What is Baroque?

Music historians usually say that Baroque era in music lasted from approximately 1600 to 1750, the year that Bach died. These dates are really just guidelines; some composers stopped writing in the Baroque style well before 1750, while others continued into the 1760s. And the evolution of the style took many, many years. The music written in 1640, which is considered early Baroque, really doesn't sound much like what was written in 1740.

The term Baroque comes from a Portuguese word "barocco," which means "a misshapen pearl." This definition reveals two things about the meaning of the word "Baroque". First, since a pearl is a thing of beauty, Baroque music was considered an art. Second, since the word "misshapen" is part of the definition, the people who came up with the terminology thought there was something odd or grotesque about this style of music and art. The term "Baroque" was never used by Bach, Handel, or any other composers who wrote in this style. It was applied by people of later generations, who, looking back in time, saw the music as overdone or grotesque in some way. You should know, however, that modern musicians and historians never use the term in the negative sense. For us, the term "Baroque" refers to a time period and a style, and does not connote something inferior or strange.

Bach was a composer of the late (sometimes called "high") Baroque. The characteristics of music written at this time and in this style are as follows:

• The music is very diatonic, meaning the music was clearly in a key. To see a sample of some diatonic music, click here. Notice how the music does not contain many accidentals, that is, added sharps or flats.
• Both instrumental and vocal music had as part of the accompaniment a group known as the "basso continuo." The basso continuo was composed of a bass-register instrument which could play melodic lines (such as the bassoon or cello), and an instrument capable of playing chords (the organ in church music, the harpsichord or sometimes the lute in secular music). Both the melodic bass (pronounced "base") instrument and the keyboard instrument would read the same part. The cello or bassoon would play a single bass line, but the keyboard player would play the bass line in the left hand and improvise chords in the right. A system of numbers would indicate to the keyboard player what chords were expected.
• Since more than one instrument or group of instruments plays the bass line, the bass register is often very heavy or prominent in Baroque compositions.
• The bass line is often very active, especially in fast music, so much so, that it sounds like it is walking or running. Thus this is often called a "walking bass." Here's what a walking bass line might look like:

• The soprano line in a choir or soprano register in an orchestra usually carries the melody; however:
• The texture is often very busy, with more than one part being active or more than one part appearing to carry an important line. This kind of texture is called "polyphonic," and it is the primary texture of the Baroque era.
• The orchestra, when present, is dominated by the strings in general, but especially by the violin sections. Woodwinds, brass, and timpani are used most often for color and reinforcement. Woodwinds (for example, flutes or oboes) do occasionally play melodic lines, but this is more rare for brass instruments.
• The only percussion found in a Baroque orchestra is the timpani (kettledrums). In the Baroque era, the timpani could not change pitch in the middle of a piece, as they can today. Therefore, they were used on a limited basis.
• The melodic lines are frequently very ornate, often loaded with lots of extra notes.
• The fast movements frequently have a "perpetual motion" feel, meaning that from beginning to end there are no obvious stops or points of rest.
• It is common for different parts to imitate each other as they enter. This can happen for short sections of a piece, or for an entire movement.
• Baroque composers rarely indicated dynamics, that is, loud and soft in music. Although in modern times performers often add variations of volume when they play or sing, Baroque music used what is called "terraced dynamics." This is when the volume moves immediately from soft to loud, or vice versa, rather than employing gradual changes. The way composers usually effected these changes was by suddenly adding instruments or suddenly taking some away.
• Most Baroque composers believed in a theory known as the "Doctrine of Affections," which stated that music had an emotional effect on people, and that a single movement or piece of music should attempt to reflect or create in the listener's mind one and only one emotion.

Test your knowledge. Take a quiz!

© 2003 Carol Traupman-Carr