Baroque Music Research Paper

Without a doubt, the Baroque period produced some of the most prominent and beautiful compositions in the music history. Names of the famous composers of this era, such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi are well-known even to those, who have no interest or familiarity in music. Modes, tonalities, melodies, the presence of rhythm, dynamics, texture, style of performance, and intended audience, all these criteria make the Baroque music distinct from the music of its preceding periods.

The music of the Middle Ages revolved around the life of the Catholic Church. The sacred melodies were designed for vocal performance during liturgy. They had free flowing rhythm, tended to move within a narrow range of pitches, and were based on the "church modes" or unfamiliar to the modern listener scales. In a way, sacred music was restricted to monotonic tunes, where the emphasis lays on the meaning of the words, frequent recitations on a single note, and the monophonic texture of the chant. On the contrary, the secular music in the Middle Ages, performed by the troubadours, widely utilized available musical instruments for accompaniment and had clearly defined rhythm. …show more content…
The melodies had mainly polyphonic texture, and were calm, well-balanced, without extreme contrasts of dynamics, tone color, or rhythm. A cappella or unaccompanied music was prevalent, with each melodic line having its rhythmic independence, moving along a scale with a few large leaps. The sacred music from the Renaissance era conveys serenity, calmness, and otherworldly quality. On the other hand, secular music of the time favors homophonic textures, and the instrumental music gains more popularity, with the lute becoming one of the favorite instruments for the