Music in Baroque Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Music in Baroque Society - Essay Example A third characteristic of the baroque age was significantly manifested through social living in Europe; the prevailing class structure had widely demonstrated the attitude and opinion on extravagance in the society via architecture, music, arts, and literature which had been promoted, in part, by the lavish life of King Louis XIV. Music of the period – 1600-1750 – projects an essential attribute of the baroque style as perceived through its grandiosity, irregularity, and strangeness. Compared to the music of the preceding Renaissance age, baroque music is found rich in various textures, levels of intensity, and melodies that seemed to form more embellished or intricate sound. To normal listeners, the characteristics of the original musical pieces of this era appeal to the senses not only emotionally but also experimentally. In either approach, a genius baroque musician had a particular unity of mood, form or style, and selection of instruments. By unity of mood, compose rs followed a specific kind of affection in generating rhythmic and melodic patterns, and this affection unified the mood in music, enabling the audience to recognize a theme or subject that is consistent all throughout the piece. When it comes to musical style, baroque is identified with the recitative manner of singing compositions or with speech rhythms designated for sung texts, which later evolved to arias or expressive melodies of a different order and instrumentation.