Baroque Era Music and Architecture

Study Notes

Baroque Music

The Baroque style of music developed in Italy and spread to Western Europe with a 20-year lag, influencing composers like Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel.
The Florentine Camerata, a group of intellectuals, musicians, and scholars, played a crucial role in the development of early opera and the transition from Renaissance music to the Baroque style.
The Camerata was inspired by ancient Greek musical and dramatic theories, particularly the idea of a single vocal line with simple accompaniment.

History of the Pianoforte

The piano's development can be traced back to early keyboard instruments like the harpsichord and the clavichord, which were popular during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
These instruments produced sound by plucking strings or striking them with small metal blades, but they played at one volume.
The piano as we know it today began to take shape in the early 18th century, with the ability to be played at various volumes, and was given the name of pianoforte (soft/loud in Italian).
Bartolomeo Cristofori, an Italian harpsichord maker, is credited with inventing the piano around 1700, using a hammer mechanism that struck the strings, allowing for dynamic volume.

Domenico Scarlatti

Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) was an Italian composer known for his keyboard music, particularly his 555 keyboard sonatas.
He was born in Naples, Italy, into a musical family, and his father, Alessandro Scarlatti, was a renowned composer and musician of the Baroque era.
Scarlatti's career took him to various European cities, including Rome, Venice, and Lisbon, where he served as a composer and musician in the courts of several nobles and royalty, including Queen Maria Barbara of Spain.
Scarlatti's time in Spain had a significant influence on his musical style, as he was exposed to the rich traditions of Spanish music.

Description

Explore the development and impact of Baroque music and architecture across Western Europe, from Italy to Germany and London. Learn about the Florentine Camerata's influence on notable composers like Bach and Handel.