The Baroque Era

The orchestra as we know it now did not exist before the 17th century. At the start of this century the orchestra was just beginning and developing on from the renaissance era where orchestras had only just began to be used rarely and only in tiny groups, with a small range of instruments.

The main factors influencing this development include: instrumental technology, different classes of the public, playing techniques, economics, the role of music directors and changes in musical tastes. The violin family, violin, viola, cello and bass, replaced the viols that were previously used in the renaissance era, and this new kind of string section became central to the Baroque orchestra, the next era of music. This century also showed the favoring
The suite consists of dances such as the allemande, courante, sarabande, gigue and others such as the gavotte, musette, bouree, minuet and pavane. Each dance movement is usually written in Binary form, and is generally performed with each section repeated. The two best-known Baroque composers are Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederick Handel, who were both Germans. Other German Baroque composers include Buxtehude, Pachelbel and Telemann, English Baroque composers include Byrd and Purcell and Italian Baroque composers include Monteverdi, Corelli, Vivaldi and
The Romantics rejected the confines of classical convention; for them, originality necessary. They celebrated the emotional and instinctive, and looked towards nature for inspiration. As in any time of change, new musical techniques came about to fit in with the current trends. Composers began to experiment with length of compositions, new harmonies, and tonal relationships. Additionally, there was the increased use of dissonance than before.

The orchestra just kept growing. The average orchestra size during the romantic period is 80-90 people. The piano was still the main instrument during the Early Romantic period. Most Romantic Composers composed not only concert music for the instrument but also music intended for amateur use. Because of the political and social changes meant that most people owned pianos in the home.
Another change made was the percussion section, which grew massively during this period, from 1 drum to an average of 10. The Romantic era was one of extremes, with composers not only looking back to the past but also abandoning classical conventions and experimenting with new and daring harmonic language and form. The romantic texture was almost entirely