Is Classical Music More Ornate Than Baroque Music?
Contents
We take a look at the differences between classical and baroque music, and ask whether one is more ornate than the other.
Classical Music
Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western culture, including both liturgical (religious) and secular music. While a more precise term is also used to refer to the period from 1750 to 1820 (the Classical period), this article is about the broad span of time from before the 6th century AD to the present day, which includes the Classical period and various other periods. Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music and is less complex. It is mainly homophonic, using a clear melody line over a subordinate chordal accompaniment, but counterpoint was by no means forgotten, especially later in the period.
Define Classical Music
Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western music, including both liturgical (religious) and secular music. While a more precise term is also used to refer to the period from 1750 to 1820 (the Classical period), this article is about the broad span of time from before the 6th century AD to the present day, which includes the Classical period and various other periods. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900,[1] which is known as the common-practice period.
Characteristics of Classical Music
Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western culture, including both liturgical and secular music. While a more precise term is also used to refer to the period from 1750 to 1820 (the Classical period), this article is about the broad span of time from before the 6th century AD to the present day, which includes the Classical period and various other periods. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common-practice period.
Western staff notation is used by composers to indicate to the performer the pitches, tempo, meter and rhythms for a piece of music. This can leave less room for error when compared to other styles of music such as jazz where a lead sheet may stipulate “play in the style of… so long as you stay within these chord changes”. The term “classical music” did not appear until the early 19th century, when it was used south of the Alps in Italy to describe artistic works that were not popular or folkloric.[1] It was not until the late 19th century that classical music critic Heinrich Heine used it as a nationally definitive term in Germany to describe Handel’s Messiah.[2][3] Here “art” denotes Western artforms created after 600 AD without including popular forms such as folk art or indigenous art;[4] this line roughly coincides with that drawn by historians§
Baroque Music
Baroque music is a style of Western art music composed from approximately 1600 to 1750. This era followed the Renaissance, and was followed in turn by the Classical era. The word “baroque” comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning “misshapen pearl”.
Define Baroque Music
Baroque music is a style of Western art music composed from approximately 1600 to 1750. This era followed the Renaissance musical era, and was succeeded in turn by the Classical era. The word “baroque” comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning “misshapen pearl”.Baroque music forms a major portion of the “classical music” canon, and is now widely studied, performed, and listened to. Key composers of the Baroque era include Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel, Claudio Monteverdi, Heinrich Schütz, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Dieterich Buxtehude, Arcangelo Corelli, François Couperin, Georg Philipp Telemann, Henry Purcell, Alessandro Scarlatti.
Characteristics of Baroque Music
Baroque music is a style of Western art music composed from approximately 1600 to 1750. This era followed the Renaissance and was followed by the Classical era. Baroque music forms a major portion of the “classical music” canon, and is now widely studied, performed, and listened to. Characteristics associated with Baroque music include complex tonal counterpoint; stamping rhythms; highly ornate melodies often featuring long, sustained notes; functional harmony moving in predictable chord progressions often using basso continuo accompaniment; uniformity of mood or affect across an entire composition or section; contrast between solos and ensemble sections; clear-cut ternary (ABA) form such as the minuet-trio or the da capo aria with its ritornello accompaniment. The term “baroque” comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning “misshapen pearl”.
The popularity of the term baroque may be due in part to the vigorous negative campaigning against it by critics in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. detractors described it variously as bombastic, absurd, ugly, vulgar, tiresomely relentless in its drive for effect”, anaemic or heavily wrought”.
Comparison of Classical and Baroque Music
Classical music and Baroque music are two different styles of music that have similarities and differences. Both styles are intricate and detailed, however Classical music is more ornate than Baroque music. Classical music is also more emotional than Baroque music.
Similarities
Though the two genres of music are often compared, classical and Baroque music actually have more similarities than differences. Both styles make use of counterpoint, or the combination of multiple independent melodic lines, and bothfrom the same era, the Common Practice Period. In addition, many of the same composers wrote music in both styles; for example, J.S. Bach wrote pieces that could be classified as either classical or Baroque.
Differences
There are several key differences between classical and baroque music, which are outlined below.
-Classical music is generally more complex and ornate than baroque music.
-Classical music typically features longer, more intricate compositions than baroque music.
-Baroque music often relies heavily on improvisation, while classical music is more meticulously composed.
-Baroque music tends to be more energetic and lively than classical music, which is often more reserved and stately.
