(MBCP) Baroque Period Music Lesson

Baroque Period Music Lesson

Baroque music forms a major portion of the classical music canon, being widely studied, performed, and listened to today. Some of more important composers of the Baroque era include Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Philipp Telemann, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Arcangelo Corelli, François Couperin, Claudio Monteverdi and Henry Purcell.

 

Johann Sebastian Bach by Elias Gottlob Haussmann, 1748

Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist of the Baroque Period. He enriched many established German styles through his skill in counterpoint and harmonic organization. Many of Bach's works are still known today, such as the Brandenburg Concertos the Mass in B minor, the The Well-Tempered Clavier, and his cantatas, chorales, and organ works. His music is revered for its intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty.

 

 

George Frideric Handel by Philip Mercier

Handel was a German-born British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, with works such as Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks and Messiah remaining popular. Handel composed more than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and original instrumentation, interest in Handel's operas has grown.

 

The Baroque period saw the transition to major and minor scales being the basis for musical harmony. During the period, composers and performers used more elaborate musical ornamentation, made changes in musical notation, and developed new instrumental playing techniques. Baroque music expanded the size, range, and complexity of instrumental performance, and also established opera as a musical genre. Many musical terms and concepts from this era are still in use today.

During this time period music was written mainly for the church or aristocratic courts and the demand was for new music.

The Baroque era, as was mentioned, saw the development of opera as a major music innovation. Opera, which was born in Italy, is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text (called a libretto) and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra.

 

 

 

Learn more about Baroque Era Composers below:

 

Learn more about the structure of the opera below:

 

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