The Baroque Era: Bach, Vivaldi & Handel
Ornate, energetic music built on repeating patterns and dramatic contrasts — meet the era's three most famous composers.
The word "baroque" originally meant elaborate or ornate — a good description of this era's music, full of decorative flourishes, dramatic contrasts between loud and soft, and intricate, interweaving melodies.
This was the era when opera was born (in Italy, around 1600), and when the concerto — a piece featuring one soloist playing against a full group of musicians — became popular.
Two keyboard instruments ruled the Baroque era: the harpsichord, which plucks its strings so every note comes out at about the same volume no matter how hard you press, and the pipe organ, found in churches and powered by air pushed through pipes.
A German composer and church organist who wrote hundreds of works, including intricate pieces called fugues, where the same short melody enters again and again in different voices — like a very organized round.
An Italian composer, violinist, and — unusually for the time — a Catholic priest, best known for The Four Seasons, four violin concertos that musically paint spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
Born in Germany the same year as Bach, Handel spent most of his career in England, where he composed Messiah, a large work for singers and orchestra called an oratorio, still performed every December.
This eight-note pattern, repeated over and over under a melody, is one of the most famous basslines in all of classical music — a great example of the Baroque love of repeating patterns.
Worksheet
Which instrument plucks its strings, so every note is about the same volume no matter how hard you press the key?
Answer: ______________________
True or false: opera was invented during the Baroque era.
Answer: ______________________
Which Baroque composer was also a Catholic priest and wrote The Four Seasons?
Answer: ______________________
True or false: a fugue is a piece where the same melody enters again and again in different voices.
Answer: ______________________
Answer Key
- Harpsichord — The harpsichord plucks its strings with little quills, so it can't play loud or soft the way a piano can — that expressive volume control wasn't invented until the piano came along in the Classical era.
- True — Opera began in Italy around 1600, right at the start of the Baroque era.
- Antonio Vivaldi — Antonio Vivaldi, an Italian composer and violinist, was ordained as a priest and is best known for The Four Seasons.
- True — That's exactly what a fugue is — Bach was famous for writing them.
1. Which instrument plucks its strings, so every note is about the same volume no matter how hard you press the key?
2. True or false: opera was invented during the Baroque era.
3. Which Baroque composer was also a Catholic priest and wrote The Four Seasons?
4. True or false: a fugue is a piece where the same melody enters again and again in different voices.