The Baroque Era

The Baroque Era stretched across a century and a half of European history. It took place between the years of 1600 and 1750. Baroque is derived from the term “barroco,” which means irregular shaped pearl. This term is used to describe this period because it was a time of turbulent changes in politics, science, and the arts. Milestones in intellectual history were reached as Galileo, Copernicus, Descartes, and Spinoza expanded the ideas in physics, astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy. William Harvey described the circulation of blood and Isaac Newton formulated the theory for gravity. The New World was being explored and religious wars were reaching an all-time high. Countries were battling for global domination, and the monarchies of Europe …show more content…
It is a group of four violin concertos known for their use of rapid scale passages, arpeggios, and contrasting registers. Each concerto is accompanied by a poem, specifically a description of a particular season. This piece of work is one of the earliest examples of program music. Program music is the literary link between music and the poem, story, or any kind of imagery being portrayed. The use of word-painting depicts the action and emotion felt by the composer. Spring is the most famous concerto within the larger collection. It vividly depicts the mood and atmosphere of the sonnet whose first two paragraphs are distributed throughout the first movement of the concerto. The birds’ joyous chirps welcome the spring in the form of staccato notes, trills, and running scales. Agitated repeated notes followed by quickly ascending minor-key scales represent the gentle murmur of a stream trailed by a strike of thunder and lightning. The piece uses a ritornello, which represents the general theme, and alternates between the different “episodes” of spring (Pg. 178). The second movement evokes the poetic image of the goatherd who sleeps in a meadow with his faithful dog by his side. The tempo is largo and is played in a ¾ meter. The violas give off an ostinato rhythm, which portrays the dog’s bark. A solo violin chimes in giving the song a melancholy melody. In the finale, an allegro movement titled “Rustic …show more content…
The first part of the piece is a toccata, which means “to touch” in Italian. It is designed to reveal the virtuosity of the performer’s touch. The use of numerous fast arpeggios and runs up and down the keyboard generally makes it sound like Bach made it up on the spot. The toccata is a semi-improvisatory style, and the use of ornaments and tempo changes gives the composer freedom for personal expression