Here's something you might be interested in.
As we discussed earlier, the term classical music applies to music as diverse as Bach and Ligeti.
Speaking of Bach, let’s talk about The Baroque period a little bit.
The Baroque period preceded The Classical period and ran from 1600 to 1750.
The term Baroque was initially a term describing the architecture of the age but was ultimately applied to the music as well.
There were several contributing composers in The Baroque Period. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Telemann wrote enormous stacks of music.
Telemann alone wrote over three thousand pieces of music.
Baroque music does not have the same dynamic range of later music. If a composer wanted the music to be softer, he had fewer instruments play. Likewise if he wanted the music louder, he had more instruments play.
The crescendo, a gradual increase in the volume of the music, was used sparingly because the string instruments used a different type of bow to produce the sound.
The Baroque bow had a slight outward curve which limited the amount of pressure, aka volume, the bow could apply to the strings.
The brass instruments were also less sophisticated.
There are several “period” orchestras which perform Baroque music on authentic Baroque instruments in order to give us an idea of what the music may have sounded like.
I’m not a big fan of “period” performances but they are interesting as a historical exercise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhTqpmHu5yg
As we discussed earlier, the term classical music applies to music as diverse as Bach and Ligeti.
Speaking of Bach, let’s talk about The Baroque period a little bit.
The Baroque period preceded The Classical period and ran from 1600 to 1750.
The term Baroque was initially a term describing the architecture of the age but was ultimately applied to the music as well.
There were several contributing composers in The Baroque Period. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Telemann wrote enormous stacks of music.
Telemann alone wrote over three thousand pieces of music.
Baroque music does not have the same dynamic range of later music. If a composer wanted the music to be softer, he had fewer instruments play. Likewise if he wanted the music louder, he had more instruments play.
The crescendo, a gradual increase in the volume of the music, was used sparingly because the string instruments used a different type of bow to produce the sound.
The Baroque bow had a slight outward curve which limited the amount of pressure, aka volume, the bow could apply to the strings.
The brass instruments were also less sophisticated.
There are several “period” orchestras which perform Baroque music on authentic Baroque instruments in order to give us an idea of what the music may have sounded like.
I’m not a big fan of “period” performances but they are interesting as a historical exercise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhTqpmHu5yg