Baroque Music: From Monteverdi to Bach and the Birth of Opera

1  Two events mark the beginning and the end of baroque music: the premiere of the
opera“Orpheus” by Claudio Monteverdi (1607) and the death of Johann Sebastian Bach
(1750).

2  The basso continuo is a technique of composition of the Baroque period. By using
this technique, the composer creates the bass voice that constitutes the harmonic support
of the work. This bass voice is mainly formed by a series of chords of which the composer
only writes the lowest note.

3  At the end of the 16th century a group of intellectuals and humanists constituted a
cultural gathering in the city of Florence known as the Camerata Florentina. In these
meetings, there was a long and tended talk about issues related to art, literature and
music. Some of the members of this group began to raise the need to get a total work of
art that included various artistic manifestations such as music, literature and plastic arts.
They also suggested the need to update the ancient Greek theatre but adding the musical
forms of their time.These theories gave rise to a succession of experiments in which vocal
music was with dances and spoken theatrical scenes that finally gave rise a continued
musical spectacle, in which these spoken scenes were replaced by recitative: the opera
was born.

4  The opera is a representation that does not include spoken parties. In it we can
distinguish the following parts:
• Overture: it is the instrumental part played by an orchestra with which operas usually
begin. At the beginning of the opera, when it was performed in palaces, it served as a
wake-up call to the courtiers indicating the beginning of the show.
• Recitative: in which singers advance the dialogues of the dramatic work in a simple
and syllabic song just accompanied by the Basso continuo.
• Arias: true musical core of the opera. They are lyrical and elaborate solo songs, often
virtuous, at the service of the singer's show and pure musical delight. The A-B-A form,
called aria da capo is very frequent.
• Choirs: generally four voices, in imitation of the choirs of the old Greek theatre.

5  The 18th century is known as the century of the Enlightenment, which is an
intellectual movement that tries to achieve a more educated society based on reason and
progress. This movement will start in France and will spread to other European countries.
The thinking that dominates in this period is rationalism. On the basis of reason,
intellectuals will question many of the social, philosophical and religious approaches that
had been in force in Europe for centuries.

6  1. At this time public concerts are generalized throughout Europe, allowing musicians to
compose independently a patron or an institution.
2. Classicism tries to produce less complex, clearer and more accessible music.
3. In Classicism there is the disappearance of the basso continuo that had been the basis
of baroque music. At this time the melody will be the most important thing in the entire
musical work. In this way, in orchestras and other groups, a simple accompaniment will be
performed that will never conceal it.