The Baroque Period
Reading about the Baroque Period it really intrigues me because the type of music that was made in this period was Opera music. The type of music that was created back then is something that would sound very familiar and a familiar type of beat compared to what music sounds like nowadays. The Baroque Period began at around 1600 and ended around 1750. This period had started right after the Renaissance Period. There were many historical events that took place around this time, some out of my knowledge are the death of Elizabeth-I, Establishment of the Dutch East India Company, and another very important event in history during this period was the Salem Witch Trials.
In the textbook it talks about how in the Baroque Period there were Baroque finales that were often featured a “deus ex machina.” While I was reading this part, the part that really excited me and made me think was that “deus ex machina” was a plot device where problems of any sort that were still remaining were resolved somehow. In the textbook it is explained that often these problems were miraculously resolved by “divine intervention.” Also another part that really gained my interest was the part of the textbook that said that opera was incredibly popular and known world-wide, but it was banned in Catholic countries. This really struck out to me because it made me think why can’t Catholic countries listen to this beautiful music?, do the instrumental genres and rhythms insult Catholics in some way? I might be wrong but as I was reading these were some of the questions that kept coming up in my head. There were also many new instrumental genres that arose in the Baroque Period some of which included the suite, the sonata, and the concerto. Also while reading this part of the textbook, it reminded me of the car company sonata, this made me do some research but unfortunately I couldn’t find anything, but a question that came to mind was, does the car company sonata have anything to do with the instrumental genre “sonata”?
This period was definitely a period to remember, because of all the famous composers who made history. A composer who was very known at the time of and to this day people still listen to was known as Johann Sebastian Bach. He was a German composer, and composed amazing music. The piece of work that I chose, is the famous piece, “Complete Cello Suites” by Bach. Listening to this music was definitely now what I expected from this period of time. This piece to me sounded a lot like a music that was from the medieval period. And also it is not what I expected from the way the textbook describes because as I was reading the textbook I kept thinking that this music is for old people and that I wouldn’t enjoy it. But in fact, it’s the total opposite!! I genuinely feel as if this music is very pleasing to the ears and is very soothing. I am usually not into this type of music AT ALL! But I have been listening to this piece for about an hour and it is really helping me in focus on getting my work done.
Hi! I really found your comments on “Deus ex Machina” and the “divine intervention” part really interesting because it puts into perspective how during this time religion may have still had an influence on western music. Also, I found it interesting how you mentioned the different genres of this period. But I think you could also mention other things to describe the music more, such as how many of the genres used basso continuo to include a type of bass line.