Baroque Style

Question 1

When was the Baroque Period?

Answer 1

1600-1750

Question 2

What key composers did it include?

Answer 2

Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Purcell

Question 3

How can you recognise Baroque music? (at least 3 points)

Answer 3

1) Melodies are built up from motifs (short musical ideas) so has quite a lot of repetition
2) Have simple harmonies with fairly narrow range of chords I & V (tonic and dominant)
3) Melody is packed with ornaments which is added to make it sound more interesting
4) The texture is usually contrapuntal or polyphonic (two or more different lines of melody
5) Sudden dynamic changes - called terraced or stepped dynamics (no gradual changes - no dim, or cresc.) Mainly due to prominence of harpsichord (harpsichords couldn’t gradually change dynamics

6) It is tonal:
- From c.1600 Western composers replaced modal music
with with writing tonal music by using major and minor
keys
- Composers used modulation to switch between keys - it
created contrast in the music
- Compositions were made up of sections in different keys
with modulation between them. New structures
developed for organising pieces of music with many
sections e.g binary and ternary forms

Question 4

What instruments were used?

Answer 4

1) String instruments were dominant in Baroque orchestra -
violins, violas, cellos and double basses were used

2) Keyboard instruments e.g harpsichord and organ were
also important

3) Woodwind instruments e.g flute, recorder, oboe and
bassoon used

4) Instruments available were much more limited
5) Orchestras were generally small compared to modern orchestras - size depended on resources available + performance space. Music often performed by chamber groups with small number of musicians but large orchestras too

Question 5

Describe the basso continuo

Answer 5

1) It is a continuous bass part played throughout a piece and based on the chords of the piece
2) Often played on an organ or harpsichord but could also feature cellos, double basses or bassoons