Baroque

1
Baroque

• ba-roque / b?-rok
• According to Websters New Collegiate Dictionary
• 1. An irregularly shaped pearl.
• 2. of, relating to, or having the characteristics
  of a style of artistic expression prevalent in
  the 17th century that is marked generally by
  extravagant forms and elaborate and sometimes
  grotesque ornamentation and specifically also in
  architecture by dynamic opposition and the use of
  curved figures, in music by improvisation,
  contrasting effects and powerful tensions, and in
  literature by complexity of form and bizarre,
  ingenious and often ambiguous imagery.

Or not!
Sounds like what you might hear on the
radio today!
extravagant
grotesque
bizarre
complexity
ambiguous
2
Baroque

• 1600 - 1750

Music, art, architecture and literature became
elaboratley detailed and ornamented
People of the Baroque era tended to find strength
in both sides of any question
3
Baroque

• 1600 - 1750

Religion was of vital importance, profoundly
affecting the literature, philosophy, science,
art, and music of the period. Yet the secular
side of life was also more important than ever
before in the Christian era, and much Baroque art
had a decidedly popular character. (Ferris, 99).
4
Baroque

• History

• 1600 Dutch opticians invent the telescope
• 1602 Galileo investigates laws of gravitation and
  oscillation
• 1605 Shakespeare writes King Lear, Macbeth and
  Antony and Cleopatra
• 1607 Jamestown, VA is founded
• 1606 John Milton is born
• 1611 King James Bible is first published
• 1612 Tobacco is planted in Virginia
• 1615 Galileo faces the Inquisition for the first
  time
• 1616 William Shakespeare dies
• 1618 Sir Walter Raleigh returns to England and is
  executed
• 1619 First African slaves in N. America arrive in
  Virginia
• 1620 Pilgrims arrive in America
• 1626 Island of Manhattan purchased from Indian
  chiefs for about 24.00
• 1631 Eng. Mathematician William Oughtred proposes
  symbol X for multiplication
• 1636 Harvard College is founded
• 1637 Japan prohibits contact with Europe
• 1639 First printing press in N. America
• 1642 Isaac Newton is born

5
Baroque

• History

• 1650 Tea is drunk in England for the first time
• 1652 First opera house in Vienna
• 1656 Rembrandt declares bankruptcy
• 1659 Henry Purcell is born
• 1660 Water closets arrive from France in England
• 1665 Great plague of London begins
• 1675 Antonio Vivaldi is born
• 1677 Ice cream becomes a popular dessert in Paris
• 1680 The Dodo bird becomes extinct
• 1685 Johann Sebastian Bach is born
• 1685 George Frederic Händel is born
• 1698 Metastasio is born
• 1701 Captain William Kidd is hanged for piracy
• 1703 Construction begins on Buckingham Palace
• 1704 First American newspaper, Boston News Letter
• 1706 Benjamin Franklin is born
• 1709 Pianoforte is invented
• 1719 Leopold Mozart is born

6
Baroque

• Art

The Expulsion of the Money Lenders From the
Marketplace, Rembrandt
Baroque artistic characteristics Space filled
with action and movement
7
Baroque

• Art

Baroque artistic characteristics Sense of
Dynamics and Passion
Marriage à la Mode The Contract, William Hogarth
8
Baroque

• Art

Bust of the Savior, Gianlorenzo Bernini
baroque artistic characteristics Creating
illusion
9
Baroque

• Architecture

Christ Church, London England, 1715
1729 Nicholas Hawksmoor
Architectural Characteristics Twisting, curling
designs Elaborate carvings
10
Baroque

• Architecture

Piazza di Pietra, Rome, Italy 1656 -
1667 Gianlorenzo Bernini
11
Baroque

• Architecture

Chateau de Versailles Versailles, France 1661 -
1774 Numerous architects
12
Baroque

• Music

Henry Purcell 1659 - 1695
Musical Characteristics of the Baroque Polyphonic
texture Word Painting Contrasting
dynamics Dramatic choral works (cantatas and
oratorios)
Purcell was the leading English composer of the
Baroque period. He wrote more than 100 songs,
chamber music, dramatic music, odes, some sacred
songs, harpsichord suites and organ music.
13
Baroque

• Music

Antonio Vivaldi 1678 - 1741
Musical Characteristics of the Baroque Polyphonic
texture Word Painting Contrasting
dynamics Dramatic choral works (cantatas and
oratorios)
Vivaldi was the leading Italian composer of the
late Baroque. He wrote 500 concertos, 50 operas,
40 Cantatas, and a great deal of church music
including oratorios, motets and psalms.
14
Baroque

• Music

J. S. Bach 1685 - 1750
Musical Characteristics of the Baroque Polyphonic
texture Word Painting Contrasting
dynamics Dramatic choral works (cantatas and
oratorios)
Master of the baroque style, Bach wrote over 300
church cantatas, several masses, a magnificat,
two passions, oratorios, motets, organ music,
keyboard music, 6 sonatas for violin, 6
Brandenburg Concertos, and numerous other types
of music.
15
Baroque

• Music

G.F. Händel 1685 - 1759
Musical Characteristics of the Baroque Polyphonic
texture Word Painting Contrasting
dynamics Dramatic choral works (cantatas and
oratorios)
Händel wrote more than 40 operas, 30 oratorios,
40 sonatas and 100 cantatas (all secular). He
was the major force in English musical life
during his lifetime and had a great influence on
the works of Haydn.
16
Baroque

• Authors

Rene Descartes 1596 - 1631
Descartes was a philosopher and mathematician.
He believed that in all things only mathematics
was certain, therefore, all knowledge must be
based on mathematics.
17
Baroque

• Authors

John Milton 1608 - 1674
English poet best known for hie epic poem
Paradise Lost based on the expulsion of Adam and
Eve from the garden of Eden.
18
Baroque

• Authors

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière 1622 - 1673
Molière left behind a body of work which not only
changed the face of French classical comedy, but
has gone on to influence the work of other
dramatists the world over. The greatest of his
plays include The School for Husbands (1661), The
School for Wives (1662), The Misanthrope (1666),
The Doctor in Spite of Himself (1666), Tartuffe
(1664,1667,1669), The Miser (1668), and The
Imaginary Invalid (1673).