![]() ![]() Composers during this time explored ideas from Ancient Greek music, and as a result turned away from Renaissance polyphony and toward the Ancient Greek idea of monody: a solo singing voice accompanied by another instrument. The early Baroque era, the transition from Renaissance, took place from 1580-1630-ish. The Baroque era can be roughly divided into three periods: early, middle, and late. Since then, Baroque was used to describe (and criticize) art and architecture of the era (because of its ornate ornamentation and design), and eventually, the term stuck as the general descriptor of the era. In 1750 the term was used to describe the newly ornate and very heavily ornamented architecture in Rome. Originally (waaaay back in 1734) this term was used negatively to criticize some new compositions. *Fun fact: the word Baroque comes from a Portuguese word that means “misshapen pearl”. The Baroque era also saw the expansion of size, range, and complexity of instrumental performance, and many new genres of music were created that we still use today. Musical concerts were usually accompanied by a harpsichord or lute improvising chords from a figured bass line (a musical notation where numbers and symbols indicate specific chords and intervals to be played with a given note). Beginning around 1600, the Baroque era was instrumental (pun definitely intended) in the normalization of tonality (harmony as we know it – major and minor keys, etc.), the rise of instrumental solos and ensembles, and the trend of musical improvisation.ĭuring this time, professional musicians were expected to be able to improvise accompaniments and melodies. These composers – and this musical era in general – were vital in shaping music as we know it today. When we say Baroque music, we typically think of composers like Bach and Handel.
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