Style Periods

Throughout its history, music has developed into cycle. This cycle is a return of fundamental and traditional ideas of an earlier time transposed into the present. It represents a “style revolution” in which a simple structure further develops to become a more complex system. At this point a “revolution” begins and a return to the simple, the more traditional form flourishes again.

As a chain of events, the cycle is extremely prominent during the change of time periods between the Renaissance and Baroque. In 1581, a group of philosophers, musicians, artists, intellectuals, and scientists all met in Florence to discuss where society was headed. Resulting from what became known as the Florentine Camerata, a shift from the current complex system of the renaissance to that of a simple structure, which imitated ancient Greek society. Those such as Girolamo Mei, Giovanni Bardi, Vincenzo Galilei, Jacopo Peri, and Giulio Caccini, all discussed what would become new practices and experimentation in music (Florence 647).

The Baroque Era began at the end of the 16th century and lasted to about 1750. It reflects a period of time when great changes occurred in music and culture, and bridges the gap between the music of the renaissa

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Other important aspects of the “new” style included the basso continuo or figured bass, usually a descending tetra-chord. As seen in Amarilla Mia Bella, from Le nuove musiche, Caccini projects an expressive vocal line against a harmonic background conceived as support for the voice (Stolba 235). From then until his death in 1643 he was maestro di capella at the famous basilica di San Marco in Venezia (Rosand 15). In the baroque era, however, instruments gained a place of their own in sacred as well as secular music. What is happy will be happy and what is sad will be sad throughout.

In Corelli’s Sonata da Camera, a sonata and dance suite, he uses imitation, sequence and suspensions, following the distinct rhythmic patterns of the Baroque style. The baroque style of music represented a complete departure from that of the renaissance era.

In his final masterwork, L'incoronazione di Poppea (1642), the protagonists are not ancient Greek gods and heroes, but real people, and in that good does not triumph over evil. The focus of text instead of music opened a new door leading to many new ideas. The homophonic style created a distinct separation between the melody line and the accompaniment. In his Sonata da Chiesa, ornamentation is used as a more complex form of developing music. She is a representative of the old ways and music. Born in Cremona 1567, he went to Mantova to become court musician. “Stile recitativo was heard in at least two sacre rappresentazioni in which music was confined to a few choruses and solo songs, as in the secular commedie with intermedi” (Florence 649). The music of the early baroque was composed in a style that was very similar that of the renaissance era.

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