13
• Vocal Genres………………………………………….14-16
• Baroque Composers………………………………….17-18
• Baroque architecture……………………………………19
• Summary………………………………………….........20
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3. What’s the eras in music ?
Music historians divide the Western classical music
repertory into various eras based on what style was
most popular as taste changed.
The music eras of time:
Medieval (c. 1150 - c. 1400)
Renaissance (c. 1400 - c. 1600)
Baroque (c. 1600 - c. 1750)
Classical (c. 1750 - c. 1830)
Early Romantic (c. 1830 - c. 1860)
Late Romantic (c. 1860 - c. 1920)
Post 'Great War' Years (c. 1920 - Present)
Baroque Era 1600-1750
Who invented Baroque music?
This era was blessed by composers
like Bach, Vivaldi and Handel, who pioneered
new styles like the concerto and the sonata.
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4. Where did baroque music come from?
New developments in music originated in Italy,
after which it took up to 20 years before they
were broadly adopted in rest of the Western
classical music practice.
Why is it called Baroque?
The word “baroque” comes from the Portuguese word barroco
meaning misshapen pearl, a negative description of the ornate
and heavily ornamented music of this period. Later, the name
came to apply also to the architecture of the same period.
Baroque Society & Historical Developments :
Age of discovery
•Galileo
•Newton
Religious conflict
•Protestant vs. Catholic
•Counter-Reformation
Political Absolutism
•Concentration of power and wealth in the hands of educated nobles
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5. Baroque Music: Three Phases
EarlyBaroque: 1600-1640
In reference to music, they based their ideals on a perception of Classical
• homophonic texture
• texts conveyed extreme emotion
• words were easy to understand
• belief in the power of music to affect the listener emotionally
• frequent use of dissonance to depict extreme emotions
• contrast of sounds were stressed
• opera was created
Music in Baroque Society
• Music was written to order for specific events
• Performers and audiences wanted new music each time
• Musicians were employed by the courts of the aristocracy as
composers, performers, and teachers
• Musicians also worked for the church as composers, performers,
and teachers
• Opera houses were built and musicians earned money as opera
composers and performers.
• Musicians were often trained by family members or through
apprenticeships.
• Women were not permitted to be music directors of
instrumentalists in court or opera orchestras.
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6. Middle Baroque: 1640-1680
New style spread from Italy to all of
Europe
• Now major and minor scales replaced
church modes
• instrumental music became more
important
• compositions were now being written
for specific instruments, esp. the violin
Late Baroque: 1680-1750
•V-I progression became standard
•Instrumental music became just as important
as vocal music
•dominance of melody and bass line in 4 part
texture, inner voices were indicated by
numbers rather than written in the score
•use of virtuoso performers both vocal and
instrumental
•use of a limited number of basic and regular
meters (strong beat)
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7. Characteristics of Baroque Music
Unity of Mood
• music expressed one basic mood (joy, grief, etc.)
• specific rhythms, melodic patterns, tempos, & keys
were associated with specific moods
• moods were called affections
Continuity of Rhythm
• Patterns are repeated throughout a piece
• provided energy and uninterrupted motion
• beat is emphasized
Melody: creates a feeling of continuity
• melodic phrases are often repeated
• melodic sequence used to add variety
• melodies are elaborate and ornamental-difficult to
sing
Continuity Dynamics
• volume stays the same for long stretches of time
• terraced dynamics
• no gradual changes like crescendo or decrescendo
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Texture
Harmony
Words & Music
Doctrine of the Affections

8. Baroque Orchestra
• 10-40 players
• instrumentation varied from piece to piece
• always had basso continuo and upper strings
• use of other instruments was varied and could include :
recorders, flutes, oboes, trumpets, horns, trombones, and
timpani
• 4 section orchestra became standard by the end of this era
Baroque Forms
• Divided into movements each with it’s own theme or
mood.
• Often AB or ABA with contrasting tempi, instrumentation,
dynamics, and keys
Doctrine of the Affections
• developed by Baroque theorists and composers
• assigned specific meanings to designated keys, tempi,
rhythmic patterns, and even intervals
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9. Baroque Instrumental Genres
Concerto
•Concerto Grosso
•Solo Concerto
Fugue
Opera
Sonata
Suite
Concerto Grosso
Small groups of solos vs. orchestra (tutti)
Several contrasting movements
fast-slow-fast
•Ritornello
• Main Composers
Vivaldi
Bach
Corelli
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10. Solo Concerto
• organized like the concerto grosso
• written for only one instrument
Main Composers
Vivaldi
Handel
Bach
Fugue (vocal and instrumental genre)
• Polyphonic composition based on one main theme,
called a subject
• 4-5 voices (melodic lines)
•subject is always announced with a single voice
followed by entrances by other voices, one at a time
• Countersubject
• Episodes
• Prelude
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11. Common musical procedures
Stretto
• statements of the subject overlap; subject is
imitated before it is completed, one voice tries
to catch up with the other
Pedal point (organ point)
• single tone in the bass which is held while
the other voices produce a series of changing
harmonies
Fugue compositional techniques
•Inversion
•Retrograde
•Augmentation
•diminution
Main Fugue Composers
• Handel
• Bach
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12. Opera
•Drama that is sung to orchestral accompaniment
• Started in Italy around 1600
• 1st Opera house built in Venice in 1637
• Secular themes-Greek & Roman legends were often
used for plots
•Italian libretto (the text of the opera)
• Fully staged with costumes, scenery, acting, and
orchestra •Operas were social gatherings
Parts of the opera
•Aria
•Recitative
•Overture (prelude)
•Well Known Operas
• Orfeo by Monteverdi
• Dido and Aeneas by Purcell
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The Baroque Sonata
(instrumental genre)
• Musically the most important genre
• Originated in Italy and spread to Germany
• 4 sections slow-fast-slow-fast

13. Types of Baroque Sonatas
Solo for unaccompanied instrument
Solo sonata
• one solo instrument (violin)
• plus continuo (cello/harpsichord)
Trio Sonata
• usually 2 violins
• plus continuo (cello/harpsichord)
MainComposers
• Corelli
• Vivaldi
• Handel
• Bach
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The Baroque Suite
(instrumental genre)
• Series of movements, each based on a
particular dance rhythm and style
• Movements had contrasting tempos, meters,
and character
• Usually includes the allemande, courante,
gavotte, saraband, gigue
• Not intended to accompany dancing

14. Vocal Genres
Chorale
• Hymn tunes with religious words.
• Developed during the late Renaissance and
early Baroque period.
• Originated when Martin Luther translated
sacred songs into the vernacular language
(German), contrary to the established
practice of church music near the end of
the first quarter of the 16th century.
• Composers
• Bach
• Luther
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15. Church Cantata
• German religious text.
• Usually written for chorus, vocal soloist,
organ, and small orchestra
• vocal piece in several movements usually
based on a single melody.
• Begins with an opening piece for full chorus
and orchestra then continues with
alternating solos, duets, small ensembles,
and other choruses, ending with a
statement of the melody.
• Composers
• Antonio Vivaldi
• George Frideric Handel
• Jean-Philippe Rameau
• Domenico Scarlatti
• Johann Sebastian Bach
• EX: Cantata No. 140 “Awake, A
Voice is Calling Us” by JS Bach
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16. Oratorio
• A vocal work of music, written in movements
with soloists, chorus, and orchestra.
• Based on sacred themes and taken from
Biblical scripture.
• A singing narrator helped to explain the
dramatic action.
• Sung in Latin.
• Most famous of all oratorios is Handel’s
Messiah.
• Composers
• Marc-Antoine Charpentier
• Heinrich Schütz
• J. S. Bach.
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17. Baroque Composers
• Claudio Monteverdi
• Purcell
• Antonio Vivaldi
• George Friedric Handel
• Johann Sebastian Bach
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Claudio Monteverdi,
The godfather of opera
• Italian 1567-1643
• organist, violinist
• composed over 250 pieces
including madrigals, operas, masses,
and
motets
• Most important achievements is
the introduction of drama to
music.
• L’Orfeo (1607) is often referred to
as the first ever opera.
George Friedric Handel
•German-English 1685-1759
•Major force in English music
• great composer of dramatic music
including opera & oratorio
•organ virtuoso with a wondrous gift for
improvisation
• violist and composer
• composed more than 40 operas, 35
oratorios, 40
sonatas, many concertos, cantatas, and
suites
• Wrote the most famous of all oratorios,
Messiah (1741).

18. Antonio Vivaldi
• Italian 1678-1741
• Leading Italian composer of the
late Baroque
• Master of the Concerto
• used ritornello form, 3 movement
structure, cadenzas
• virtuoso violinist, contributed to
violin technique
• wrote mainly concertos but also
wrote cantatas, church music, and
instrumental pieces .
• his music stressed wide leaps,
syncopation, frequent use of 7th
chords.
• Wrote over 500 concertos and the
most famous set of concertos is
The Four Seasons.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
• German 1685-1750
• regarded as the consummate master of
Baroque styles,
genres, and structural principles
• great master of counterpoint
• composer, teacher, organist, and
violinist
• composed over 300 cantatas, masses,
passions, oratorios, keyboard pieces,
sonatas, suites, and concertos
• Best-known compositions include The
Well-Tempered Clavier, Toccata and
Fugue in D minor, Air on the G String,
Goldberg Variations, Brandenburg
Concertos and many more.

19. Baroque architecture:
• Linked to the Counter- Reformation
• Celebrating the wealth of the Catholic church.
• Characterized by new explorations of form , light and shadow, and
dramatic intensity
• Bernini was the master of Baroque architecture in Rome
• St. Peter's Square was one of his greatest achievements.
• Key Changes:
• Grandeur
• Drama and contrast (especially in lighting)
• Curvaceousness
• Dizzying array of rich surface treatments
• Twisting elements
• Bright colours and illusory
• Vividly painted ceilings.
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20. Summary:
General characteristics of Baroque Music:
• MELODY: A single melodic idea.
• RHYTHM: Continuous rhythmic drive
• TEXTURE: Balance of Homophonic (melody with
chordal harmony) and polyphonic textures.
Features of baroque music:
• The Basso Continuo (Figured Bass).
• One mood throughout the entire piece.
• Important String sections.
• Modes were replaced by the Major/Minor key system.
• Many different forms are used (e.g. Binary, Fugue)
• Many types of music, e.g. The Chorale, Opera, the Dance Suite.
• Energetic rhythms (Exuberance), long melodies, many ornaments,
contrasts (especially dynamics, but also in timbres)
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