What exactly is baroque music ? What makes it different from other forms of classical music ?

Answer 1

The Baroque period spans 150 years, from 1600 to 1750, the year that J.S. Bach died.

It actualy encompasses some 3 distinct stylistic periods -- so it is difficult to pinpoint a Baroque "style". Instead you have to look at the beginning, middle, and late periods. (some musicologist even divide it into as many as 5 stylistic periods). Let's just consider the conventional 3.

As always, a universal change in style begins as a reaction and ultimately a rejection of what came before. Around 1600, a group of Italian acedemics in Florence formed a loose knit group with similar musical ideals, essentially rejecting the complex polyphony of the 16th century in favor of their idea of Greek drama, with emphasis on the text. Hence the music should consist of a clear, unadorned melody with a simple accompaniment. This thinking marks the beginnings of opera (actually invented in the late Renaiscance). Also harmony (the vertical aspect of music) was held in higher importance than counterpoint, or the horizontal aspect. One result of this was the devlopment of the figured bass, or thorough-bass. This also marks the beginnings of our current concepts of tonality. The music of Monteverdi and Gabrieli exemplify this era.

The middle Baroque (roughly 1650 to the early 1700's) can be seen as a period of consolidation and proliferation of these ideals throughout Europe, the systemitzation of the teaching of music as an art form, the emergence of the opera, familiar forms of the Baroque, notably the suite movement schemes, concerto grosso, and trio sonatas, to name a few. Corelli, the "father" of the concerto grosso, wrote music with terraced dynamics, movements in contrasting tempo and style -- features which became hallmarks of the essential Baroques "style" Lully and Purcell were other innovators and notable names of the era.

The late Baroque can be looked at as the culmination and ultimate mastering and refinement of that which came before. Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, Handel, Jean Phillipe Rameau, and Domenico Scarlatti are today the composers we associate with this period.

It should be noted that we cannot make generalizations about instrumentation of Baroque music -- harpsichord, organ, winds, brass and voice were used prominantly in all three eras. We also cannot say that counterpoint predominated over homophony. This is, after all, the period in which we see the advent of the operatic aria (about as homophonic as you can get), as well as the period in which we see the fugue elevated to its highest artistic levels.

The Wiki link below gives a decent destription of the differences between the generalized Baroque style versus the classical.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_music#Baroque_versus_Classical_style

Answer 2

The Baroque period is a musical time period around the 1600s. Some of the most well know composers are J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel. The music during that time mostly consists of strings and occasionally some oboe. Music from the baroque period has a lot of repetition.

Answer 3

Baroque period music is best exemplified by works of JS Bach, Vivaldi and Handel. Baroque music is characterized by what is called a polyphonic form consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice - predominant during the middle ages.

Answer 4

baroque music, i believe as an amatuer violinist, is characterized with notes that tend to show off
the music has little to no emotion in it but the
notes that are incorporated can stump some of the
best string players
even the songs names had little meaning to the songs itself
(concerto 1,2,3,4,5...., opus number 1,2,3,4,5....)

Answer 5

it was the style of music during a specific point in history, about the 1600's. it's also characterized by predominant use of strings.