Baroque Music Overview

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to Baroque music.

Baroque Era

The period of music history from 1600 to 1750.

Terraced Dynamics

Abrupt changes in volume used in Baroque music.

Basso Continuo

An accompaniment system featuring one instrument playing chords and another sustaining notes.

Harpsichord

A keyboard instrument prominent in the Baroque period.

Baroque Orchestra Instrumentation

Typically includes violins, viola, cello, harpsichord, bassoon, oboe, and timpani.

Opera

A dramatic work set to music.

Libretto

The text of an opera.

Aria

A lyrical section of an opera that expresses emotion.

Recitative

Speech-like singing used in operas.

Overture

The instrumental introduction of an opera.

Ground Bass (Basso Ostinato)

A repeated rhythmic or melodic pattern.

Claudio Monteverdi

Composer of the 1st great operatic work, Orfeo.

Henry Purcell

Composer of the 1st great English opera, Dido and Aeneas.

Movement

A self-contained section of a larger composition.

Concerto Grosso

A composition for a small group of soloists and orchestra, typically in 3 movements.

Concertino

The small group of soloists within a concerto grosso.

Ritornello Form

A musical structure where the orchestra alternates with soloists.

Cadenza

An improvised solo passage in a concerto.

J.S. Bach

A late Baroque composer known for his keyboard skills.

Vivaldi's Four Seasons

A collection of 4 programmatic concertos, each representing a season.

Fugue

A polyphonic composition based on a single main theme, called the subject.

Well-Tempered Clavier

A collection by J.S. Bach, consisting of 48 preludes and fugues.

Suite

A collection of stylized dance movements, typically in binary or ternary form.

Chorale

A Lutheran congregational hymn tune with a German text.

Cantata

A multimovement work for chorus, soloists, and orchestra, performed in a Lutheran church.

Oratorio

An unstaged opera with a biblically-based text.

George Frideric Handel

German composer considered England's most important composer; wrote Messiah.