The Baroque Period: The Age Of Absolutism

Both J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel use different aspects of music to compose important pieces of music. The baroque period is often known as the time when artists exaggerated their motion and produced drama through interpreted detail. Both of these composers used this baroque style to convey messages through their music. The similarity in their music was that it is in a spiritual manner. J.S. Bach’s style was a harmonic and motivation manner, which Handel’s is more of a narrative. A cantana is a piece of music for worship and a oratoria is a genre that addressees a religious theme.

The church’s role on music is everything. During the Middle Ages, or Medieval Period as some say, the church, in a way, started the spark of music for the entire world. Hildegard von Bingen was played a huge role in the contribution of music in the church. Without the church starting music, we wouldn’t be where we are in today 's world of music.

After the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars it affected composers in several ways. With the war many aristocrats could no longer afford orchestras, private opera houses, and the composers that were residence of those places. The aristocrats were considered the highest class in society at this time. When this happened, it left many composers who originally had steady incomes to now fighting to survive on what little money they could bring in. With the wars having such an impact on the economy composers had to find a way to adapt to the current living situations, and this meant changes to their audience. Composers started to focus on the middle-class audience which had grown drastically since the aristocrats could no longer afford what

In the Baroque era patronage is the most common way for an artists to get work. Patronage is the act of someone with a great deal of wealth giving their financial support to an artist to commission them to make a painting, a sculpture, a play or a piece of music. Since the Patrons hire the artists to not just make them beautiful art, but make them something that symbolizes their status and wealth, certain themes arise in these works of art. These are ones of ornamentation, grandeur, theatrical elements, and the notion that there is action happening beyond the frame. Artists like Bernini and Rembrandt are prime examples of how patronage affects their art, whilst still being part of the baroque era. These Baroque elements are so engrained in the system of patronage that even outside the Baroque era when an artist is commissioned through the patronage system their work can’t help but take on these and other baroque elements.

The Renaissance and Baroque periods of music are two very similar and different eras. The Renaissance which began after the end of the Middle Ages in 1450 and ended the beginning of the 1600s, this is where the Baroque period starts. The beginning of the Renaissance period was compromised of sacred and religious music cultivating from the middle ages. Before the Renaissance period music had to be copied and re-written by hand, which was a very difficult task to do continuously. During the Renaissance period however, printing was invented, which made producing music easier and also changed a lot of other things in other areas. The Baroque period on the other hand, spanning 150 years from the beginning of the 1600s to 1750, was divided into three parts: The Early Baroque period, The Middle Baroque period and The Late Baroque period. While these two eras start right after each other, there are a lot of differences between them, this shows how much music can evolve through time.

Rock musicians such as Richie Blackmore Yngwie Malmsteen have explored both Baroque and Classical periods of music to incorporate it into there own music (merlinravensong2.tripod.com). Yngwie Malmsteen “arranges his music he usually has the chords coming in after the melody. The melody is

Harmony - Similar to Baroque harmony with some changes. The continuo part and filling in of chords from figured bass were left behind. The second modification was changing chords less frequently. Some Classical composers would keep the same chord for a measure or two before making the change. Sometimes the change would occur several times over a short span. Classical harmony is a backdrop for melodies and does not draw attention to itself. It stays

The Baroque period covers one hundred and fifty years from 1600 to 1750. Its characteristics tend to include, lavish, over the top, expensive and much more then necessary. The period is painted literally with architecture, paintings, clothing, food and much more that continuously begs people of today to ask ‘why?’. The use of frill and extravagance in art in this period has become less of a question of ‘why’ and more of a question ‘where is the extra?’, because this part in history is centered around adding extra ornamentation to everything. With such an over the top part in history, it would seem impossible to pick one piece that could embody every aspect of the Baroque Era but it is to be proven that one piece has such potential. Gian Lerenzo Bernini’s, The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, sculpted in 1647 to 1652. The piece is of Saint Teresa being struck by an Angel’s

Throughout history, there have been many important periods of time. These various eras are all alike in a way because they all slowly flow into each other. One of these unique times was called the Baroque period. The Baroque era began in the 1600 's and ended in the early 1700 's. Music in the Baroque era varied depending on where you were. In Italy, it was largely energetic and upbeat. However, if you were to travel North, you would find a completely different style. As more time passed in the 1600 's, baroque music became much more popular. It was greatly adored by the listeners. The beauty that this type of music contained was extremely astonishing.

The music in the baroque period was a new age experience for all and has even influenced modern music today. The style and influence given has progressed music in ways that many do not even know. A prime example of this is ornamentation. This simple concept is preceded by the new ways that people of the baroque period have changed the theory of music as well as how the instrumentation, rhythmic, and tonal structure. These small changes have changed everyday aspects of music, everything from the classic musical periods after to everyday pop and rock and roll. This baroque style theory is everywhere and this is how it changed the modern music humans can listen to.

“I worked hard. Anyone who works as hard as I did can achieve the same results” (Bach). Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most influential composers of all time ("Top 10 Most Famous Classical Composers of All Time.") He lived during the Baroque period of music in the 17th century. Baroque music is a category of European Classical music and is recognized for ornamentation added to long melodic lines, the addition and use of harpsichord and basso continuos. Another was the development of counterpoint, which is when two or more melodies are combined that contrast with each other (Tollervey, Nicholas H.). Bach is well known for his use of counterpoint and fugue. ("Baroque Orchestral Music."). During this time period, musical components such

The genre of music I decided to learn more about is classical music. Classical music was created around the 11th century and was originated in Europe. Classical music is usually played by and orchestra with many different instruments. The classical music is created by a composer, for example Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach, to name a few. These composers create music for each instrument to play and when played together creates a beautiful melody. To create classical music you need a lot of instruments, as mentioned before. There are a few different categories of instruments needed to create classical music. First you need your string instruments, such as the cello, the violin, and the harp. Then you need your woodwind instruments, being the flute, clarinet,

The lower class wore light, dingy shades because they could not afford dyes that would give a pure color.

Music exists in every known cultural group of the world and it is likely to have existed among the ancient ancestral communities. Music may have started in Africa, having existed for at least 55,000 years before evolving into an essential constituent of human life. Different people have different perspectives towards music. For instance, some may take music as jazz set, an orchestral symphony, an electronic beat or even a simple thing as the chirping of birds. Music has both positive and negative effect on humans and it depends on how it is applied. There are several theories that regard where and when the music originated. The historiographers pointed out that there are different periods of music with each period having its own characteristics, its composers, its instruments, its rhythm and significance to the existing music today. The first three periods; Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque are expounded in this essay. The periods span through different times albeit some overlapped one another. The essay also focuses on the common factor that triggered the existence of the music periods and its impacts on each period.

Operas started to come into existence in the late 16th Century. These works are entirely sung, and usually tell a story of some sort. They began in Italy and were put into motion by the Florentine Camerata. One could think of Opera as a rebirth of Greek dramas.