Baroque music movement is a style of Western art music
Week 5 Humanities
Baroque music movement is a style of Western art music that was composed between 1600 and 1750. This era comprised of a wide range of music that were majorly based on the “Classical music” canon. Some of the composers that were featured during this era include Tomaso Albinoni, Johann Pachelbel, Antonio Vivaldi, to mention a few. The music by Tomaso Albinoni, entitled Adagio, is one of the works that were evident during the baroque period. This composition was characterized by simpler, slow-moving harmonies along with dominating melodies that were easier for anyone to follow or understand.
Consequently, the Baroque music movement had historical and political influence. This influence can be stated in terms of the emphasis on reality. Baroque music placed more emphasis on events that happened in everyday life. As a result, this helped in shaping politics as the societal problems were now adequately portrayed in it.
One of the characteristics of baroque music is the use of a more elaborate musical ornamentation. A more evident characteristic of the baroque music movement is the incorporation of slow-moving harmonies and melodies. This feature is clearly portrayed in Adagio by Tomaso Albinoni whose composition can be accessed through this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eLU5W1vc8Y
However, according to critics of baroque music such as John Ruskin, the era had compositions that were exaggerated and over decorated. This is unlike the supporter of the movement Heinrich Wolfflin, who stated that the movement had compositions that were stylistic.