Baroque Period

(1600-1750)

Listen to Baroque Music

A musical period from 1600, (with the invention of opera), to 1750, (the death of Bach). Baroque was a derogatory term used in the 17th Century to describe any thing over-decorated, excessive, flamboyant, or grotesque. The art work was dazzling and elaborate, the architecture was embellished, the furniture full of filigree, and the music noted extravagantly, ornamented, and full of polyphony, and rhythm. The ever decreasing power of the  Church gave rise to the absolute monarch, kings and aristocrates sought to celebrate themselves in opulent, extravagant art, architecture and music. This was at the same time the Age of Science. The scientific climate of the time led to a new emphasis on logic and control. Newton developed the theory of gravity, Galileo developed the microscope, functional harmony came into being, the tempered tuning system became standard, and major and minor scales replaced the old church modes in importance. 

This new systematic approach manifested itself musically in carefully controlled instrumental forms such as fugue, passacaglia, chaconne, concerto, concerto grosso, dance suite, variations, ground bass, etc. It was a time when composers wanted their music to deal with passionate emotions. It was the job of the composer to find the musical expression that would give and audience the feeling of "affection": sorrow, heroism, devotion, etc. The Baroque period was the beginning for what almost all musical styles are today. Composers include: For the lute J. S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi and for voices and Orchestra George F. Handel.