Baroque Period Synthesis Essay

A harpsichord is a keyboard instrument with horizontal strings that run perpendicular to the keyboard and was very popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. The harpsichord is one of the important instruments in the Baroque period. The harpsichord changed the style of elements in this era. Harpsichord composers became a more common practice. It changed the dynamics of concertos.(Newman 138) In the 'Renaissance' era was very polyphonic texture. Polyphony requires two or more lines in the musical piece. But the Renaissance was more into the vocal aspect of music than with accompanying instruments. Thus creating a more dramatic style of singing developed. The 'basso continuo' was the chordal assistant to most music in the Baroque era. This is where the harpsichord comes in. Harpsichord and a low strung instruments make up the basso continuo. The texture in the early Baroque is all in all homophonic with the help of the basso continuo. Chamber cantata's mostly sang with the accompanied basso ostinato. A basso ostinato is just the repeating of the bass in a musical piece. (Reese) (Green) …show more content…
Chamber cantata's mostly sang with the accompanied basso ostinato. A basso ostinato is just the repeating of the bass in a musical piece. For example, the famous cantata composer Barbara Strozzi used the harpsichord as a accompanying instrument in "L'Amante Segreto"(The Secret Lover). The famous English composer Henry Purcell used the basso continuo in his opera "Dido and Aeneas" for it's final aria. English composers changed the term of basso ostinato and instead used ground bass. English composers called a basso ostinato ground bass, because the repeating bass created a solid foundation for music (Swain