Periods of Music

The Baroque Period of music is from 1600-1750
(it is generally considered to finish sometime around the death of JS Bach in 1750 and Handel in 1759).

This was a very eventful period of history.
In Europe, the 30 years war (1618-1648) was being raged and powerful rulers such as Louis XIV in France, Charles II in England and Peter The Great in Russia reigned with considerable ruthlessness.
It was a time of great scientific discoveries – (think of individuals such as Gallileo and Sir Isaac Newton) and new lands were still being explored.
Great artists such as Rembrandt and Caravaggio were developing new techniques in the world of art.

It is not surprising that the music composed and performed at the time similarly stretched the boundaries of what had been heard up until this point.

Tonality and Contrast

If you were only allowed to think of 2 words to describe the Baroque Period of music to someone then the words tonality and contrast would go a long way towards helping you do so.

Tonality

The Baroque Period is the time where the tonality we are most familiar with today became established.
Major and minor keys took centre stage and have held on to this position ever since (although we shall see in later periods they have not always been unchallenged in this dominance!). The modes so characteristic of the Renaissance Period gave way to this new tonality.
The tonality of the major and minor keys was backed up by the increasingly complex harmony used by composers in structures such as fugues and toccatas. Baroque composers liked to use lots of different melody lines played simultaneously and weaving together to form a coherent whole.

Contrast

Baroque music is also characterised by an increased emphasis on contrast.
This is heard in a number of ways:

• loud and quiet dynamics (volume),
• solo and ensemble (e.g. in the concerto),
• different instrumental timbres/sounds.

Have a listen to the contrast in dynamics in this concerto grosso by Handel:

      Play Handel Concerto Grosso

(Taken from the European Archive)

The Baroque style retained a clear sense of ornate order, but became increasingly emotive in feel as the period progressed. It was also characterised by its use of ornamentation (in some cases, rather a lot of ornamentation!!).

Instruments of the Baroque Period

The Harpsichord

The stand out instrument of the Baroque Period was the harpsichord.
In fact, as a general rule of thumb, if you hear a harpsichord in a piece of music it is highly likely to be a piece from the Baroque Period!
A harpsichord is a keyboard instrument that looks a bit like a piano, but smaller. The strings are plucked rather than hit with hammers (like in a piano).
It can also only play at one volume (unlike the piano where you can change the dynamics according to how hard/soft you play the keys.
Here is a picture of a harpsichord and an audio example of a harpsichord.
Can you hear its distinctive “twangy” sound as the strings are plucked?

      Play JS Bach fugue in Bb major

(Taken from the European Archive)

Pipe Organ

Another hugely popular instrument of the Baroque Period was the pipe organ.
A lot of the organ pieces we hear performed today were written in the Baroque Period – in fact, a lot of them will have been written by one man – Johanne Sebastien Bach – arguably the “face” of Baroque Music.
Below is his portrait and the opening of a very famous example of his organ music called the Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

      JS Bach toccata and fugue in d minor

(Performed by Paul Pitman)

Other instruments that remained popular in the Baroque Period included:

• viol (or viola da gamba),
• recorders
• lutes/flutes from the Renaissance

The period also saw the early development of the orchestra.

Composers of the Baroque Period

As mentioned, JS Bach was a giant of the Baroque Period.
Other composers whose music is still very famous today are Vivaldi (very famous for The Four Seasons and for his Gloria) and Handel (wrote The Messiah).
You can hear some examples of their work below.

      Play Handel Messiah Hallelujah

(Performed by the Orchestra Gli Armonici)

      Play Vivaldi Four Seasons

(soloist John Harrison)

Forms of Baroque Music

The Baroque Period saw the emergence of the concerto grosso, the sonata and the suite.

Concerto grosso

This was an early form of the concerto.
It was antiphonal (meaning the music is played alternately by two groups of players).
In the concerto grosso, a small group of string instruments (concertino, concerto or concertante) alternated/contrasted with a larger group (ripieno).
Handel and Corelli were notable composers of these.
(you heard an extract of a concerto grosso by Handel at the start of this lesson)

Sonata

The sonata became a very popular for of composition.
Usually written for solo instrument (with accompaniment), these pieces were made up of different movements (think of these like mini pieces within the piece).
Baroque accompaniments were often written out as a continuo.
The continuo is a style of improvised accompaniment based around figured bass markings, usually played by harpsichord and/or lute.
Have a listen to this extract from a recorder sonata by Handel:

      Play Handel recorder sonata in F

(Performed by the Telemann Trio)

Suite

The Suite became a very popular form of Baroque music.
A suite contained a series of dances grouped together.
The standard 4 dances you would find were:

• Allemande
• Courante – (upbeat in triple metre)
• Sarabande – (slow in triple metre. Emphasis on 2nd beat of the bar.)
• Gigue – (upbeat in compound metre.)

These 4 were the standard, but others were often included, such as the Minuet (a dance in triple metre).

Fugues were also very popular.
Fugues are quite complex to describe/understand and so I have written another lesson on these. Click Here for my lesson on fugues.

Vocal Music of The Baroque Period

Opera

Opera became big and increasingly emotional in the Baroque Period.
The style of singing also shifted from recitative to aria.

Church Music

Not surprisingly church music was still very widespread in Baroque period.
Big sacred choral works including oratorio, passion, cantata, mass and anthem were all written and performed at the time. Many of these pieces still remain as firm favourited for choirs to sing today, such as Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Gloria.
Have a listen to the following example from Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion:

      Play JS Bach St Matthews Passion

(Taken from the European Archive)

Solo Vocal Pieces

Solo vocal works were also popular, most notably the da capo aria. The da capo aria is a piece of music sung by a soloist with an instrumental accompaniment.
Have a listen to this example from Monteverdi’s opera, L’Orfeo:

      Play Solo Opera Piece

(Performed by Anna Simboli)

I really hope this lesson on Baroque Music has given you a helpful introduction to the period.
Try and listen to as many examples of Baroque music as you can to get a “feel” for what it sounds like.
Enjoy!

The Medieval Period of music is the period from the years c.500 to 1400.
It is the longest “period” of music (it covers 900 years!!) and runs right through from around the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance.
Here is an overview of several features of Medieval music that is good for you to have an understanding of.

Monophonic Music

The vast majority of medieval music was monophonic – in other words, there was only a single melody line. (“mono-phonic” literally means “one sound”).
The development of polyphonic music (more than one melody line played at the same time (“poly-phonic” means “many sounds”)) was a major shift towards the end of era that laid the foundations for Renaissance styles of music.

Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant, consisting of a single line of vocal melody, unaccompanied in free rhythm was one of the most common forms of medieval music.
This is not surprising, given the importance of the Catholic church during the period. The Mass (a commemoration and celebration of The Last Supper of Jesus Christ) was (and still is to this day) a ceremony that included set texts (liturgy), which were spoken and sung.

Have a listen to this example of Gregorian Chant:

      Play Procedamus in Pace

By Paterm (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons]

The chants were also based on a system of modes, which were characteristic of the medieval period.
There were 8 church modes – (you can play them by starting on a different white note on a piano and playing a “scale” of 8 notes on just the white notes. For example, if you start on a D and play all the white notes up to the next D an octave higher, you will have played the “Dorian Mode”).

The Development of Polyphonic Music

As the Medieval Period progressed, composers began to experiment and polyphonic styles began to develop.

Organum

Organum was a crucial early technique, which explored polyphonic texture.
It consisted of 2 lines of voices in varying heterophonic textures.
The 3 main types of organum are:

Parallel organum (or “strict organum”)
One voice sings the melody, whilst the other sings at a fixed interval – this gives a parallel motion effect.
Have a listen to this synthesised example of parallel organum:

      Parallel Organum audio example

Free organum
The 2 voices move in both parallel motion and/or contrary motion.
Have a look at this example of free organum and listen to the track of the beginning being played on a synthesised choir sound:

      Free Organum audio example

Melismatic organum
An accompanying part stays on a single note whilst the other part moves around above it.
Have a listen to this synthesised example – notice how the 2nd voice stays on the same note whilst the 1st voice “sings” the melody:

      Melismatic Organum audio example

Here are some other recorded examples of organum, which are worth listening to:

Sheet Music in the Medieval Period

The Catholic Church wanted to standardise what people sung in churches across the Western world.
As a result, a system of music notation developed, allowing things to move on from the previously “aural” tradition (tunes passed on “by ear” and not written down).

Nuemes

These were signs written above chants giving an indication of the direction of movement of pitch.
Here is an example of an 11th century manuscript containing nuemes:

As the medieval period prgressed, nuemes developed gradually to add more indication of rhythm, etc..

Instruments of the Medieval Period

There were a number of characteristic instruments of the Medieval Period including:

Flutes (made of wood)
Medieval flutes looked more like the modern day recorder as they had holes for fingers rather than keys.

Dulcimer
The medieval dulcimers were originally plucked, but then hit with hammers as technology developed.

Lyra
The lyra is considered to be one of the first known bowed instruments

Other medieval instruments included the recorder and the lute.

The period was also characterised by troubadours and trouvères – these were travelling singers and performers.

Secular Styles of Medieval Music

Ars Nova (“new art”) was a new style of music originating in France and Italy in the 14th century.
The name comes from a tract written by Philippe de Vitry in c.1320.
The style was characterised by increased variety of rhythm, duple time and increased freedom and independence in part writing. These experimentations laid some of the foundations for further musical development during the Renaissance period.
The main secular genre of Art Nova was the chanson.
Examples of Art Nova composers include Machaut in France and G. Da Cascia, J. Da Bologna and Landini in Italy.

Recommended Medieval Music Listening

It is quite difficult to find many recorded albums of medieval music, which offer a range of styles.
The following album called “Discover Early Music” has some fantastic recordings of plainchant and organum in particular.

Click on the album cover to open up a preview on the amazon store.
Hope this helps.

The Renaissance Music Period covers the time from c.1400 – 1600.
We are going to look at the key features of Renaissance music so you can get a good basic understanding of the era.

The Renaissance

The word “Renaissance” is a French term meaning “rebirth”.
It is used to describe an age of new discoveries and exploration from c.1400-1600.
This period was a time of great political and social upheaval – events such as the Protestant Reformation had a huge impact upon the life in the Western world.
There was also an increase in humanistic thought, which challenged the supremacy of the church.
It was also a time of great development in music and the arts. New styles and techniques developed, whilst there was also a “rebirth” of interest in ancient culture as artists and composers often drew on inspiration from Ancient Greece and Rome.

Secular and Sacred Renaissance Music

You will often see the music of the Renaissance period divided into “Sacred” and “Secular”.
Whilst this division has its limitations, it is quite a helpful way of gaining an overview of the period.

Sacred Music

Early Renaissance music was dominated by the Latin Mass due to the supremacy of the Catholic church.
As a result, the sacred music was mostly polyphonic masses and motets in Latin for use in church.
Modal counterpoint was the dominant composition technique (probably due to its close relationship with liturgical plainchant).

Have a listen to these 2 examples of Renaissance sacred music:

Lamentations I by Thomas Tallis

      Play Thomas Tallis Lamentations I recording

(Performed by The Tudor Consort (www.tudor-consort.org.nz) CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons)

Credo from 4-part mass by William Byrd

      Play William Byrd Credo recording

(Performed by Ensemble Morales (MusOpen.org) CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

Although there was a steady movement away from the church as humanistic thought increased, churches remained very important places for training musicians and singers.
As the period went on and the Protestant Reformation gathered pace, music was written for use in Protestant churches – i.e. not in Latin and not determined by the structure of the Catholic Mass.

Secular Music

Secular music in the early Renaissance was very dependent upon the courts, which could finance and support musicians.
Secular songs, such as the chanson, the madrigal and the German Lied (pronounced “Leed”) were very popular.

Have a listen to this madrigal by Monteverdi:

Cruda Amarilli by Monteverdi

      Play Monteverdi cruda amarilli performance

(From the Fifth Book of Madrigals, 1st piece: Cruda Amarilli. Performed by MIT Chamber Chorus, Cutter. CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons)

As the period progressed, the secular music pushed the boundaries a bit more and laid the foundation for functional harmony (major and minor keys). Composers tried to get increasing emotion into the pieces.
Secular Renaissance music was mostly vocal music, but instrumental music in its own right developed (instead of just being accompaniment for vocals or dance accompaniment). e.g. fantasia and variations.
Popular vocal genres also influenced composers who used simplified basslines which highlighted a smaller number of closely related harmonies. This laid foundation for the more complex chord progressions of the Baroque era.

Renaissance Composers

Early Renaissance composers mostly came from northern France or the Low Countries because of the strong court system, which supported musicians in these regions..
In the late Renaissance, Italy became an increasingly important musical centre.
Here are some of the most well known Renaissance composers:

Early Renaissance Composers:

Guillaume Du Fay (1397-1474) – wrote music for church based on existing Gregorian chant.
John Taverner (1490-1545)
Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) – composed music during the reigns of 4 monarchs!! (Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I). His masterpiece is Spem in Alium – “Sing and Glorify”, which has 40 separate parts.

Later Renaissance Composers:

Allegri (1582-1652) and Palestrina (1525-1594) – both produced vast choral works.
William Byrd (1543-1623)
Monteverdi (1567-1643) – his operatic works were inspired by the classical world, closely relating poetry and music and using music to stir up emotions.

Recommended Listening

Here are some albums containing a cross section of Renaissance music and composers, which you might want to listen to:

Renaissance Instruments

The Renaissance was a time of great invention and this had a major impact on music in the form of new instruments.
The main instruments associated with Renaissance music are:

Sackbut (a trombone-like instrument)

Lute

Viol da gamba

Keyboard instruments such as harpsichord and organ

Typical Features of Renaissance Music

There are a number of typical features to listen out for in Renaissance music:

• Modes – Renaissance music retained the medieval system of modes
• Polyphony – different melodic lines played by different instruments/voices at the same time
• A strong sense of structure and textural integration.
• Imitative part writing (but moving away from the strict rules of canon).

Renaissance Sheet Music

The invention of the printing press in c.1440 had an enormous impact on the Western musical world (and society in general!). It enabled music to be copied much more easily and so sheet music became more common.
Renaissance notation has some similarities with modern day scores.
Have a look at this example:

An original Renaissance Music Manuscript

However, you can see that there were some notable differences in Renaissance sheet music:

• no barlines,
• mostly used semibreves,
• only single lines of polyphony shown on the sheet music (no overall scores combining different parts).

The distribution of sheet music through the use of the printing press meant that pieces could be performed more widely and techniques could be studied.

I hope this has given you a basic overview of the period and so helpful recommended listening.
Remember, please feel free to fill in the question form on the website if you have any further questions on the topic – I will do my best to answer them quickly and fully!