Music: Baroque Period (1600 - 1760)
Already by the age of 13, Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre was The Baroque period was a great time of scientific discovery and exploration of the Americas. Galileo, Isaac Newton, and Columbus all lived during this period. Music also blossomed. Opera was created and music in general became much more dramatic. Different countries (Italy, France, and Germany) developed styles distinctively their own. New music genres also emerged including the concerto and the sonata. Emphasis was placed and the bass which resulted in the bass continuo. The bass continuo was a bass part put together with a number that specified the chords to be played.
The musicians from the Baroque period integrated structures and then filled these structures with action and movement. The music from this period was influenced by the aristocracy and the church. Music was usually contracted for by the aristocracy, churches, and the opera houses. Also, instrumental music became just as important as vocal music, and the minor and major scales were established. With the minor and major scales established, harmony also became established using the tonic note (first note- note of ultimate rest) and the dominant note (the fifth note- note of active harmony). It also became possible for a composer to transpose or shift an entire musical composition to another key. Shifting between keys (modulation) also became popular.
Musical pieces during this period also maintained a unity of mood throughout the entire piece of music. This concept of establishing unity of mood was based on the “Doctrine of Affections”. Unity was a fundamental characteristic of baroque music, and was present as well in musical compositions that were made up of movements. Movements were complete and independent of each other, but they were also part of the whole composition. While they were separated from each other by a brief pause, the mood was maintained throughout the movements and themes recurred throughout movements.
The rhythm also followed this theory of unity, giving the piece energy. Again, the melody gave a sense of unity. While the volume of a piece of music would also follow the concept of unity by staying constant for a period of time, the eventual shift of dynamics would be sudden. This style was called terraced dynamics because it was literally like taking a physical step from one level to another. Emphasis was placed on chords and the bass which resulted in the basso continuo. The basso continuo was a bass part put together with a number that specified the chords to be played.
This period saw the creation of the string orchestra based around the violin family. Later, recorders, flutes, oboes, trumpets, horns, trombones, and tympani were added to the orchestra. As new instruments were created and older instruments were improved, virtuosic players became popular.
