The word Baroque comes from the word "barraco" which means "oddly shaped pearl," the term baroque has been used widely since the early 19th century to describe the period in Western European art music from 1600-1750. Comparing some of music history’s greatest masterpieces to a misshapen pearl might seem strange to us today, but to the nineteenth century critics who applied the term, the music of Bach and Handel’s era sounded overly ornamented and exaggerated. Having long since shed its derogatory connotations, “baroque” is now simply a convenient catch-all for one of the richest and most diverse periods in music history.
In the Baroque period the musicians and composers created a musical language to fit moods and affections. Some rhythms and melodic patterns are used to define certain moods and expressions. The unity of mood is conveyed by the rhythm. The rhythmic patterns heard at the beginning of the piece are heard variously throughout the rest or the piece. The beat is far from distinct in baroque music. Beats are rarely broken up. Baroque music creates a sequence feeling with the melody. It will be heard over and over again through the course of the entire piece. Many melodies are complex making them hard to sing or play. The musicians and composers had to be highly skilled and trained to write baroque music. When you listen to Baroque music you get the feel as if it is all over the place. But it is actually strategically put together. Many interesting things happened in the Baroque period. Click this link to find out some interesting facts.
Terraced Dynamics are sudden in a piece of music like physically stepping off of a step. It is a distinctive quality in baroque music.
There were many talented composers in the baroque period. Studies show that the top ten composers however, were: Johan Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, George Phillip Telemann, Arcangelo Corelli, Henry Purcell, Domenico Scarletti, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Johan Pachelbel, and Giovanni Batista Sammartini. This link contains information on these top ten composers of the baroque period. Click to find out some interesting information on them.
While the baroque music period was going on many other things were occurring. Such as: the English Civil War, the Bank of England was founded, and the beginning of a religious 30 years war in Central Europe.
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