Baroque Era Essay

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THE EVOLUTION OF CLASSICAL MUSIC OVER THE ERAS

The Middle Ages (476 AD - 1500) was when the first ever plainsong was recorded down in the Christian Church. It was mostly written with four line staff and notes shaped as circles, diamonds, triangles and squares indicated the rhythm without any regular rhythm divisions. Instead, the melodies followed the rhythm of the words and had no beat at all. Unlike today’s church music, back in the Middle Ages, Church Authorities thought that strong emotions should not be portrayed in any part of religious song. Instead, they wanted church music to have an intellectual and spiritual aspect and for this reason, for many years, the use of harmony was restricted in plainsong melodies because they believed …show more content…

Music simply for entertainment became more popular than music for church. Major and Minor scales slowly replaced tonality which was once most popular and apparent in church music. This made modulation attainable which ultimately created operas, masses, symphonies and cantatas. As operas and oratorios emerged and developed in Italy, composers began to write music for solo singers. There were many choral pieces written in the Baroque Era but, most pieces written in this era were solo material. Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederick Handel, both born in 1685, dominated this era with their exquisite music and compositions. Bach was considered so significant to the Baroque Era that his death (1750) marked the end of it. Bach re-harmonized many Lutheran hymns and created very intricate solos. The Baroque Era was a period of very intricate music with many ornaments and many notes. On the contrary, composers of the Classical Era, simplified music in many different ways. With much simpler harmonies, music from this era is much easier to perform. Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert and Ludwig von Beethoven, all composers from the Classical era, strove for balance rather than excessive emotion. Moreover, during this era, instruments improved and were put together to form harmonious orchestras. Composers in the Classical Era became more independent by performing directly in from of a paying audience

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