Music and ballet
The term Baroque is also used to
designate the style of music composed during a period that overlaps with that
of Baroque art. The first uses of the term 'baroque' for music were criticisms.
In an anonymous, satirical review of the première in October 1733 of Rameau's
Hippolyte et Aricie, printed in the Mercure de France in May 1734, the critic
implied that the novelty in this opera was "du barocque," complaining
that the music lacked coherent melody, was filled with unremitting dissonances,
constantly changed key and meter, and speedily ran through every compositional
device. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was a musician and noted composer as well as
philosopher, made a very similar observation in 1768 in the famous Encylopedié
of Denis Diderot: "Baroque music is that in which the harmony is confused,
and loaded with modulations and dissonances. The singing is harsh and
unnatural, the intonation difficult, and the movement limited. It appears that
term comes from the word 'baroco' used by logicians."
Common use of the term for the music of
the period began only in 1919, by Curt Sachs, and it was not until 1940 that it
was first used in English in an article published by Manfred Bukofzer.
The baroque was a period of musical
experimentation and innovation. New forms were invented, including the concerto
and sinfonia. Opera was born in Italy at the end of the 16th century (with
Jacopo Peri's mostly lost Dafne, produced in Florence in 1598) and soon spread
through the rest of Europe: Louis XIV created the first Royal Academy of Music,
In 1669, the poet Pierre Perrin opened an academy of opera in Paris, the first
opera theater in France open to the public, and premiered Pomone, the first
grand opera in French, with music by Robert Cambert, with five acts, elaborate
stage machinery, and a ballet. Heinrich
Schütz in Germany, Jean-Baptiste Lully in France, and Henry Purcell in England
all helped to establish their national traditions in the 17th century.
The classical ballet also originated in
the Baroque era. The style of court dance was brought to France by Marie de
Medici, and in the beginning the members of the court themselves were the
dancers. Louis XIV himself performed in public in several ballets. In March
1662, the Académie Royale de Danse, was founded by the King. It was the first
professional dance school and company and set the standards and vocabulary for
ballet throughout Europe during the period.
Several new instruments, including the
piano, were introduced during this period. The invention of the piano is
credited to Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731) of Padua, Italy, who was employed
by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, as the Keeper of the
Instruments. Cristofori named the instrument un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e
forte ("a keyboard of cypress with soft and loud"), abbreviated over
time as pianoforte, fortepiano, and later, simply, piano.
Some composers and examples
- Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706), Canon in D (1680)
- Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741), The Four Seasons (1725)
- George Frederic Handel (1685–1759), Water Music (1717), Messiah (1741)
- Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), Toccata and Fugue in D minor (1703–1707), Brandenburg Concertos (1721), St Matthew Passion (1727
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