Comparing the Classical and Baroque Eras of Music
Comparing the Classical and Baroque Eras of Music
From the 1600’s through the 1900’s, two distinct forms of musical composition and periods came into play that would change the way the world looked at musical performance in all its revelations. Baroque music displayed music that expressed drama, expression of self and talent in retrospect to the way church felt had previously felt about in the medieval era of thinking. The form of Classical era music that began to engulf much of western Europe gave the spectator a sense of a wide emotional spectrum to feel as the instrumentation made its way among staff notation, Orchestra, etc. Although both had similarities and differences, one must take a closer look at two important composers of both periods to gain a grasp on the individual notions of each and how they helped to drive the periods.
“The Brandenburg Concerto no. 5 in D Major,” a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), was part of a larger series called the “The Brandenburg Concertos”. This series was given as a gift to the Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. This particular piece was of great importance to the Baroque style, expressing very dramatic tones and shifts in orchestra. The entire piece consisted of flutes, violins, strings, and the harpsichord, a primitive piano that played a very supporting and above all else a concertino piece that seemed to unify the piece as a whole. The repetition of the piece is in a concerto grosso format, consisting of a Tutti-Concertino-Tutti, where the song continuously traverses from a mezzo-piano to a fortissimo, with the Harpsichord as the strongest appearance. The texture and harmonic features of this piece is the dominant function of the D-Major with 8 and 16 note appearances, and coupled with a rhythm of high pitch tones to a very strong finish help to make this composition a very influential addition to popular orchestrations in the Baroque period.
“Piano Concerto no. 23 in A Major,” a composition by Wolfgang
From the 1600’s through the 1900’s, two distinct forms of musical composition and periods came into play that would change the way the world looked at musical performance in all its revelations. Baroque music displayed music that expressed drama, expression of self and talent in retrospect to the way church felt had previously felt about in the medieval era of thinking. The form of Classical era music that began to engulf much of western Europe gave the spectator a sense of a wide emotional spectrum to feel as the instrumentation made its way among staff notation, Orchestra, etc. Although both had similarities and differences, one must take a closer look at two important composers of both periods to gain a grasp on the individual notions of each and how they helped to drive the periods.
“The Brandenburg Concerto no. 5 in D Major,” a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), was part of a larger series called the “The Brandenburg Concertos”. This series was given as a gift to the Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. This particular piece was of great importance to the Baroque style, expressing very dramatic tones and shifts in orchestra. The entire piece consisted of flutes, violins, strings, and the harpsichord, a primitive piano that played a very supporting and above all else a concertino piece that seemed to unify the piece as a whole. The repetition of the piece is in a concerto grosso format, consisting of a Tutti-Concertino-Tutti, where the song continuously traverses from a mezzo-piano to a fortissimo, with the Harpsichord as the strongest appearance. The texture and harmonic features of this piece is the dominant function of the D-Major with 8 and 16 note appearances, and coupled with a rhythm of high pitch tones to a very strong finish help to make this composition a very influential addition to popular orchestrations in the Baroque period.
“Piano Concerto no. 23 in A Major,” a composition by Wolfgang