The Baroque Period in Music: Composers, Keyboard Instruments, and Style

Harpsichord; photo by Photo by Feliphe Schiarolli on Unsplash

What Is the Baroque Period in Music?

Envision a room with the most ornate, grand furniture and décor. The shelves are cluttered with various baubles in different colors. The furniture is velvet with one too many pillows, all of differing colors and textures. This is the Baroque period; grandiose and ornamented in every possible way.

When the Baroque style was new, some people didn’t like it and called it “barroco”. The name “Baroque” comes from this Portuguese word. It means “a pearl of an irregular shape” and was meant as a derogatory term. Baroque music was full of ornamentation and was extravagant compared to the music that came before it. Eventually, Baroque music was accepted and the trend continued for 150 years from approximately 1600-1750.

Composers of Baroque music believed strongly in creating music that affected the emotions. The composers wrote music that tried to pull emotions such as joy, hope, and sadness from their listeners. I would recommend listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. The movements have different emotions that were meant to move the listener. Try to decipher the emotion for each movement.

It is notable that while the composers were writing music to affect the emotions, they were not composing to express their own emotions. The music was focused on the performer or the situation it was written for, and not on the composer or the music itself.

As for performance practice, or how the music would be played, performers of this time period were expected to add to the music that was provided for them. They would add ornamentation (extra notes surrounding the central note written by the composer) and improvise on the music that was written by the composer.

Baroque Music Characteristics

·       Basso continuo or figured bass is when only a bass line is provided. An instrument such as a cello would play the lowest line, the bass line. Numbers were written above the bass line that would tell the instrumentalist, such as a harpsichordist, which notes to play.

·       Ornamentation is one of the keys to understanding and performing in the Baroque style. This term is referring to adding decorative notes surrounding the written notes. When performing Baroque music today, ideas for ornamentation are given and improvisation is not expected.

·       Terraced dynamics were important to the Baroque period. These were sudden dynamic changes that built upon each other. Let me give you an example: let’s take the dynamics piano (soft) and mezzo-piano (medium soft, slightly louder than piano). Someone performing with terraced dynamics would play the melody piano, and then for the next section of music would suddenly start playing with mezzo-piano.

Major Baroque Composers: Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel

The musicians in this time period were dependent on patrons to support them. Often these patrons were cities, churches, or royalty. The patrons dictated what was composed and composers were not typically given the freedom to create what they wanted.

Music of this time was commonly performed for a few years, but some patrons required new music weekly. For example, one of Bach’s patrons was a church, and the church had him create music for their service every week! If you haven’t heard his music, you should check it out. Listen to Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C major. Imagine composing this to be used in a large church within a week. Actually, the works he typically composed were much longer than this, but you get my point!

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer and played the organ, harpsichord, and violin. He was part of a long line of musicians from the same family. Bach was an organist at a Lutheran church as well as a court musician. He composed music for vocalists, instrumentalists, and the orchestra. He is well-known for his keyboard music and his works are performed often today.

Bach’s music used counterpoint. This is when you have two or more melodies that intertwine with each other. The Prelude and Fugue in C major I mentioned earlier is an excellent example of this. You’ll hear the different melodies starting and ending at different times, but still working together.

Music to listen to: Brandenburg Concertos, The Well-Tempered Clavier Volumes I and II

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was from Venice and his primary instrument was the violin. Vivaldi was known for his concertos; he is known for writing around 500 concertos as well as other works. Vivaldi worked for the Pio Ospedale della Pietá. The Pietá was a home for the orphaned and illegitimate children of Venice. Vivaldi was a teacher, composer, and conductor at this school.

Fun fact: Vivaldi had red hair. He was trained as a priest as well as a musician and was known as il prete rosso, that is, the red priest.

Music to listen to: The Four Seasons

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) was born in Germany, but traveled extensively and spent most of his life in London. He is known for playing the organ and the harpsichord. His compositions included operas, oratorios, and instrumental music. While most Baroque composers were not popular with the general public while they were alive, Handel’s music was very popular. Once, he had a public rehearsal and the traffic in London was stopped for three hours because 12,000 people came to watch it (Burkholder, Grout, Palisca 2010, 454).

Unlike Bach and Vivaldi, Handel’s music was written to serve the public, although he did have patrons as they did. He had traveled to many different countries and was well-versed in what the public wanted to hear.

He is known for writing several oratorios. These musical works are a type of religious opera. They were performed without any kind of costume and acting (like a typical opera). The music was sung with instruments. An excellent example of this is the Messiah. Some of you may know this great work, and if you don’t, look it up! The Hallelujah Chorus is the most popular section of this famous work.

Music to listen to: The Messiah

Baroque Keyboard Instruments: Clavichord vs. Harpsichord

The clavichord is a rectangular stringed instrument that preceded the piano. The sound was made when the strings were struck by tangents (small metal blades). The clavichord was quiet and not suited to large performances. One interesting thing about this instrument is that you could create a slight vibrato (much like a violin or cello), which is impossible on the piano today.

The harpsichord followed the clavichord in creation. You can still see the harpsichord in performances today. It’s a smaller keyboard instrument and in order to create sound, the strings were plucked. The harpsichord was louder than the clavichord, and so was able to be used in larger performances. The harpsichord was limited in how expressive it could be, and crescendo and diminuendo were not possible.

Both of these instruments preceded the development of the piano we have today; we will discuss this in later blog posts!

Bibliography

Burkholder, J. Peter, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. Eighth edition. Belmont, California: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2010.

Gillespie, John. Five Centuries of Keyboard Music. United States of America: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc, 1965.