1.2 Key musical characteristics and innovations of Baroque style

Baroque music, spanning from 1600 to 1750, was all about drama and emotion. It brought big changes like tonality, basso continuo, and new instruments. The style aimed to stir feelings and create a sense of movement through complex harmonies and fancy ornaments.

This era saw the birth of exciting new genres like concertos and sonatas. These showcased solo performances and virtuosity, letting musicians show off their skills. The basso continuo became a key player, providing a harmonic backbone that shaped the music's structure and sound.

Baroque Music Characteristics and Innovations

Concept of baroque in arts

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• Originally meant irregular, bizarre, or misshapen
• In music and art, refers to the style prevalent from approximately 1600 to 1750
• Characterized by grandeur, drama, and emotional intensity aimed at evoking strong emotions and creating a sense of movement
• Features elaborate ornamentation and embellishments, complex harmonies and polyphonic textures, contrasting dynamics and timbres, and use of basso continuo (harpsichord, cello)

Baroque vs Renaissance music

• Shift from modality to tonality with the establishment of major and minor keys and development of functional harmony
• Increased use of basso continuo providing harmonic foundation and support for the melody
• Emergence of new instrumental genres like concerto (solo instrument with orchestra), sonata (solo instrument with accompaniment), and suite (collection of dance movements)
• Greater emphasis on solo performances and virtuosity showcasing technical skill
• Expansion of the orchestra with the addition of new instruments (violin family, woodwinds)
• More use of ornamentation, improvisation, and contrast in dynamics, texture, and timbre

Role of basso continuo

• Harmonic accompaniment played throughout a piece, typically performed by a keyboard instrument (harpsichord, organ) and a low melodic instrument (cello, bassoon)
• Keyboard player improvised chords based on figured bass notation using numbers to indicate intervals above the bass note
• Provided harmonic foundation, rhythmic stability, and allowed for greater flexibility in the number and combination of instruments used
• Facilitated the development of new musical forms and genres (opera, oratorio, cantata, concerto)

New Baroque instrumental genres

• Concerto: composition for a solo instrument or small group of soloists accompanied by an orchestra
  1. Typically featured three movements (fast-slow-fast)
  2. Showcased the virtuosity and technical skill of the soloists
  3. Notable composers include Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, and George Frideric Handel
• Sonata: composition for one or more solo instruments, often with basso continuo accompaniment
  • Evolved from the canzona and featured multiple contrasting sections or movements
  • Two main types were chiesa (church) and camera (chamber)
  • Laid the foundation for the classical sonata form
• Suite: collection of dance movements in the same key or related keys
  • Movements often in binary form with two sections, each repeated
  • Common dance forms included allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue
  • Composed for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, and orchestra