Baroque Ornamentation
The use of ornamentation in Baroque music was a creative, and sometimes improvised outlet for period musicians that spurred from human instinct to manipulate melodic material. This urge to change melodic material by altering the rhythm, or melody can be seen throughout history. Music including Gregorian chant, which predates the Baroque era, contains some elements of ornamentation. It can be seen throughout the Baroque, Classical era, and even in modern music. Although improvisation has been repressed by modern conventions of performance, it shows itself in the style of improvised jazz and avant-garde free improvisation. Performers use improvisation as a means of self-expression and a way to express composer intent. During the Baroque era, there were many different styles and methods of ornamentation depending on location, style, date, and composer of a piece of music. Understanding the historical developments of the Baroque era and the development of ornamentation can help modern performers of Baroque music better understand how to play a more historically accurate performance. The Baroque era lasted from about 1600 to 1750. The music from the Baroque began to develop contrapuntally and in harmonic complexity. Composers also relied on the performers ability to add ornamentation and to complete the harmonies in a basso continue score through improvisation. These scores consisted of a bass line with numbers and symbols written above, to indicate the
The Baroque Era started in 1600 and lasted till 1750. Some of the famous composers from the Baroque Era include Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Handel, and JS Bach. Music in Baroque society became amusement for aristocrats, modern orchestra began to evolve, and the idea of opera are beginning to develop. In many Baroque pieces the use of a Basso Continuo, which is played by two instruments typically a keyboard and a member of the strings family was found in many pieces during this time. The Baroque period can be characterized with clear and distinct meter, repeated rhythmic patterns, homophonic texture, and terraced dynamics. The Baroque is also classified by its distinct genres including Fugue, Solo Concerto, and Cantata. The Ritornello form being introduced had an impact on Baroque music because it is outlined using harmonic progressions, key modulations, and motives from the main theme in order to give character to a piece.
1. What does “musical style” mean? Genre is the type of music. Style is how you sing it.
Music during the Baroque period was diverse and composers began to rebel against the styles that were popular during the Renaissance. In the Baroque era music was driven by the text and the emotions behind it. Vocal and sacred music developed greatly during the Baroque period. During the mid-17th century the Italian phenomenon opera dominated most of the theatres in Europe. Sacred music was deeply influenced by the opera, contributing to the development of the oratorio and cantata genre. The opera, oratorio, and cantata contain musical similarities; among all three genres they feature recitative, soloist orchestras, and duet arias.
Music of the baroque period was considered very complex and similar to the other forms of art of this time. Additional brass, woodwind and string instruments had been created to add additional depth to the works of this time. Composers of this time attempted to give voices to their works and invoke emotions. The works were created to tell a story.
The Baroque musical period occurred throughout Europe from 1600 to 1750. The compositions during this period had certain characteristics. Some of these characteristics included unity of mood, continuity of rhythm and melody, and most compositions, in the middle to late Baroque period, included polyphonic textures (Kamien, 2011). Many musicians, such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Arcangelo Corelli, thrived during this period. They composed hundreds to thousands of compositions in various different musical forms and each piece holds the characteristics of the Baroque period uniquely. This paper will review the
Music has evolved too many different forms that we recognize today. We trace this development throughout time. Beginning in the middle ages, we have seen advancement from the Gregorian chant all the way to the Jazz of the 20th century. The current events, politics, religion, technology and composers can shape musical eras during time. Here I will look at the middle ages, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and twentieth century periods. I hope that a better understanding can be reached to why, when, where and who are the reasons for musical evolution.
•Figured Bass—a system of numbers placed under the music—was developed to indicate clearly the harmonies that should be played with each note indicated in the bass line. The figured bass was typically realized—performed—by the harpsichord.
Musical style, harmony and melody grew more and more complex during the Baroque period. As such, during the classical era there was an emergence of a new style of music, the Classical style (Mostlywind.co.uk, 2015). The Classical musical style was characaterised by a simple, delicate expression of music that was meant to please its listeners with a refined sound, as such, there was very little to no dissonance used in all pieces. The melody during this time period was short and very defined, with only a few themes introduced per each piece. Rhythm was regular and due to the complexity of the texture of music during the Baroque period, the texture of music was simple and
The years between 1600 and 1750 were full of contradiction, change, and conflict in Europe. The future would be shaped by the far reaching consequences of war. These conflicts pitted mainly the northern countries (Belgium, Germany, England, Sweden) against the Catholic kingdoms of the south (France, Spain, Austria), and further accentuated the pre-existing cultural differences between Northern and Southern Europe. However, tremendous scientific, philosophical, and artistic accomplishments that constitute the practical foundation of modern civilization flourished side by side with continual warfare, political instability, and religious fervor, bordering on fanaticism. Some of the most
In baroque music, continuity is highly emphasized and evident in the rhythm and melody of a piece. Rhythmic patterns as well as the melody are repeated and constant. This continuity of rhythm and melody is the continuity of dynamics in which the level of volume is constant and when the dynamic shifts, the shift is often very sudden and abrupt forming a clear break from the continuity. The baroque period can be divided into three phrases that are early (1600-1640), middle (1640-1690) and late (1690-1750).
Baroque music is characterized through contrasts as dramatic elements, monody and the advent of the basso continuo, and different instrumental sounds. Contrast is an essential feature in the production of baroque arrangements. The alternations between bold and flamboyant and soft, solo and ensemble, different instruments and timbres all constitute a key portion in various baroque compositions. Composers similarly created more precise instrumental arrangements regularly stipulating the instruments on a musical piece that ought to be executed instead of allowing the performing musician to select.
Baroque art is an art form that emerged during the 1600- 1750. It is depicted as weird or bizarre due to its turbulence and irrationality nature. Baroque art entails different types of art like paintings for example, Christ Wearing the Crown of Thorns, Psyche Watching Amor Sleep, The Suicide of Lucretia, etc., sculptures for example, The Rape of Proserpine, The Merciful Christ, The Abduction of Proserpine, etc., and architecture for example, Marble Court, St Paul's Cathedral, Staircase for Augustusburg Palace, etc. Baroque art is known for its use of verisimilitude. Verisimilitude is a method used to make art appear to be truthful or real.
The Baroque time period was a time of artistic style extravagant motion and clear, simply interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, excitement, and magnificence in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance, theater, and music. Opera is an arrangement in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining libretto (text) and musical score, typically in a theatrical setting. Opera came out of the baroque period of people wanting to make music that was more expressive. A group of people in Italy decided that a single line of melody with simple accompaniment would be much more expressive than words. This caused the creation of recitatives, which early operas consisted entirely of. This also caused arias, duets, and
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 of music commenced in the year 1600 and ended around 1750 (Fuller – “Baroque”). Its texture was mainly polyphonic (Fuller – “Classical”). Polyphonic means that two or more different melodies are played simultaneously (McComb). This provides an energetic rhythm, long melodies, and many ornaments. The most famous composers of this time period were Vivaldi, Corelli, Monteverdi, Purcell, Handel, J.S. Bach, and Couperin. Many new styles of music were introduced, such as operas, sonatas, oratorios, suites, fugues, and concertos. Orchestras began to develop, but it was not until the classical period when orchestral music was perfected (Fuller – “Baroque”).