The Baroque Spirit

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The Baroque era's name Baroque, meaning "exaggerated", "abnormal", or even "bizarre", cultivated some of the most revolutionary music and ideas in the timeline of composition itself. It's image, ranging from destitution and lavishness as shown through the period's art and political and economic being, has set this era apart in time through evolution and exploration. The culture and politics surrounding this era and the techniques and methods created are keys to understanding the baroque era and its success in progressing music to where it is today.
Absolute monarchy was the main form of political structure during the Baroque era. Culture in the forms of music and art were centralized to the satisfaction of the aristocracy. Ensembles and establishments such as operas, orchestras, and choirs performed musical themes about gods and heroes, bolstering the egos of nobility through similarity. Music and art did not only reach the royal and rich, but the middle class as well. Recreational composition happened at home with genres such as the comic opera and prose novel. Through the Baroque era, science also emerged through the ideas of Galileo, Copernicus, Descartes, and many other great minds. It's during this time that research into the human body and working of the universe were put into play. Not only has the culture of this era experienced great knowledge and creativity, but also war and turmoil in Europe over religion as modeled by the Catholic and Protestant dynasties combating brutally against each other. With religion came colonization and reformation, driving the cycle of historical development forward. I find that this repetitive progression of cause and effect is the force that producing new results, no matter the time p...

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With all these improvements and advancements made, the Baroque was a international period that experienced various collaborations with different nations and cultures. I find that this aspect of the Baroque reflects how music is today. With inventions like the internet, television, radio, I can hear artists who have expanded their craft over all three mediums.
Reading Prelude 3, "The Baroque Spirit" has taught me the how the culture and politics of the era has influenced its techniques and methods which have all together created and cultivated and musical period like no other. Like all waves of music, the Baroque era has contributed through its culture, music, and art, to the current being of not just music, but the world today.

Works Cited

Forney, Kristine, and Joseph Machlis. The Enjoyment of Music. 11th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. Print.

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