Influence of Baroque Music to Classical Music
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Music of any period reflects, in its own way, some of the same influences, tendencies, and generative impulses that are found in the other arts of that time (Donna, 2005). Thus the word "baroque," usually used despairingly by eighteenth-century art critics to describe the art and architecture of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, came to be applied also to the music of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. After some years after the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, the ornate, formal and strict form of the High Baroque became “old-fashion” and lost its favor. Music slowly began to change form the style and forms of the High Baroque to a simpler yet tuneful form around 1750. The period following the Baroque is called the Classical period.
The transition to the new styles and forms of Classical music was, like all transitions, rather complicated. The use of the baroque bass figure lost its taste and became obsolete. The preference of a simple structure rather than polyphonic constructions became dominant most especially in secular music. There was also a preference for one clear melodic line without melting with many others.
Although baroque music differs greatly from classical music, they have striking similarities as evident in specific styles and forms. Though Classical composers tend to avoid the antiquated Baroque, one cannot fully abandon the styles and forms of the immediate predecessors. Instead, these styles were further developed to form a new meaning and use on the new musical structure. Forms like the opera and orchestra revolutionized—the former branching out from serious to variety, and the latter have a complete upheaval.
Moreover, on the late Classical period, great composers such as Beethoven and Mozart studied the works of Baroque composers Bach and Handel. The later works of the classical composers were characterized of having innovative yet powerful polyphony inspired by Bach’s masterpieces,
INTRODUCTION
Music of any period reflects, in its own way, some of the same influences, tendencies, and generative impulses that are found in the other arts of that time (Donna, 2005). Thus the word "baroque," usually used despairingly by eighteenth-century art critics to describe the art and architecture of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, came to be applied also to the music of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. After some years after the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, the ornate, formal and strict form of the High Baroque became “old-fashion” and lost its favor. Music slowly began to change form the style and forms of the High Baroque to a simpler yet tuneful form around 1750. The period following the Baroque is called the Classical period.
The transition to the new styles and forms of Classical music was, like all transitions, rather complicated. The use of the baroque bass figure lost its taste and became obsolete. The preference of a simple structure rather than polyphonic constructions became dominant most especially in secular music. There was also a preference for one clear melodic line without melting with many others.
Although baroque music differs greatly from classical music, they have striking similarities as evident in specific styles and forms. Though Classical composers tend to avoid the antiquated Baroque, one cannot fully abandon the styles and forms of the immediate predecessors. Instead, these styles were further developed to form a new meaning and use on the new musical structure. Forms like the opera and orchestra revolutionized—the former branching out from serious to variety, and the latter have a complete upheaval.
Moreover, on the late Classical period, great composers such as Beethoven and Mozart studied the works of Baroque composers Bach and Handel. The later works of the classical composers were characterized of having innovative yet powerful polyphony inspired by Bach’s masterpieces,