How Did The Socio-Cultural Influences On Music During The Baroque Period?

The word ‘baroque’, originating from the Italian ‘barroco’, means ‘pearl of irregular shape’ or ‘bizarre’. Though this holds some seemingly negative connotations, its usage was to describe the highly-decorated style of 17th and 18th century Western European architecture, and the heavily ornamented style of music that came out of the renaissance. Today, the term ‘Baroque’ refers to a clearly definable genre of music which occurred between 1600-1750. In this essay, I will be talking about the socio-cultural influences on music during the baroque period, the philosophy of baroque composers, some famous and influential composers of the era, musical forms that came to define the baroque period, some characteristics of baroque music, and finally
One major factor was the church: between 1618-1648, there ensued a massive religious split in the Roman Catholic Church due to the protestant reformation (also known as the 30-year war). This meant that, on the one hand, because of the loosening of the Church’s political control in Europe, non-religious music (especially instrumental music) could flourish as church modes gave away to major and minor modes. However, on the other hand, one of the ways the Catholic Church tried to regain its former position was through encouraging musicians and composers to write pieces that appealed to the masses (also assisted in the spreading of music). Furthermore, the rise of absolute monarchies and unity of national states influenced a creation of a national style. With this creating an increase in trade and travel, musical aspects from each country began to spread, intermingling to produce a common baroque
An example of this is the mix of small princely states that made up Germany at the time. Each state would have their own court, and usually a court musician. The latter would travel from afar to bask and thrive in the patronage of an enthusiastic king/patron. Due to this system, there was also a demand for certain types of music, e.g. some small courts in Germany preferred intimate music for salon and chapel. These patronages formed the composers into who they would become: Bach, for example, was heavily influenced by his early years serving in the courts he was employed in. Another important factor was that during the baroque period, music and literature became very focused on affections and expressing feelings. Instruments reached their peak development, designed specifically to achieve this purpose. There were also many influences on the music through science, for example using scientific methods to solve musical problems (e.g. in Bach’s “Art of the Fugue”, or Rameau’s “Treatise on Harmony”). To a certain degree, during the baroque period there existed a certain artistic freedom that had never occurred before. Artists could express their emotions and their reality, as their general awareness for people, surrounding,