Outlines:

1. The Baroque Era
   
   
   1. The word Baroque was originally a derogatory term (meaning deformed).
      
      
   2. Twentieth-century music historians applied the term to music from ca. 1600 to ca. 1750.
      1. Many characteristics of the period began before 1600 and some were already declining by the 1730s.
      2. The main shared ideal for the period was the belief that music's principal goal was to move the affections.
         
         
   3. Patronage
      1. Noble and royal courts supported musical culture.
      2. The church had less of a role in supporting music than it had previously.
      3. Academies, private associations that sponsored musical activities, supported music in many cities.
      4. Public concerts were just beginning, but were rare until the later 1700s.
         
         
   4. Literature, the Arts, and Sciences.
      1. Great writers and playwrights of the period
         1. In England, Donne and Milton
         2. In Spain, Cervantes
         3. In France, Corneille, Racine, and Molière
      2. Great artists of the period
         1. Rubens, Rembrandt
         2. In Spain, Velázquez and Murillo
         3. In Italy, Bernini (sculptor) and Borromini (architect, see Plate VII in CHWM)
      3. Great scientists and philosophers of the period
         1. Bacon
         2. Descartes
         3. Galileo
         4. Kepler
         5. Newton
            
            
2. Characteristics of Baroque Music
   
   
   1. The two practices
      1. In 1600 Giovanni Maria Artusi criticized the unconventional approach to counterpoint in Monteverdi's works (see vignette in CHWM).
      2. Monteverdi responded by characterizing his style as the seconda pratica.
         1. The prima pratica was the counterpoint system set forth by Zarlino and defended by Artusi.
         2. In the seconda practica, Zarlino's rules could be broken in the interest of text expression (see NAWM 53, Cruda Amarilli).
         3. The seconda pratica was also called the modern style.
            
            
   2. Idiomatic writing
      1. Composers adapted their writing to the medium, i.e. specific instrument, or vocal solo singing.
      2. There were famous virtuoso performers, both instrumentalists and vocalists.
         
         
   3. Composers aimed to express the affections.
      1. Affections were states of the soul, such as rage, heroism, sorrow, or joy.
      2. Composers were not trying to express their own emotions, but the range of human emotions.
         
         
   4. Rhythm
      1. Meter and rhythm were tied to the affection the composer wished to evoke.
      2. Some works were improvisatory, with flexible rhythms.
      3. Some works used regular rhythms in strict meters.
      4. The two types were often paired to provide contrast.
         
         
   5. Basso continuo
      1. The combination of a firm bass and florid treble was the dominant texture.
      2. Composers notated only the bass and treble lines.
      3. The bass was usually played by a continuo instrument such as lute or harpsichord, and was often reinforced by a sustaining bass instrument.
      4. The keyboard or lute player filled in (realized) the chords, using notated numbers ( figures) over the bassline to guide them when the chord was not in root position.
      5. A bassline with figures over the notes is called a figured bass.
      6. In modern editions, editors indicate filled-in notes (ripieno) by using smaller notes.
         
         
   6. Fugal counterpoint continued, but with harmony as the guiding principle rather than counterpoint (as in the prima pratica)
      
      
   7. Harmony
      1. At the beginning of the Baroque, chromaticism was used for expressive purposes.
      2. By the end of the Baroque, chromaticism was used to help govern the harmony.
      3. A system of major–minor tonality evolved in response to composers' use of a central triad and a hierarchy of relationships among the other chords.