Baroque originated from Portuguese. Baroque period is not just a term in the history of music, but it is used to summarize the general style characteristics of painting, architecture, music and other arts in a long period after the European Renaissance. When art theorists first used this term, it used to have a certain derogatory meaning. Later, in the process of gradually deepening the study of art history, it became an epochal general term for many countries and various arts in Europe, and there was no meaning of praise or criticism.
what are the characteristics of baroque music? The situation is not completely consistent in different countries and musicians. Here, we only put forward some general understanding.
in terms of time, the baroque music period generally refers to the European music from the 17th century to about one and a half centuries in the 195s.
Geographically, Italy, France, Germany and Britain in this period were countries that achieved important development in music culture. Many important genres of European music, such as opera, oratorio, cantata in vocal music art, prelude, suite, sonata and concerto in instrumental music art, have either laid a foundation in structure and form or reached the peak in the historical development of this genre.
The music of this period is also called the digital bass period. Digital bass (also known as basso continuo) was an ellipsis notation applied to keyboard instruments at that time. That is, only the actual pitch of the bass part is recorded in the score, while the upper parts are marked with numbers only. The choice of numbers is based on the combination of intervals and the harmony concept that was just formed at that time. This method is mainly used for accompaniment, which once prevailed in keyboard art for an era.
The keyboard instruments in this period were mainly organ and clavichord, but the pianos in Christopher's were not perfect and widely used. However, at that time, a large number of keyboard musical instruments became the repertoire of piano solo later, and they were also called piano music by later generations. There are also a few pianists and music historians who insist on absolute loyalty to the original history and advocate that only the keyboard instruments of the Baroque era can be used to play the keyboard instruments of the Baroque era. Most people play baroque keyboard music with modern piano without any worries. The reasons are as follows: First, modern piano has been a permanent object in modern concert halls and families of thousands of ordinary residents in various countries, but it is far from easy to find an ancient piano. Secondly, the basic elements of classical piano music are melody, polyphony, harmony and the unique combination of music and sound of keyboard music. All these can be reproduced on the piano without any obstacles. Therefore, at that time, the core of music conception, conception, interest, mood and so on can be expressed on the piano. What is lost is only the special timbre of baroque instruments. But at the same time, you can get something on the piano that you can't get on the baroque keyboard instrument. For example, the ancient piano can't be gradually strengthened and weakened, but this doesn't mean that the tunes at that time didn't need or imply the internal trend of dynamics, which can make up for the shortcomings of ancient instruments on the piano. However, this compensation must not be excessive. Serious piano teachers always remind students that this is a work of the Baroque era, and it can't be exaggerated when it grows stronger and weaker. If it is exaggerated, the style will be wrong.
The instrumental music in Baroque period was dominated by polyphony. At the end of baroque music, all kinds of contrasting polyphony and imitating polyphony have reached the stage of highly perfect polyphony music technology and become models for future generations to learn. The basic difference between polyphonic music and tonic music is that polyphonic music is composed of two or more melody lines combined with certain rules. Therefore, each part of it has a relatively independent position, unlike the main melody music that we usually listen to a lot, usually the harmony part is subordinate to the main melody.
Piano music in Baroque period is essentially untitled. Some works have titles, but that doesn't explain the content of the music. For example, Bach's "English Suite" doesn't mean that the music is English-style, just because the suite was written at the request of an Englishman, it has the name of "Britain".
untitled does not mean that there is no content, but its content is abstract and general; Or the content is not abstract, but the author keeps it secret. When we appreciate baroque piano music, we should mainly understand its basic characteristics:
(1) Religious music had a great influence on the whole music art in this period. Many baroque composers were excellent church music writers, and some piano music was also influenced by religious spirit. Religion is created by people. Religious spirit is also the spiritual world of human beings. We can feel the lofty, solemn and pious spiritual realm from this kind of piano music.
(2) Baroque music is a period when European music changed from religion to secularism. Therefore, the content of secular life is also reflected in the piano music. All kinds of dance music, suites and so on are this kind of music, which sounds elegant and lively, or humorous and relaxed.
(3) Instrumental performance technology is developing rapidly in this period. Some music also reflects the superb playing skills. For example, in some music, a quick technical sound pattern or short sentence is often repeatedly expanded, and the continuous dense notes form uninterrupted power, such as "Tokata". This kind of music is fast and gorgeous. However, excellent music is never just a simple technique. At the same time of skill expression, there must be the logic of music movement, agile and rushing music thoughts and musical taste.
(4) No matter what kind of music, piano music in Baroque period is more implicit, avoiding exaggeration; More restrained, without losing the sense of proportion; More internal, not yet exposed; Even when the feelings are very strong, keep a rigorous and solemn demeanor.
the baroque music period lasted for at least 15 years, and a large number of composers were produced. Even if only the names that have made great contributions are listed, it will be a long list. Among them, scarlatti, Handel and Bach were the three greatest baroque composers who were born in 1685 and died in the 195s. The highest achievement of baroque music is embodied in their works, and the baroque era ended with their death.
the word baroque is used to refer to music and other visual arts that came into being during the Renaissance and flourished between 16 and 175. The word comes from Portuguese. The word Baroque first appeared in the field of art in architecture and sculpture. According to people's understanding at that time, the meaning of Baroque refers to those over-carved decorations, or a rather grotesque artistic style with obvious derogatory elements. As an induction of the artistic style of an era, the word Baroque has neither a unified connotation nor an aesthetic foothold, so many literary theorists at that time and later adopted an evasive attitude when using this word, and few people used this word to describe the music of this period. In the history of painting, the word baroque has obvious derogatory elements, which refers to a metamorphosis phenomenon in creation since the late Renaissance. As for whether it has such a meaning in music, people's views are not quite consistent.
Before the 19th century, most people in Europe took classicism as the only aesthetic criterion, and they all denied other artistic styles that were inconsistent with classicism, a stable, symmetrical and harmonious artistic style. For example, Baroque, an artistic style that was inconsistent with classicism, took the lead in taking a critical attitude. After the 19th century, people fully understood the artistic style of Baroque period and its touching charm, so they gradually began to have a high evaluation of the whole art of Baroque. In music, people gradually realized that Baroque music was a very important period in the history of European music, and the artistic achievements made during this period laid the foundation for the development of European music. Therefore, it can be said that understanding baroque music is very important for understanding the development of the whole western classical music and the basic style characteristics of western music.
After the Renaissance, many countries in Europe were still in turmoil. As we all know, the bourgeois revolution in Britain in 164 marked the entry of European society into capitalist society. As a new independent political force, the bourgeoisie stepped onto the historical stage. At the same time, this social system was in transition from feudal society to capitalism, and it happened to be in the ideological and cultural fields from Renaissance to Enlightenment. In this period, in the field of art, all kinds of art are actively seeking their own development direction and exploring ways to further improve their own artistic expression means, which makes the whole art category full of vitality.
On the other hand, science and technology also developed rapidly in this period, because in the second half of the 16th century, with the outbreak of religious wars, new theology and new philosophy began to emerge, which brought new ways of thinking. These ways of thinking greatly promoted the emergence of precise sciences, such as mathematics and modern physics, most of which were produced around Baroque, and artists also benefited a lot from them. In this period, great achievements have been made in the art field, whether painting, architecture, music or sculpture. They have some bold performances in modeling and concept, and their characteristics are large scale, symmetrical and rigorous structure, and also pay attention to the contrast between decoration and drama.
In music, musicians have given new vitality to the art of music through exploration and innovation. The main achievements of music in this period can be summarized as follows: the first is the emergence of opera art, which was produced in Italy and gradually spread to European countries. The second is the gradual improvement of the major and minor modes and the modern harmony system. Baroque music is a foundation of European music, which has influenced the development of European music for more than 3 years, among which this major and minor mode and modern harmony system are a very important factor. Thirdly, vocal music and instrumental music, as two main forms of music art, began to develop independently.
Baroque architecture
is characterized by free appearance, dynamic pursuit, rich decoration and sculpture, strong colors, and often interspersed curved surfaces and oval spaces.
The Jesuit church in Rome is rectangular in plan, with a shrine protruding from the end, which evolved from the Latin cross used in Gothic churches. The central hall is wide and the vault is covered with statues and decorations. Two rows of small prayer rooms were used on both sides to replace the original side porch. A dome rises in the middle of the cross. The altar of the church is richly decorated and free, and the mountain flowers on it break through the classical French style, making icons and decorating light. The facade of the church draws lessons from the treatment methods of the small church of Santa Maria in Florence designed by Alberti, an early Renaissance architect. The layered eaves and mountain flowers above the main entrance are made into overlapping arcs and triangles, and leaning columns and flat pilasters are used on both sides of the main entrance. Two pairs of large scrolls were made on both sides of the upper part of the facade. These treatments were unique and were widely imitated later.
Since the 193s, the wealth of Italian churches has been increasing day by day, and various parishes have successively built their own baroque churches. Because of its small scale, it is not suitable to use the Latin cross plane, so it is mostly changed to a single-space hall such as a circle, an ellipse, a plum blossom, a round petal cross, and a large number of curved surfaces are used in modeling.
a typical example is the church of San Carlo in Rome, which was designed by borromini. Its temple plane is approximately olive-shaped, and there are some irregular small prayer rooms around it; There is also a living courtyard. The plane of the hall and the ceiling decoration emphasize the dynamic curve, the mountain flowers on the facade are disconnected, the eaves are horizontally bent, the wall surface is concave and convex, and the decoration is rich, which has a strong light and shadow effect. Although the design technique is skillful, there is inevitably a feeling of affectation. After the mid-17th century, Baroque churches were all the rage in Italy, including many novel and original works, but also some buildings with poor techniques and excessive stacking.