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Go for Baroque

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Go for Baroque
Sheela Lewis
ARTS 340 - Exploration of Western Classical Music
March 3, 2014
Steven Kennedy

Go for Baroque
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 …show more content…

The trio sonata leaves on an incomplete cadence which causes the expectancy of more, it is later completed in the other movements. The piece seems to cut off the melody and start back over from the beginning.
The second characteristic that both pieces share in common is the continuity of rhythm, whether it is at the forefront or showcased as the beat, and the repetition of the melody. The tutti is the melody of Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, and it is repeated several times throughout the piece and sometimes even when the soloist performs. The Trio Sonata is a short piece compared to the concerto, but the melody is repeated twice in the first movement. There can be variations to the melody during the piece but it keeps the same tone and mood.
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.
One major difference in the pieces is the use of the basso continuo. This basso continuo helps to establish a harmony between the instruments and usually takes a back seat in the composer. In

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