Essay on Compare and Contrast the Baroque Music and Jazz

2. What was going historically during this era?  What was life like? The Baroque was a period of absolute monarchs. The monarchs had total control over every aspect of their realms: the economy, the books, the style of art, and even life and death. Louis XIV became the model and he set the stage for many things going on during this period. In many parts of Europe, a strict social hierarchy, rigid laws, and elaborate codes of dress and manners characterized life. There were no major wars. There were knew technological developments that led to scientists and philosophers open up to new ideas and a new way of thinking rather

Baroque music was the genre that came out before Classical music. This genre of music has more of a tonal center. The texture of the music was a lot different than that of classical music. Baroque music is usually polyphonic, but at times is homophonic. In fact, the Baroque era is what made music shift from polyphony to homophony. One

Characteristics of baroque music, it became more dramatic and rhetorical. Baroque music expresses order. The Baroque period was the era that created tonality. Tonality is a musical system in which pitch relationships are based on tonic triad. At the time composers and performers used different methods of musical ornamentation and made changes to musical notations. They developed new instrumental playing techniques. It also help expand the size, range and complexity of instrumental performances such as opera, concerto, and sonata. On the baroque era contrast became a dramatic element in creating drama. Different types of play between “loud and soft, solo and ensembles, different instruments and timbres” all were important for baroque compositions. The precision of composers began to grow, now they specified when the instrument users had to play not whenever they wanted too. Vocal music grew such as opera, oratorio, and cantata.

During the Baroque period, composers tried to convey emotions through contrasts in tonality, idiomatic writing, and ornamentation. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia stated that the baroque period was one of stylistic duality, and it was an era that displayed emotional extremes. Major and minor tonality surfaced, as well as idiomatic writing

The next theme of the Baroque which is discussed is referred to by Martin as the "passions of the soul."  These emotions or in Martin's words, the portrayal of the inner life of man," finally came to life during the Baroque.  The Baroque was a time where no emotion lay hidden and all were to be felt by both the artist as well as the spectator.  Chiaroscuro was a tool used in many paintings to further the emotional sense in the spectator.  Sculpture too, was an emotional ride in the Baroque.  One such work is Bernini's The Ecstasy of St. Teresa.

The understanding of very specific features from the Baroque period requires a more general approximation to get there. Why a culture starts to disappear and another one to grow? For this kind of question there are just inconclusive answers. Bukofzer distinguished three major periods, though he acknowledged that they did not coincide in different countries: 1580-1630, early baroque; 1630-80, middle Baroque; 1680-1730, late Baroque. Clercx pushed the beginning of the period back to the middle of the 16th century, where she located a phase of ‘primitive Baroque’. The second period, ‘full Baroque’ (plein baroque), occupied the entire 17th century. Finally after the style was achieved there was a ‘tardy Baroque’ (baroque Tardif),

In the old world, music was also a form of entertainment and relaxation. Their music, however, is quite opposite from ours today. Our music is often fast and has many beats, their music was often slow and sometimes it sounded like one continuous note that changed pitch. Our music is fiery and passionate, while theirs’ is flowing and submissive. Our music is danceable, their music can put someone to sleep very easily. Baroque music is a wonderful part of that period because it allowed the people to express themselves like we do

Baroque music is a style of Western art composed from approximately 1600 to 1750. This style of music is filled with delicate decoration and ornamentation. Elements that originated from this period influenced modern classical form in many ways. Balance was a very important component to baroque music, every note was to be heard. Bachs view of balance can be found in his sonatas written for violin and piano. They were originally meant to be 3-part Trio Sonatas, one part for the violin, and a part for each hand of the pianist. Because the Harpsichord is generally relegated to the rear of the sound spectrum, the violinist would overpower the harpsichord, making it sound as if it were a written violin solo. The same goes for Bach 's sonata for flute (or viola) and harpsichord. Choral music also has these issues, but with the instruments and the voices. Michael Sartorius said, "If Bach wrote it, the listener should hear it". Most recordings of Bach 's cantatas and choral works use a small organ for the

Secondly, the rhythm is flexible instead of conducting with patterns as it is in baroque music. Instead of forming a continuous feeling, people like to add variation during the classical period.

Music in the Baroque was considered to have the biggest impact on the era and it helped create many styles of music that was used and it is still used today. The baroque term to musicians was a “style of music” and its helped share “visual and literary art” of the music(Journal#5). The music created “tonality” and it was a key piece creating any good music for the people and the composers. The music was considered the first big start in the creation of the Baroque era because it started in the late 16th century. The baroque music had 3 eras where different composers created music for themselves and for the public to hear. The first was the “early baroque music” which was from 1580-1630(Journal#5). This era was considered the era which the church got ideas of baroque and used them. The music in the era was mostly by a group called Florentine Camerata and they were the musicians, composers, and humanist who created

The opening soprano for part three,” I Know My Redeemer Lives” features a simple violin accompaniment. The first scene tells of the resurrection of Christ based on the teachings of Job. Soprano air starts in the part of the song “I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand…” and dominates the whole part of the music. This helps in creating emotions and feelings to

The Baroque era began in the late 1500’s and died out around the early 1700’s. It was a music form that sprung out of revolt towards polyphony music. Baroque music was one with duality within the style, a contrast between light and dark, and music forms such as concertos, sonatas, and overtures all rose from the Baroque era. Towards the later times of the era choral preludes, toccata, and fugues began to show their face, one of the most notable being “Toccata and Fugue in D minor, by Bach” (Martin). Another key element of Baroque music was improvisation. Often times, in what is known as figured bass, performers would be expected to have the capability to improvise an embellishment over a pre-existing melodic line. The performers would be given an outline of notes and or rhythms, then would be expected to interpret an underlying bass line (Hyesoo 92). It is undisputed fact that George Frideric Handel is the most influential English composer, especially during the Baroque era.

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, the sonata, and the opera. Opera encouraged composers to devise ways of illustrating moods in their music; affecting the listener’s emotions became a major objective in composition during this period. Opera spread to France and England, and composers such as Rameau, Handel and Purcell began producing great works.

In contrast to Gesamtkunstwerk is Baroque Opera music the key function of Baroque opera is moody. Music in which a solo vocalist songs the melody of the song while other instruments provide accompaniment. Mood was a distinctively important element to Baroque music, distinguished from the polyphony- based vocal music of the Renaissance period. Baroque opera com posers were more precise and specific in their compositions than previous creators of Vocal music,"6specifying particular instruments or combinations of instruments intended to suit the emotional tone of each scene in the opera."

The Baroque Period lasted from 1600 to 1750. This period is where studies of classical music began. During this time period, artists would make their music as intricate as possible to make it sound as elegant as possible. This was a great time for royalty and nobility. The wealthiest households would hire musicians, but depending on the household they might would have an entire orchestra. The households would hire composers to compose songs for parties, balls, and ceremonies. The church would also hire musicians, because of the general public’s love for music. (Craig)