Baroque: Relating Music to Art

The term Baroque means an irregularly shaped complex form. It came from the irregularly shaped pearl meaning unnatural and strange. This is completely different, from a description of the music of the time. Musical styles greatly different from artistic styles of the time making it virtually impossible to draw parallels between the two. Instead, one needs to draw independent conclusions about Baroque music.

One example which we heard in class was Handel's oratorio called Solomon, Act III. The third act is good representation of music of the Baroque and was written by Handel in order to state how marvelous and powerful Baroque music was. One of the biggest changes in Baroque music is the development of free standing instruments. The helps in the creation of a drama or mood in the music. Also, tonal unity is used to help demonstrate this mood. In Solomon, Act, dynamics, the contrast between loud and soft plays an intricate part in the sound of the music. It furthers the feeling of an overall unity in the piece. It starts and ends in the home key and wanders in the center. There is a unity in the tempo and the mood. However, their is a contrast in harmony, instrumentation, and dynamics.

This music is very difficult to relate to the Reformation/Counter Reformation of the time and may be why it is difficult to relate music to art. Another possible problem of relating music to art in this era is simply that in painting, the Baroque was coming of the Renaissance, simply the ultimate point of art. Music of the Renaissance was thought to be good, but not the ultimate.

In general, music did have some relation to the Reformation/Counter-Reformation. According to the rules of the Council of Trent, art should be free from sin and should bring one closer to the church and the love of god. The music in the Baroque seems to have its own interpretations of this. While music does not attempt to bring one closer to the love of god, it most certainly tries to