Baroque music

Edward Clark

Bach: Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring

What is Baroque music?

Baroque music is music between 1600-1750 1600 was the year of which the first opera was composed by Monteverdi. 1750 was the year of which , the very influential composer Johann Sebastian Bach died. Baroque was anything very decorated, ornamented or very detailed. The word baroque comes from the Portuguese stem; barocco meaning irregularly shaped pearl set in jewellery.

Baroque composes

Monteverdi (1567-1643) Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) Vivaldi (1678-1741) Corelli (1653-1733) Rameau (1683-1764) Lully (1632-1687) J.S Bach (1685-1750) Handel (1685-1759)

A typical big baroque orchestra.

Woodwinds8Flauti, 8Oboe, 8Fagotti.

Brass4Corni, 4Trombe.

PercussionTimpani, 8Tambure.

Strings14Violini I,14Violini II,12 Viole,10 Violoncelli,8Bassi,2 baroque

guitars ,1 Liuti,2 Theorbe.

The Baroque Orchestra 2.

The Baroque period was really the beginning of the Orchestra, many instruments were changed i.e. viols (weak sounding violins) were replaced by violins, and recorders were replaced by flutes. The Orchestra varied from piece to piece always having strings but woodwind, percussion and brass weren't always used. Brass instruments didnt have valves so the players had a very limited range, (just the harmonic series), all they could use for notes was there embouchure so each player would have a different range depending on there ability. Melodies were often very high pitch as the high notes were very close together and the low notes were very spaced out.

Images of Santa Cecilia concert hall, Rome, and a harpsichord.

Baroque architecture

As you can see Baroque architecture was very ornate, It shows of skill and the designers were also very skilled. Each piece like the music was unique as it was hand crafted. They both flow with twiddles and repetition at different pitches of music and high.