Baroque Music

Dictionary Meaning: Baroque (Ba-Rok) a 17th century style of music characterised by extensive use of ornamentation.

The English word baroque came from the Italian word borocco, which means bizarre, although a better translation which more accurately reflects the sense, would be exuberant. This word was originally used in the 1860’s to describe highly decorated 17th and 18th century religious and public buildings in Germany and Austria.

Later, in the early-to-mid 1900’s, the term baroque was given to music from the 17th and 18th century, and now days, the term baroque refers to a type or genre of music which originated around 1600. (The period from 1700 to 1750 is seen as the ‘high Baroque’ period)

There are many important details involved in creating baroque music, but ornaments are a crucial part of all baroque music. Ornaments, like Trills and Mordents, are often used in music written in the baroque era.

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In the renaissance period, all sacred music was performed by choirs.

Another great composer of the late Baroque was George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). The madrigals of the eighth book, Songs of Love and War, are the greatest madrigals ever written. Three of the following compositions are seen as masterpieces of great music: O Magnum Mysterium, the Plaidite Psalite and In Eccelesiis. In the baroque period, individual parts were assigned to soloists. The essence of baroque music, in the words of baroque composer and theorist Johann Joseph Fux; “A composition meets the demands of good taste is it is well constructed, avoids trivialities as well as wilful eccentricities, aims at the sublime, but moves in a natural ordered way, combining brilliant ideas with perfect workman ship. Gabrieli was an organist at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Venice Italy. of the 16th century, after the renaissance period. ”

These days, more and more people are listening to baroque music, and we are witnessing a kind of resurge of people who are interested in it. Bach is so highly thought of in the musical sense, and only Mozart comes close to his skill.

A few composers from the baroque period were:

Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612)

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Orazio Cacchi (1550-1605)

Giulio Caccini (1550-1618)

Tarquinio Merula (1594-1665)

Giovanni-Felice Sances (1600-1679)

Giacomo Carrissimi (1605-1674)

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Luigi Rossi (1597-1653)

Among early composers of the baroque era, there were two outstanding figures: Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612). Monteverdi was the concert-master and conductor at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, which is where he wrote some of the finest operas ever written.

Monteverdi wrote the fist operas of the baroque period. His canons and variations are said to be the finest that exist. Bach’s name is now very well known and he is very famous, however he was barely even known or heard of during his life, and another hundred years after his death.

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