Paper Example: Baroque Era Music

The Baroque era is a period in Western art music that occurred between 1600 and 1750. The term baroque was coined from the Portuguese word "Barraco" which means a misshapen pearl, which is characterized by a negative description of heavily ornamented and baroque music that was common during the era. The name becomes common in other architectural designs that were initiated in the same period. The Baroque era saw exceptional creation of tonality as most performers and composers during the period used elaborate musical ornamentation with various musical notations to develop new playing techniques in the artistic renditions. Throughout the period, a massive expansion in baroque music was evident as complexity in the instrumental performances and the establishment of other genres become exceptionally high. The most developed styles include oratorio, opera, concerto, and sonata. Similarly, many musical concepts and terms from this period are still being used to date. While the Baroque era tries to explain various musical forms and connotations that were developed to mark the period as useful in music, the creation of tonality and elaborate vocal ornamentation has adversely made an exciting time to use in evaluating different musical genres. This paper focuses on examining the significance of Baroque Era Music in today's music and styles that have been produced by recent composers and producers.

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The term baroque is characterized by overlapping musical styles and extensive use of ornamentation in the production of different musical genres. Although, according to critics, the term baroque is a recent development in music and only focuses on the use of instruments to produce the intended rendition, the explanations that are expressed in it reveals that its existences are as old as most music. For instance, in isolated references, scholars have shown that musical forms that were born during this period, such as sinfonia and concerto, were mainly based on the explicit exploration of instruments to produce the needed lyric. Notably, the commonly used technique in baroque was a repeated bass line and the use of ground bass to execute the intended genre and make it palpating to the ears. Henry Purcell's "Dido Lament" is a famous technique in this period. However, having since shed most of its derogatory connotations, the baroque has since been convenient and one of the most diverse periods in the history of music. The commonly known music composers during the Baroque period include Praetorius, Scheidt, Schein, Handel, Bach, Telemann, Achutz, Rameau, Lully, Couperin, Frescobaldi, and Domenico, among others.

According to Bukofze (2016), most of the prominent personalities in the Baroque's first-period hail from Italy, such as Vivaldi, Monteverdi, and Corelli who compositions have been used as the reference point of baroque genres. As a result, most forms of baroque music have their origin in Italy like the sonata, opera, oratorio, cantata, and concerto. Most the instrument that was used during the period such as flute, violin, cello, viola, double bass, trumpet, woodwind, and French horn has been the commonly used one in ensuring the form of music is adequately maintained as other genres are being developed across years. However, major philosophical currents in the era, it is also believed that most Baroque music originated from the Renaissance interest that focuses on the ideas from Rome and ancient Greece. According to Buelow (2016), the Romans and Greeks, music was regarded as a persuasive communication and could easily arouse emotions to listeners. The revelation of this idea gives the Baroque music era an outstanding description and shape up that is evident to date. Notably, through this era, composers relied on writing music for a living, especially from religious and political institutions. The needs of the music during this period were dictated by what the composer has produced as well as the ornamentation that is used to make it outstanding and exciting. Through this perspective, it worth noting that Baroque music is capable of providing a fascinating window to access history.

Additionally, as forms from earlier periods continued to be used in different musical genres, such as particular dances and motets, the rhetoric form of music was regarded as the main point of development that not only signifies its future value but also ensures that it remains to test time. According to Novotny & Novotny (2015), most of the elaborate forms were associated with dramatic impulse, particularly the cantata, the oratorio, and the opera. In the instrumental music realm, the notion of desire and contrast in creating large-scale forms of music led to the rise of other forms such as suite, concerto, and sonata. In opera, which was mainly drama accompanied by instruments on a stage presentation, the ways depict an alternation between arias and recitative as characters express their feelings towards a particular action (Abdullah et al., 2018). Similarly, the forms of music that were portrayed in the baroque era shows different musical genre has a dramatic impact that it has on users as well as the overall musical ensembles that are introduced to keep the piece outstanding and capable of standing the test of time.

Moreover, during the Baroque era, most music was associated with rhetorical and dramatic possibilities. In terms of contrast, Baroque composition outlined the significant difference between soft and loud, ensemble, and sole as well as timbers and instruments that are involved in it. Composers also gave more precision to instrumentation as violin and trumpet become predominant during the period. Notably, in previous musical periods, most music pieces were characterized by a single melody or several melodies that are being played together. However, during the Baroque musical era, the concept of harmony and melody was adversely articulated to imitate ancient music (Novotny & Novotny, 2015). The focus was much on single voices and accompaniments as opposed to the creation of several forms with many views. In terms of instrumental sounds, Baroque music became predominant in the last fifty years as countless hours were being taken to produce the required sound. The pitch of baroque era music had no standard, and most of the genres composed before tuning ensembles to produce exceptional sounds were entirely shattered. The initiated not was mainly to give the music of the period a remarkable familiarity and consistency over time.

In conclusion, Baroque-era music was a significant period that saw an explosion in musical style through the introduction of the sonata, the concerto, and the opera. The 1600 to 1750 era included composers such as Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Lully, among others, portraying the significance of instrumentation in different musical genres. However, the essential instrumental type during the Baroque period was the concerto by Vivaldi and Corelli. Throughout the period, different instruments were used to produce other genres that have been used and played today. In most country, baroque music has been used as a tool for communication.

References

Abdullah, A. G., Foley, J., Suryaputra, I. G. N. A., & Hellman, A. (Eds.). (2018, January). Elementary school students' mathematical intelligence based on mathematics learning using classical music of the baroque era as the backsound. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 42, p. 00112). EDP Sciences.

Buelow, G. J. (Ed.). (2016). The Late Baroque Era: Vol 4. From The 1680s To 1740. Springer.

Bukofzer, M. F. (2016). Music in the baroque era-from Monteverdi to Bach. Read Books Ltd.

Novotny, D. D., & Novotny, D. (2015). Ens rationis from Suarez to Caramuel: a study in scholasticism of the Baroque Era. Fordham Univ Press.