Short history of both the Baroque period and Classical period in music.

1. History of Music
Baroque
And
Classical

2. Baroque 1600-1750
• At the end of the 16th
century, madrigal composers
moved to extreme dissonances and rhythmic
contrasts to illustrate emotional texts
• The Baroque period began as a reaction against the
madrigal.
• The recitative was developed as a new solo singing
style. This led to the stage and eventually to opera.
• The Baroque is characterized with extreme excess
and extravagance.
• Baroque “dualism” is a constant theme throughout
the Baroque era. It is the battle between freedom
and strictness, extravagance and control.

3. Baroque musical characteristics
• Rhythm is more definite and regular.
• Bar lines begin to be used for the 1st
time.
• The basso continuo is formed. This includes the bass
voices or low sounding instruments and organ or
harpsichord (chordal instrument allows for continuous
chords). In general, the bass line is reinforced.
(Pachelbel’s Canon in D or Bach’s Air on a G String)
• Harmony evolves and musicians developed our modern
major/minor system.
• Chords became a standard and used in a predictable and
meaningful way. We being to have an established sense
of tonality.

4. Opera
• Introduced around 1600 (Peri and Monteverdi)
• Opera is drama set to music and singing is used
instead of speech.
• Main genre of secular music during this time
• Art form that combined music, drama, dancing,
poetry, scenery, and special effects.
• Became an important part of culture and
entertainment.
• Opera alternated between the styles of recitative and
aria.
• Listen: “Dido’s Lament” from Dido and Aeneas
(1689) by Henry Purcell.

5. Oratorio
• Sacred vocal music that includes a variety of
styles and forms.
• Oratorio is basically opera using sacred subjects
and are performed in concert form (no scenery,
costumes, or gestures).
• Includes an orchestra and a choir with soloists
• May borrow from secular vocal music
• Listen: Hallelujah Chorus by Handel from
Messiah

6. Instrumental Music
• Instrumental music rises through the popularity of
dance, virtuosity, and vocal music.
• The rise of instrumental music can also be associated
with the development of instrument making technology.
• The first fortepianos are invented during this time and
are the first to use hammer strokes not by plectra.
• Pipe organ technology continued to evolve and organ
building becomes a craft.

7. The Late Baroque
• The age of absolutism and the doctrine of the divine right of
kings, the absolute rule of “God-chosen” monarchs.
Absolutism can be seen in Baroque opera.
• It was the age of science when Newton and Leibniz invented
calculus, Newton established his laws of mechanics and the
theory of gravity.
▫ Music reflected the scientific attitude by tuning scales (or
tempering = equal temperment) them with more precision.
▫ Music theorists were scientifically motivated to make checklists of
musical devices and techniques that match with emotions.
• Art was used to impress as evidenced through King Louis XIV
building the palace of Versailles.
▫ Composers were most likely to view themselves as servants
striving to satisfy their masters.

8. Late Baroque Styles
• Rhythm continued to be regular
• Dynamics: composers rarely used loud (f) or soft (p) markings in their scores, but sudden
dynamic contrasts were favored
• Melodies were ornate (ornamentation) and complex (fugues, for example)
• Improvisations were used and often written down for musicians
• Polyphonic texture was standard along with the harmony of the basso continuo.
• Musical forms became clearer due to the patronage system. Formulas were used for composing
due to the quick demand associated with the patronage system.
• To the modern listener music of the Baroque may seem impressive, but is typically comes off as
impersonal.
▫ Baroque composers conveyed a range of emotions, but they usually did not convey their own
personal feelings.
• The fugue, a polyphonic composition built on one theme (fugue subject) that appears over and
over in each voice or instrument,
• is an important development in the Baroque.
▫ Listen: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach

9. The Baroque Orchestra
• The Baroque orchestra was formed and the core group of instruments were
members of the violin family. A keyboard instrument was added for the
continuo and woodwinds and brass instruments were sometimes added, but
were not standard.
▫ The famous orchestra controlled by King Louis XIV in the late 17th century was
called The Twenty Four Violins of the King (6 violins, 12 violas, 6 cellos). Today
this would be called a string orchestra.
• The concerto (orchestra and a soloist) and concerto grosso (orchestra and a
small group of soloists) become important orchestral genres.
▫ Listen: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, for flute, violin, harpsichord, and
orchestra (before 1721) by Johann Sebastin Bach.
• The use of movements within one work are seen. The movements help
extend a composition. Typical late Baroque concertos have three
movements. The first movement is in a fast tempo, the second is a contrast
of the first (quieter and slower), and the third is usually faster than the first.

10. Making Money as a Composer in the
Late Baroque
• There were three main ways a composer could
earn a living:
▫ The church as an organist or choirmaster who
composes
▫ The Court working for a master
▫ The Opera House

11. Baroque Composers
• Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643): Italian composer proficient in most of the major genres of
his time (operas)
• Henry Purcell (1659-1695): English composer and organist who wrote only one true opera
(Dido and Aeneaus) but wrote other compositions for the stage
• Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713): Italian composer and violinist who wrote solo sonatas, trio
sonatas, and concertos
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): studied music from other composers, took his own
style, and blended them (toccatas, fugues, oratorios, cantatas, masses, organ solos, etc.)
• George Frideric Handel (1685-1759): English Composer born in Germany who wrote music
for all genres of his time (oratorio: Messiah , Royal Fireworks and Water Music
symphonies)
• Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725): Italian opera composer (sonatas for clavichord)
• Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Italian composer and violinist known for concertos , opera
and string quartets and quintets (The Four Seasons) , oratorio: Gloria
• François Couperin (168-1733): French composer, harpsichordist, and organist
• Jean Philippe Rameau (1683-1764): important French musician for the development of
opera
• Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757): the son of Alessandro Scarlatti who is known for his
keyboard sonatas
• Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767): brought music to the middle class by publishing
music that could be played at home by novice musicians.

12. Classical
1750-1820
• This intellectual movement, the Enlightenment, focused on the
advancement of science and reasoning. People of the time valued
intelligence, sensitivity, and humor.
• Intelligence was used to solve scientific problems and problems associated
with morality, education and politics.
• Fascination with the “natural” and “the good life”
• For many, religion stopped being a tremendous force during this era.
• Time of the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers
• The introduction of the coffee house and public concerts
• Arts were seen as a way to contribute to an improved quality of life. They
were intended to please not teach or impress like in the Baroque era.
• Music strived for clarity, restraint, and balance
• Composers wrote Masses and operas, but majority of the compositions were
instrumental.
• Primary genres included were the symphony, sonata, chamber music,
opera, solo concerto.

13. How it started
• A reaction against the extravagance of the
Baroque
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a self-taught
composer who started an attack on the complex
and artificial aspects of Baroque opera.
Attacking the primary genre placed all of the
music from the Baroque in question.
• The people of the classical era wanted opera that
would portray real people in real life.

14. Other Movements in Art
• Neoclassicism: A movement in visual arts that
supports the return to simple and natural values
and an opposition to the complexity of the
Baroque and the extreme lightness of the
Rococo.
• Rococo: period between Baroque and Classical
in which paintings, decoration, furniture, and
jewelry were done in an extremely light style.
• The Novel: A new literary type that depicted
contemporary life and feelings.

15. Musical Style Features
• Rhythm: flexible rhythm, the tempo and meter are constant
throughout a movement, but the rhythms differ; rhythm gives
a feelings of less predictable movement that is more exciting
than the regular rhythms of the Baroque.
• Dynamics: become more specific and passages begin to be
marked by composers with f, p, ff, and mf; there was a desire
for variety in a pleasant way within predictability. Composers
worked degrees of volume with the crescendo and
diminuendo.
• Melody: simple melodies were preferred
• Texture: Homophony was the principal texture but
counterpoint continued in a “natural” way to create tension;
major turning point because polyphony previously dominated

16. Classical Music Forms
• Standard patterns for composition
▫ Sonata form
▫ Minuet form
▫ Rondo
▫ Theme and variations Form

17. Classical Orchestra
• The orchestra became standard during the Classical
era and helped form the foundation of the
symphony orchestra later in time.
• The core of the Classical orchestra continued to be
the violins, violas, and cellos.
• Woodwinds and brass instruments were given
specific and regular parts. The woodwind
instruments that were included were flutes, oboes,
clarinets, and bassoons. The brass instruments
were French horns, and trumpets. The timpani was
also given a regular role in this orchestra.

18. Public Concerts
• Concerts were not a new idea and in the past they were
conducted in a variety of places
• However, in the Classical era concerts became an
important aspect of music
• In 1748, the 1st
hall in Europe specifically for concerts was
built
• The rise of the concert allowed orchestral music to reach
the public and therefore it grew in prestige and
importance.
• Concert series allowed another way for composers to
earn a living, but the main ways for composers to earn
money continued to be the church, the court, and the
opera house.

19. The Symphony
• Popular in the Classical era because it fit the needs of
society at the time including public concerts
• Symphony movements contrast in tempo and are
composed according to different forms
▫ Opening movement: fast to moderate tempo and sonata
form
▫ Slow movement: slow to very slow tempo without a
standard form
▫ Minuet (and trio): moderate tempo in minuet form
▫ Closing movement: fast to very fast tempo in sonata or
rondo form
• Listen: Haydn, Symphony #94 in G Major (Surprise
Symphony), first movement through fourth movement

20. Other Classical Genres
• Sonata: In this period, a piece for one to two instruments.
Sonatas were not intended for concerts, but were meant for
private performance by novice musicians.
▫ Listen: Moonlight Sonata, Opus 27, No. 2 by Ludwig
von Beethoven
• Concerto: idea from the Baroque era continued to be refined,
virtuosity included, but Classical orchestra was more flexible.
• String Quartet: for four instruments (two violins, one viola,
and one cello) with four movements like the symphony
• Opera Buffa: Comic opera in which singers had to act, sing,
and be funny. The flexibility of the Classical style was a
perfect fit with the comedy of opera buffa. Ensembles are also
a part of opera buffa.
▫ Listen: The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart

21. Composers
• Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): helped develop the
symphony (“Father of the Symphony”) and style for the
string quartet but considered himself a vocal music
composer.
• Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791): helped develop the style
for the string quartet, solo piano concerto, and
contributed to many genres of his time. Musical prodigy
extrodinaire! Wrote music for every instrument & form.
• Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827): expanded the
orchestra and stretched the classical forms (i.e. sonata
form, concerto and symphonic forms). Bridge to
Romantic Period.

22. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
• Roots in the Classical era, committed to the principles of Classicism
• Three Periods
▫ First period: until 1800 his music was in a Classical style like Haydn and Mozart
▫ Second period: 1800-1818 was a time of “heroic” works like Eroica and his Fifth
Symphony
▫ Third period: 1818-1827 was a time characterized as more abstract and
introspective. He mainly composed intimate genres like piano sonatas and string
quartets. (Period most like Romanticism).
• Student of Haydn
• Mood of excitement and urgency by increasing musical elements
▫ Higher and lower registers
▫ Stronger syncopations and accents
▫ Dissonances with strong resolutions
▫ Expanded the orchestra and new demands on instruments
▫ Stretched classical forms, i.e. added a fourth movement to the symphony.

23. References
Kerman, Joseph, and Gary Tomlinson. Listen. 4th
ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000.
Stolba, K. Marie. The Development of Western
Music. 3rd
ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998.