Baroque Music essays

Baroque Music essays The Baroque Period began in 1600 with Monteverdi. The term Baroque, was from the Italian word barraco, meaning bizarre. It ended with the death of Handel and Bach in the 1750s. The main shared ideal for the period is the belief that musics principle goal is to move to affections. The Baroque era is the era of style-consciousness. The means of verbal representation in Baroque music were intellectual, pictorial and had richer vocabulary. Opera is one of the important innovations of Baroque era which allowed the realization of extreme affection in music. It represented melodic freedom. The Baroque Period includes many great music composers, for example, Monteverdi, Bach, Handel, Corelli, Gabrieli, Telemann and Schutz. The Baroque era is era of experimentation and expanding the music rules. The Baroque music is able to convey the filling of available space, sound and movement. It allowed the composers to express their emotions in their pieces. The general characteristics of the Baroque Period are the fast harmonic rhythm, dynamics shifts from loud to soft abruptly. The instruments mainly used are orchestral instruments which include wind, strings, brass and keyboard instruments. In Baroque Period, several new forms and designs of music are introduced, which include Operas, Sonatas, Oratorios, Suites, Fuites and Concertos. Modes are finally replaced by Major/Minor keys system. The orchestra took shape; the violins became the dominant instrument. The death of Handel and Bach ended the Baroque Period. It was followed by the Romantic Period. Today, Baroque music is widely performed and enjoyed throughout the world. ...