Musical Epochs

The Baroque

This term is used to designate the period or style of European music covering roughly the years 1600-1750. First used in French, it derives from a Portuguese word meaning a pearl of irregular shape; initially it was used to imply strangeness, irregularity and extravagance and was applied more to art than music. Only in the present century has it been used to refer to a period in music history.

Music of the Baroque period, which some authorities see as beginning as early as 1570 in Italy and ending during the second half of the 18th century, in such countries as England and Spain, has a number of characteristics in style and spirit, including the use of the basso continuo and the belief in the doctrine of the affections. The emphasis on contrast (of texture, pace, volume etc) in the music of the earlier Baroque, as compared with that of the late Renaissance, is also a distinguishing characteristic. Important early Baroque composers include Monteverdi, Giovanni Gabrieli and Sch�tz; of the middle Baroque, Alessandro Scarlatti, Corelli, Lully and Purcell; and of the late Baroque, Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Domenico Scarlatti, Couperin and Rameau.

This project was created by Ahmed Azab.
Since �2001

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