
Full Answer
What are some good Baroque pieces, or composers?
Key works to listen to are:
- Scarlatti & Soler: There are many recordings of their sonatas most notably by Scott Ross on Erato
- Sanz: There are many recordings of pieces from his "Instruccion de musica sobre la guitarra española" recorded by Yepes, Segovia, Williams et al. ...
- Literes: "Acis y Galatea" recorded by Al Ayre Español on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi.
Who wrote in every Baroque genre except opera?
Bach Era: Baroque era - German composer who created masterpieces in every baroque form except opera. - Written mostly for the lutheran church and often based on familiar hymns. - polyphonic texture and rich harmony
What are 3 features of Baroque music?
•Most baroque music has an easily recognizable strong, steady pulse, and continuity of rhythm. •Patterns of rhythmic sequences permeate much of Baroque music. •Rapid changes in harmony often makes the pieces feel more rhythmic. •Dance rhythms were frequently used in multi-movement form pieces. •Dotted rhythms were widely used.
Who was the greatest Baroque composer?
The work already reflects his life-long admiration of Bartók, as well as the form and manner of a Baroque ... the best musicians who use extended technique here. In these volumes, Crumb paid his most extended and overt tribute to the Hungarian composer ...

What is a Baroque opera?
Baroque opera refers to opera composed during the Baroque era, a period in the artistic history of Europe. The Baroque era is usually regarded as encompassing the years between 1600 and 1750, following the previous Renaissance period and eventually giving way to the subsequent Classical period.
What were the components of Baroque opera?
Terms in this set (14)opera. a large scale music drama that combines poetry, acting, scenery, and costumes with singing and instrumental music.recitative. the plot and action are generally advanced through a kind of musical declamation, or speech.accompagnato. ... aria. ... overture. ... libretto. ... orfeo. ... masque.More items...
What defines the Baroque period?
Baroque period, (17th–18th century) Era in the arts that originated in Italy in the 17th century and flourished elsewhere well into the 18th century. It embraced painting, sculpture, architecture, decorative arts, and music.
What are the two types of baroque opera?
By the early 18th century (particularly in Naples), two subgenres of opera became evident: opera seria, in which the focus was on serious subject matter and the da capo aria, and opera buffa, which had a lighter, even comic tone and sometimes used duets, trios and larger ensembles.
How is Classical opera different from Baroque opera?
Baroque operas were very focused on Greek mythology such as the ancient gods and heroes, which tended to create a more tragic, dramatic and non-realistic feel. Classical operas, “Opera Buffa” or “Comic opera” in particular, had a more comical approach.
What is the style of the opera?
Traditional opera, often referred to as "number opera", consists of two modes of singing: recitative, the plot-driving passages sung in a style designed to imitate and emphasize the inflections of speech, and aria (an "air" or formal song) in which the characters express their emotions in a more structured melodic ...
What are the musical features of the Baroque period?
Baroque music is characterised by: long flowing melodic lines often using ornamentation (decorative notes such as trills and turns) contrast between loud and soft, solo and ensemble. a contrapuntal texture where two or more melodic lines are combined.
What can you say about Baroque period?
The Baroque period refers to an era that started around 1600 and ended around 1750, and included composers like Bach, Vivaldi and Handel, who pioneered new styles like the concerto and the sonata. The Baroque period saw an explosion of new musical styles with the introduction of the concerto, the sonata and the opera.
What are 5 characteristics of Baroque music?
What are the main characteristics of the Baroque era? The main characteristics of Baroque Era society were humanism and the increasing secularization of society. The music characteristics of the Baroque Era included fast movement, ornamentation, dramatic alterations in tempo and volume, and expressiveness.
What is Baroque classical music?
Baroque music (UK: /bəˈrɒk/ or US: /bəˈroʊk/) is a period or style of Western classical music from approximately 1600 to 1750 originated in Western Europe.
What are the characteristics of an opera?
Operas often have an overture, a musical (and wordless) introduction staged before the main action begins. Other orchestral works like symphonies and ballets often have overtures as well. A well-known operatic overture is that of Rossini's opera William Tell. Like plays, operas are usually divided into acts and scenes.
What are the instruments used in Baroque music?
Baroque orchestra instruments usually included:strings - violins, violas, cellos and double basses.woodwind - recorders or wooden flutes, oboes and bassoon.brass - sometimes trumpets and/or horns (without valves)timpani (kettledrums)continuo - harpsichord or organ.
What is the story of Baroque opera?
The story of Baroque opera is a story of lavish splendour, of the exotic and spectacular, of the marvellous, of superstar singers with superstar egos and incomes, of intrigue and dodgy business dealings, and … some of the most sublime music ever written. It starts as a very Renaissance story in Florence in the early 1570s with a group of noblemen, ...
What operas did Monteverdi write?
Even the aged Monteverdi, who had moved to Venice as director of St Mark’s in 1613, was called upon to provide operas, composing his valedictory masterpieces Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, staged in 1640 and L’incoronazione di Poppea (1643), along with the lost Le nozze d’Enea in Lavinia.
How many operas did Lully compose?
Between 1673 and 1686 Lully composed 14 operas, or tragedies en musique, mostly staged both at court and the Paris Opéra.
Where was Handel's opera set?
As it was the stage was now set for Handel - now a British national - to establish the domination of Italian opera in London, where between 1711 and 1741 nearly 40 of his operas were staged in addition to those of other leading Italian composers such as Nicola Porpora.
When was Scarlatti's opera composed?
Scarlatti’s large body of operas, composed between 1679 and 1721, provide an ideal platform from which to explore the transition from 17th century Venetian opera to opera seria. Scarlatti also introduces us to a major new centre for Italian opera – Naples.
Where did the opera spread?
From now opera quickly spread its tentacles throughout Italy, reaching, among other centres, Rome in the 1620s and Venice in the 1630s. It is to Venice that the story now moves.
Who was the composer of the ballets?
The principal composer of these ballets was Louis’ composer of instrumental music, Jean-Baptiste Lully. It was Lully who was destined to become the founder of French opera, a rich paradox given that he was Florentine born as Giovanni Battista Lulli.
What is the Baroque style?
The Baroque ( UK: / bəˈrɒk /, US: / bəˈroʊk /; French: [baʁɔk]) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1740s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including the Iberian Peninsula it continued, together with new styles, ...
How long did the Baroque period last?
Baroque architecture in Portugal lasted about two centuries (the late seventeenth century and eighteenth century). The reigns of John V and Joseph I had increased imports of gold and diamonds, in a period called Royal Absolutism, which allowed the Portuguese Baroque to flourish.
What is the French term for the architectural style that is highly adorned and tormented?
In 1788 Quatremère de Quincy defined the term in the Encyclopédie Méthodique as "an architectural style that is highly adorned and tormented". The French terms style baroque and musique baroque appeared in Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française in 1835.
What are the new motifs introduced by Baroque?
New motifs introduced by Baroque are: the cartouche, trophies and weapons, baskets of fruit or flowers, and others, made in marquetry, stucco, or carved.
Why did the Portuguese Baroque not lack in building?
In fact, the first Portuguese Baroque does not lack in building because "plain style" is easy to be transformed, by means of decoration (painting, tiling, etc.), turning empty areas into pompous, elaborate baroque scenarios. The same could be applied to the exterior.
Where was the Baroque garden?
The Baroque garden, also known as the jardin à la française or French formal garden, first appeared in Rome in the 16th century, and then most famously in France in the 17th century in the gardens of Vaux le Vicomte and the Palace of Versailles. Baroque gardens were built by Kings and princes in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Poland, Italy and Russia until the mid-18th century, when they began to be remade into by the more natural English landscape garden .
When was the Frauenkirche completed?
The Dresden Frauenkirche serves as a prominent example of Lutheran Baroque art, which was completed in 1743 after being commissioned by the Lutheran city council of Dresden and was "compared by eighteenth-century observers to St Peter's in Rome".
When was the Baroque period?
Derived from the Portuguese barroco, or “oddly shaped pearl,” the term “baroque” has been widely used since the nineteenth century to describe the period in Western European art music from about 1600 to 1750.
Where did Baroque music originate?
Many of the forms identified with Baroque music originated in Italy, including the cantata, concerto, sonata, oratorio, and opera. Although Italy played a vital role in the development of these genres, new concepts of what it meant to be a nation increased the imperative of a “national style.”.
What forms of music were created during the Baroque era?
In the realm of instrumental music, the notion of contrast and the desire to create large-scale forms gave rise to the concerto, sonata and suite. Vocal music.
What instruments were used in the Baroque period?
The harpsichord was the primary keyboard instrument (and an important member of the continuo group), and instruments important in the 16th and 17th centuries like the lute and viol, still continued to be used. Variations in instruments still popular today also gave the baroque ensemble a different sound.
How long has baroque music been popular?
After being ignored for decades, Baroque music has become increasingly popular over the last fifty years. As part of this new interest, scholars and musicians have spent countless hours trying to figure out how the music might have sounded to 17th and 18th century audiences.
Why did Bach write so many cantatas?
Bach wrote the number of cantatas he did, for example, not necessarily because he found the form inspirational , but because of the liturgical demands of the Leipzig church that employed him. When viewed in this light, Baroque music can provide a fascinating window into history. Back to Top.
What is the technique of a basso continuo?
Along with the emphasis on a single melody and bass line came the practice of basso continuo, a method of musical notation in which the melody and bass line are written out and the harmonic filler indicated in a type of shorthand.

What’s The Opera?
History of The Baroque Opera
- The Italian word opera signifies “work”, both in the sense of the labor done and the result created. The Italian word stems from the Latin opera, a singular noun meaning “work” and also the plural of the noun opus. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Italian word was first used in the sense “composition in which poetry, dance, and baroq...
How The Baroque Opera Was Rediscovered
- Pioneers
After the period of “baroque”, came the periods of “classics” and “romantic” that, with few exceptions, cared little for the music written before. The auditors of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries demanding new fact, and the idea of ”directory” applies only to the works of a very limi… - The new generations of post-war
It will take the energy and conviction of a new generation in the post-war to turn these specific tests real rediscovery, the constant desire to reconnect with the practice of the execution of the times, commit to greater authenticity. At the end of the 50s, the German cellist Nikolaus Harnon…