BAROQUE MUSIC ca.

1600- 1750

Listen out for the use of the harpsichord (called the Bass
continuo - this plays the Figured Bass) which was very popular
during Baroque music.

Quite a lot of Baroque music is vocal though not entirely so. Listen
out for big choral works such as Handel's Messiah.

You will not hear a clarinet as it had not been invented.

Writing is mainly polyphonic and binary and ternary form was

popular. Operas were first written in the Baroque period.

During the beginning of the Baroque period the orchestra evolved.

By the mid-1600s the orchestra was growing into its own entity and
the concerto was one of the most popular forms of music performed.

The concerto featured a solo instrumentalist, or small ensemble of

soloists, playing in opposition to the orchestra, thus creating an
interesting contrast of texture and volume. In addition, during the
Baroque period composers began exploring music's ability to
express the human spirit and to depict natural phenomena. Vivaldi's
The Four Seasons was the most famous set of concertos that
typified this.

Ensembles: Concerto Grosso, Opera, Oratorio, Trio sonata, Large

choral works (Oratorio, Chorale), Fugue, Suite, Aria & Recitative (in
Opera).

Composers: Bach, Handel, Purcell, Vivaldi.