The

aroqu
The

Life,Times,

& Music S
16004750

Bach
Handel
Vivaldi

Marcello
Corelli

and more.*

Th

baroque fra
The Life,Times,

& Music Series

The

r~z

aroque&ra
The

Life,Times,

Peter

& Music Series

QE.Bekker,

Jr.

Friedman/ Fairfax Publishers

A FRIEDMAN/ FAIRFAX BOOK

Copyright

1992 by Michael Friedman Publishing Group, Inc. and

J.B. Fairfax, Inc.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced,

retrieval system, or transmitted, in

stored in a

any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written

permission in from the publisher.

ISBN 0-9627 134-4-9

THE LIFE, TIMES, & MUSIC

SERIES:

THE BAROQUE ERA

was prepared and produced by

Friedman/ Fairfax Publishers

1

West 26th

Street

New York, New York

Editor: Nathaniel

Art Director:

10010

Marunas

Jeff Batzli

Photography Editor: Grace

How

Production Director: Karen Matsu Greenberg

Designed by Zemsky Design

Grateful acknowledgement

is

given to authors, publishers, and photographers

for permission to reprint material.

Even-

effort

has been

made

to determine

copyright owners of photographs and illustrations. In the case of any omissions,

the Publishers will be pleased to

make

suitable

editions.

Printed in the United States of America

acknowledgements

in future

:*

&%cHnowCecQjments
At Friedman/Fairfax

Publishers:

Michael Friedman, and

Mr. Roger Burrows tor concocting this useful and unique

series;

Karla Olson, a merciless negotiator but a writer's friend and inspiration;

and Nathaniel Marunas, whose keen eye

impressive knowledge and insight.

Lincon Center Branch of the

Many

New York

for detail

is

informed by

thanks to the

staff at

dedication in what apparently are very difficult times.

-**>

the

Public Library for remarkable

**

Introduction
Politics

and

Intrigue:

An Era Shaped by War

Fine Arts

Science

9
17

& Philosophy

32

Literature

40

Music

45

Glossary

68

Listener's

Guide

69

Reader's Guide

70

Index

70

**

l
(

'

the

r
'fit

in )iitie

Introduction

was an era of

erating thought

the sharpest contrasts

and oppressive

and

politics;

contradictions: a time of

lib-

a time of humanism, which

celebrated the individual-and colonialism, which subjugated

was a time when empires rose and fell; a time

millions;

it

of rapid

scientific discovery

and

also of the Inquisition;

\
and

it

was a time when

Reformation that had

The Baroque was

the

split its

the final

medieval times onto the

tried to

counter the

ranks into Protestant and Catholic.

doorway of

history that

opened from

Age of Enlightenment.

Right: This ornate

after

Church

a drawing

fry

Baroque era sculpture, Angel,

Bernini and

sits

is

on Rome's Ponte

modeled
del Angeli.

Opposite page top: King Ferdinand's representatives are thrown

from a window of Prague's Hradcany Palace.

'(J)(ilics

find

'J)ilri(jm-

and Intrigue:

Politics

An Era Shaped
by War

The map
that

is

of Europe changed dramatically during the century and a half

now

called the Baroque era, beginning with the Thirty Years' War,

which blossomed
3 jr

fl^

to involve all of Europe.

^^^L

political

matri

r^^JmW
^F

W^^

1618 and quickly escalated into the

in

and

The Baroque came

religious aggression,

literally in

an entirely

and played

^^^

where two

at the

a Habsburg, were thrown out of a

the Thirty

men

redrawn
in

its

map

v
>

after-

Hradcany Palace

in

window by

Years'

War

Protestant noble-

ultimately led to a

of Europe and a considerable shift

Protestants were afraid of annihila-

tion or at the very least, frightened that their

influence would be blunted by Ferdinand's unrelenting campaign to assert his Catholic policies far

and wide.

It is

likely that the nobles

their fears. Ferdinand

later

II.

He

justified in

who

not

supported the Church's

his motives

Roman Empire

the primary political entity in central Europe and

much power

in

were

earthly than divinely inspired:

Ferdinand wanted to reassert the Holy

main goal was

much

Roman Emperor and

Counter Reformation, though

much more

were

was a Catholic

would be elected Holy

dubbed Ferdinand

out in the

centers of power.

The
mm

that stage of

representatives of the Catholic King Ferdinand,

'

w^r~i

itselt

on

conflict

different world.

Sparked by a minor revolt

Prague

of age

first

to grab for himself and his

Europe as he could.

as

Italy; his

Habsburg dynasty

as

(<)hc

^Baroque

ojw

The Holy Roman Empire (962-1 806)

The

AW-- ) =<>?
1

tin-

"twt.

The empire was born

empire, comprising central

Europe and

around

for

hod been

Italy,

more than

six

Germany's King Otto

and a

but

its

on the

War (1618-1648),

inclinations

and popes. At the

ond strengths

of

its

forward,

influential rulers

noblemen and

regional princes

were the

The

local

who governed

society of Christians under the

to

the Holy

One

Ferdinand
title

among

today's corporations, under a hierar-

system, with an emperor serving os

Roman

others,

allies in

was

one sovereign

effectively. In addition,

too large for any

tions

tried to

each other. The ambitions of

reli-

(who died

left

with

little

more than a

drove

conflict.

in

the final stake with

campaigns against

Austria

ond

its

1797 and 1801. By 1806, annexa-

ond secessions had prompted emperor

Francis

II

to abdicate

Roman Empire

were problems at the top because popes

and emperors sometimes

II

Empire. His successor,

ended the

Napoleon

the protector and defender of faith and the

papacy. But the empire

was

III,

his successful

govern

were crowned by the pope.

Thirty Years' War, launched as a

chairman of the board. The emperor was to be

to

From that time

by the time the Treaty of Westphalia,

Holy Catholic Church; and to be organized very

there

Italy.

kings claimed the right to be

gious crusade by Ferdinand

much
chical

XII in gratitude

before the war ended), permanently crippled

The theory of the empire was twofold:

like

German

selves as such or

the principalities and city-states.

encompass a

962 when

emperor, and most of them declared them-

emperors

turn of the seventeenth cen-

most

tury the

from the ambitious king of

waxed and waned depending

influence

Romans" by Pope John

of the

in

was crowned "emperor

for Otto's help in protecting the Papal States

half centuries before the out-

break of the Thirty Years'

ond declare the Holy

dissolved.

dominate

men and

nations

Above:

often led to divisive intrigues and rebellions.

in

Map of the

Holy Roman Empire.

'0ili lies

The opponents

in this conflict

by religious imperatives and, as a

ties

turned into holy wars.

and ^'Jnlrujiic

were guided

result, their bat

With

so

much

at

stake, each side easily found allies. This

expanded the

because the

cally,

sometimes geometri-

conflict,
allies,

mostly neighboring
Charles

were already involved

states,

religious

in their

own

upon

Ferdinand enlisted his cousins tor help: King Philip

would

later

He

returned to the throne

9^^?!!^:.

and political entanglements.

Maximilian of Bavaria.

11

the collapse of Cromwell's

III

of

Spain and Duke

was joined also by Poland, though Poland

switch sides in an alliance with Sweden.

Old tensions between the Spanish and the Dutch

in the war.

the globe

That

rivalry

was played out not only

in

flared

up

early

Europe but also around

where both

South America, and the Caribbean

in Africa,

nations had colonies. Spain was kept especially busy when, in 1640,
Portugal again decided to assert

neighbor for desirable

its

independence and battled

larger

territories abroad.

France was on the sidelines tor the

XIII, a Catholic,

its

was the Habsburgs' main

first

half of the war. King Louis

rival in Europe.

As time

Louis became increasingly alarmed about Ferdinand's victories.

He

passed,
finally

decided that a preemptive strike was the best way to help subdue his competitor.

He

declared war

on Spain

in

1635 and entered the

fray

on the

Protestant side in an alliance with Sweden, the Netherlands, and a group

oi Protestant

German

princes.

France's entry into the Thirty Years'

conflict to a stalemate.

So many

alliances

War

eventually brought the

had been formed that

it

became

impossible to shift the balance of power in tavor of any state or group of

states.

The

only way for the combatants to stand

postures was to seek peace.

since

all

It

down from

their military

was a process that took quite a long time

the sides were negotiating from a position of some strength. Each

of the players tried to win as

tried to gain

much from

the peace settlements as they had

from their military adventures.

'(')liryifnwfifr

Mural

Baroque era pomp

depicting

The
the

(German))

in Saxon)'

Treaty of Westphalia took five years to conclude even after

main combatants had put down

with

far less influence in

emerged

nent in the

domains

Baltic;

The Habsburgs emerged

Europe than they had had at the outset. France

dominant nation

as the

their swords.

in

Western Europe; Sweden was emi-

and the German princes were

set free to

govern their

wished with no interference from the emperor. Because

as they

Ferdinand and the Habsburgs failed in their mission to consolidate power,

the

Church

also suffered.

The

Thirty Years'

war of religion in Europe. Regional

for their subjects

rulers

War

turned out to be the

last

were thereafter able to choose

whatever religion they desired. Religion, and the papacy,

would no longer play

The War

significant roles in determining national allegiances.

of Spanish Succession was

waged against France's

"Sun King," Louis XIV, who had upset the balance of power

in

by accepting for his grandson the inheritance of Spain's Charles

Europe
II,

who

died childless. By accepting the inheritance, Louis broke an agree-

ment with the

British that

he would

split

Charles' territories with the

Austrian Habsburgs.

France and
of Britain, the

its

allies

faced a grand alliance

princes, the Austrian Habsburgs, the

Portugal,

and Savoy

in

what was

in 1701, the fighting continued until 1714,

opments broke
and

Spanish and Bavarian

German

Dutch Provinces,
Begun

its

a military impasse.

The Peace

United

a long

and bloody war.

when

political devel-

of Utrecht awarded Spain

colonies to Philip V, a Bourbon king, but kept France separate.

The Dutch won

sion. Austria

British assurances of protection against

French aggres-

was awarded the Spanish Netherlands, Sardinia, Milan, and

Naples. Britain emerged as the world's leading colonial and commercial

power, mostly

on the

strength of

its

Navy.

12


laxities

and &ntrwue

The Reformation

who

backlash against corruption

in

the Church, the Ref-

ormation began

when

it

1517

in

thought and study were stressed and the

of education rose in

riddled with excesses

of the Protestants

Renaissance. Pope Innocent

Church abuses).

1215

nary

that reform

man

suffered

in

by the Church, and

ries

was

III

recognized even

necessary. The ordi-

Luther

general from domination

specifically

because of

between

was nepotism,

royals

and the

clergy.

financial extravagance,

probably the most cynical practice of

selling of indulgences. This

Martin Luther sous

was

way

less

rival-

was excommunicated

of

as a heretic,

caught on. Lutheranism became the

recognized religion for Sweden, Norway,

Finland, and

There

and

all

(who had had enough

but his ideas for a reformed religion neverthe-

within the church and political deals or

conflicts

level

of Europe. Gutenberg

a more rapid spread of ideas, including those

and

abuses throughout medieval times and into the

in

most

introduced moveable type, which allowed

indulgences.

The Church was

but
sin-

to

With the advent of the Renoissance,

Germany,

posted an invitation to debate the Church practice of selling

sin,

it

cere repentance and spiritual healing.

Martin Luther, a uni-

versity professor in Wittenberg,

be "cleansed" of

recognized as a dangerous barrier to

could afford

was

Denmark, and spread quickly

throughout the rest of Europe, eventually giving

the

rise to

for those

the seeds of Protestantism.

13

Calvinism and other reform doctrines.

"( ilic' 'fin rotjnc o'jrd

The Counter Reformation

Alarmed
on
its

own

failings

mutiny by

sive

not

from defendants by sessions on the "rack,"

the Catholic Church launched

which painfully stretched a persons's limbs, or

and

the

in

stifle

what

500s

saw as a

it

many

elements

to

But Paul
1

534,

III,

genuine

rifts

by

tioned

and

active religious orders

was

Pope Gregory
civil

dogma

fix-

Pope Paul

throughout Europe

the lead of Holy

IX

In

authorities to seize

"heretics." This led to a

judicial circuit

rules that permit-

Still,

hearing cases against those

Paul

and South America.

III

and

his

immediate successors

character of the Inquisition, which by the end of

colonized world as the Spanish Inquisition. The

sus-

was an

pected of defying orthodox religious teachings.

latter

Many

persecuted thousands of converted natives

of the defendants

irritants to

were simply

political

the local establishment, which

members

of sects

whose

Americas. The Inquisition

Spain and Portugal

spiritual

until

in

was not ended

the early

in

the
in

800s.

Another repressive aspect of the

practices did not align with Catholic theology.

Still

especially brutal undertaking that

the Spanish and Portuguese colonies

trumped up charges against them. Other defendants were

to

the sixteenth century had spread throughout the

traveled about,

who were

ond also

did not meaningfully address the repressive

or less organized

who

into religious schools,

to charity works,

ing both North

II,

and bum convicted

more

of Inquisitors

Frederick

III

the newly discovered provinces abroad, includ-

231, following

Roman Emperor
promulgated

who

reinter-

pretation of strict Catholic

the

from the thirteenth century.

ted

brought a zealous

which had been a

life

more

new,

such as the Jesuits,

The prime example of

ture of

Protestant

the

reformers. He sanc-

ecclesiastical reform.

Inquisition,

and

doctrinal questions raised

in

through

the repressive side

in

convened the Council

answer the fundamental

the

signifi-

spiritual

who became pope

also

cant attempts to heal

the serious

be forced

of Trent to study, debate,

repres

Counter Reformation,

too few

for "confessions" to

by torture with burning coals.

to address

adherents.

its

was

other Protestant doctrines,

There were

addition

uncommon

It

tance of Lutheranism and

movement

internal

witches, sorcerers, or sexual aberrants.

by the quick accep-

others were suspected of being alchemists,

Inquisition,

The Index of Forbidden Books, was

not abolished by the papacy

1965. The Index,

until

begun

was

in

the

fifth

century,

a list of teachings,

manuscripts, and books that

were banned as
to Church

antithetical

dogmo.

Heretics were often

burned at the stake

during the Inquisition.

14

duties and Srdrigw

The English

War

Civil

pitted royalists against

parliamentarians.

It

was com-

prised of three wars involving

two kings of England and those

who sympathized with

the

growing and increasingly pros-

perous middle class (most

notably Oliver Cromwell,

who

Oliver Cromwell

1599-1658) Puritan
,

^S^SSSSSL

ruled England following the

execution of Charles

I).

By 1642, the gentry and merchants had become

their lack of representation in policy

Charles

refused to

bend

to democratic ideas

who

and paid

much

did not have

insisted that Parliament raise taxes

with

and lawmaking. The stubborn King

to the increasingly hostile voices in the

Nevertheless, Charles,

dissatisfied

little

attention

House of Commons.
inherited wealth, often

and provide funding

for his

numerous

foreign campaigns.

The

king's

Cavaliers swept to early victories against the Parliamentary forces,

known

As

as

passions mounted, both sides raised armies.

Roundheads, but the

was held

prisoner, but

tide eventually turned. Charles surrendered

managed

to escape.

He concluded a treaty with the

Scots,

who then

assault

and Charles was eventually caught and executed.

invaded England. But Oliver Cromwell beat back the

His son, Charles

Cromwell's armies,
Charles

II

who

II,

resumed the

crushed his

was forced into

Commonwealth and
was known

fight but

Protectorate collapsed.

as the Restoration

and

it

15

The

for

and Scotland.

1660 when Cromwell's

king's return to

England

was conditioned on an amnesty

for

his promise of religious toleration,

a promise he promptly broke by cracking

of England.

was no match

allies in Ireland

exile, returning in

most of his enemies in England, and on

Church

and

down on

dissenters

from the

(,jillf ' (its

Fine Arts
Ideology and religion remained powerful forces in

shaping the fine

arts

during the Baroque era. Even though

its

influence was

on the

decline, the

Church remained an imposing

tion, particularly in

such traditionally

Catholic societies as
Portugal,
Italy,

institu-

Italy,

Spain,

and central Europe. Born

in

and seen most purely and vividly

in areas of

heavy Church influence,

The

lute

was an

extrerne i y popular mstru,

SS?.* ^.^.^.52HK.SS:

the Baroque style ultimately spread throughout the Western world, where
it

was

sifted

and molded by regional

The Church
spiritual core of
its

its

influences.

required dynamic, vibrant imagery to illuminate the

Counter Reformation and to serve

as

an ingredient

in

burgeoning missionary work. Royals and other wealthy influentials

wanted homes,

palaces,

and appropriate to

and monuments that were opulent,

their stations.

It is

just that

distinctive,

kind of dynamic, dramatic,

grand

style that charac-

terizes

Baroque

first

emerged

of two young

art,

which

in the

work

artists:

the

Flemish painter Peter

Paul Rubens, and the
Italian sculptor, painter,

and architect Giovanni

Lorenzo Bernini.

Opposite page:

The

Last Supper

by Peter Paul Rubens.

Left:

An example

of El Greco's

dramatic use of light: Boy

Blowing Over Hot Coals.

IT

Bold and colorful,

The Battled

the

An

b) Peter Paul Rubens shows the influent

Renaissance master Virion on

e oj the

his u

^^^%

Haj

(<)lit'

'f)fiiv(iiic

(<jm

Peter Paul Rubens

( 1

57 7-1640)

By any measure, Rubens was

a Renaissance

He

man.

lived

and worked

during the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque and

more than anyone

that

came

else,

to be called Baroque.

affairs.

classical

He

credited,

with having transformed painting into the

distilled

style

A phenomenally productive artist, he was

also a diplomat, a courtier, a teacher,

public

is

and

man who

involved himself in

the realistic tradition of Flemish art with the

and imaginative innovations o(

Renaissance painting to

Italian

produce a striking new form that directly influenced the direction of

painting and drawing in

Italy,

Rubens was already

Spain, the Netherlands, and even England.

a master in the Netherlands

in Venice, at the age of twenty-one, to

court painter to the duke of Mantua,

colorful paintings of Titian,

who

complete his

when he

artistic

arrived

education.

Rubens was impressed by the

inspired

many of Rubens'

As

bold,

He

later works.

naturally benefited from the influence of other Italian Renaissance masters

and made contributions of his

own in Rome and

return to Antwerp, also to northern Europe, where

Spain, and,

he reigned

upon

his

as the lead-

ing figure in art in the Spanish Netherlands.

devout

Catholic,

Rubens used

religious

his paintings.

Unlike the dogmatic

work of his
raries,

less inspired

themes in

contempo-

however, Rubens' dramatic

use of light

and color brought a

dis-

tinctive energy to his canvases. His

fondness for bold forms reached

zenith in the 1620s

pleted,

its

when he com-

among other

works, a

twenty-one-painting theme for the

Luxembourg Palace chronicling

the

M*:..?h^.:

life

of Marie de Medici.

Rubens operated

30

a large studio dur-

y///r/ his

Rubeiis' Portrait of the

Servant of the Young Isabella

ing this period in

which

skilled artists did

depicts the future

queen of Spain.

most of the actual painting,

working from sketches that Rubens made. This was an anangement similar to

the famous painters' workshops in Italy and

it

turned out thousands

of canvases.

As

a diplomat,

Rubens helped conclude peace

treaties

between

England and Spain, and also between the Spanish Netherlands and the
Dutch. His patrons, Archduke Ferdinand and Archduchess

gave him other,

impressive

who

also

less visible

enough

to earn

Isabella, also

diplomatic assignments. His ability was

him

knighthood from Charles

commissioned a ceiling painting called The Allegory

ot England,
of

War and

Peace for the Whitehall Palace in London.

Late in his

life,

Rubens abandoned

out mostly landscapes and portraits.

religious paintings

and turned

(<)lic

'fl(ir()(jiic

$ra

El

Influentiol

artists

who

lived

worked during the Baroque

Greco (1541-1614)
and
Era

and whose names ore remembered today include the Italians

Michelangelo do Caravaggio who, along

with Annibale Carracci, pioneered a

revival of Greek,
styles that

Roman, and

Classical

had a great influence on the

eventual development of the Baroque

motif. In addition,

Baroque painters

began experimenting with a dynamic use

of light, especially in the service of creating incredible spatial depth.
El

Greco, born on Creteat the time

dependency of Venice-was a painter

who worked

briefly in Italy

and mostly

Self Portrait, El Greco,

in

Spain. Noted especially for his later paintings,

Greco produced work of tremendous psycho-

which featured abstract elements such as elon-

logical

gated figures and dramatic, flickering

mythological impact.

light,

El

Above: El Greco's Portrait o/Giulio Clo\io contains

tery

power and

intense, visionary,

and even

characteristic elements of pathos

accented by a dynamic contrast of light and dark. Opposite page:

The

and mys-

Trinity, El Greco.

tv

>

Rembrandt's

largest

panting, Night

illustrates ihc painter's

canvases wih drama and movement.

W^

?..

V.

genius at infusing

hi:

10

o]Jt<'

r
/>ftm/f/i<'

Rembrandt van

Rembrandt,

the Dutch

remembered

(1606-1669)

is

for his skillful

and

paintings, drawings,

many

ings,

artist,

Rijn

etch-

them

of

individuals or groups of people.

of

He often

experimented with different expressions for

his subjects,

and with contrasts

shadow designed
and

to

change the

tional

is

particularly

and

drama

Rembrandt's

effect of the composition.

brushwork

of light

overall

admired

and textural range, and

for

for

its

its

emogreat

subtlety of expression.

Above: Self Portrait (age 34) Rembrandt. Below:

,

human

expression

Gentleman

is

an important element

in Black.

in

A remarkable sensitivity to

Rembrandt's work, as

in

Lady and

Sir

Van

Anthony van Dyck

Dyck opened

dio in

his

own

(1

599-1 641

stu-

Antwerp at age sixteen;

by the time he was eighteen

years old, the Flemish painter

was a master

of Antwerp's artist's guild. To

develop an internationally recognizable

van Dyck spent several years

the

work

in

Italy

style,

studying

of Renaissance masters such as Titian.

colleague of Peter Paul Rubens, van Dyck

now

is

considered second only to his famous

countryman as the greatest European painter

of the time. His

and

work included mostly

portraits

religious paintings.

Top: Van Dyck painted many

scenes.

Venus

asks

Vulcan

portraits, religious canvases,

to

make Weapons

Above: Self Portrait, van Dyck.

for

and mythological

Aenas hangs

in the

Louvre.

.,-i

il

II

/#

fei

'

___

^
i

j;
V5^feJ?

'

'(.fine.' Ifls

Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)

Another

whose contributions helped define Baroque

figure

worked not only

is

remembered

he was

in paints, but also as a sculptor

tor

developing a detailed,

and an

realistic

also responsible tor the design of grand

art,

architect. Bernini

torm

oi sculpture,

of a painter, Bernini was

life

in

bom

in

Naples and, except

tor

the invitation of King Louis XIV, he lived and worked

trip to Paris at

his entire

St. Peter's

Rome.

The son
one

and

homes, elaborate churches,

and some of the more spectacular architectural elements of

Basilica in

Bernini

Rome. (On the

Paris trip, in 1665, Bernini submitted

designs for the Louvre, but hts plans were not used.)

His works for the Basilica constitute a significant portion of his

and include the massive bronze canopy over

architectural legacy,
Peter's

tomb; the Altar of the Chair (Cathedra

Petri),

which enshrines

the Chair of St. Peter and serves as

the church's focal point; the

intri-

(Urban

cate tombs of two popes

VIII and Alexander VII); and a

design for the oval piazza out front.

Two

several

the

of

Rome

churches he designed in

Santa Bibiana and the

are

oval
al

church

Quirinale.

Saint

Andrea

The

Palazzo

Chigi-Odescalchi

is

one of the

outstanding examples of his

secular architecture.

Of

Bernini's surviving

sculptures, three in

Rome's Villa

Borghese are widely acknowledged

Opposite page: The bronze canopy

designed by Bernini towers above St. Peter's

as masterpieces:
(

Rape of Proserpine

1621 ), Apotto and Daphne

1622),

[ornb in

Basttca, Vatican City.

f^:.^H^$.*}?;
29

St.

Bernini's oval church, Saint

Andrea

al

Quirinale, in

30

Rome.

\Jinc'

Ms

Daphne (1622), and David (1623).

An

extravagant "multimedia" work, Ecstasy

St.

o)

Theresa, encompasses sculpture, archi-

and painting.

tecture,
for the

It

was commissioned

Cornaro Chapel of Rome's Church

of Santa Maria della Vittoria.

Self Portrait, Bernini

Creations of the prominence and on the scale of those executed

by Rubens and Bernini had a vast influence on the work of other

Even

in France,

where the

cult of reason dictated classical restraint,

a "classical-baroque" style emerged, with

the magnificent Versailles Palace as

its

centerpiece. Baroque archi-

tecture was taken

abroad to the Spanish

and Portuguese

col-

onies in the Americas,

and

in Protestant

England^

Sir Christopher

artists.

Wren

included Baroque aspects in his design

for St. Paul's Cathedral.

Ecstasy of St. Theresa (1645-1652).

.'//

'()lic

f)itru(jiif(<jra

Galileo lectures on his revolutionary view of the nature of the heavens.

& Philosophy

Science

Philosophical thought and scientific theory historically have been the

cause of endless discussion, debate, and controversy. This was particularly
so during the Baroque, a time of such rapid scientific development that

many

long-held beliefs about the very foundations of the universe were

called into question,

and discovered to be

factually unsound.

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)

Of the many mathematicians and

period, Galileo, Kepler,

scientists at

and Newton

are

work

in

remembered

Europe during the

for

fundamentally

changing the way we think about our world. Each of them built upon the
contributions of the others, but
thinker,

when

who

was Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish

provided the foundation for their subsequent discoveries

in 1543

he circulated a manuscript, "On the Revolutions of the

Heavenly Spheres." In
the

it

Sun and the other

it,

Copernicus questioned the long-held belief that

planets revolved around a stationary Earth; he sug-

gested that the observable changes in the sky and the other celestial

phenomena

cited by Aristotle

and Ptolemy to support that claim could be

explained far more easily by a rotating Earth that revolved with other
planets around a stationary Sun.

32

Qmence and

Galileo Galilei

Galileo
ing

^cfriQmpfiy

(1564-1642)

credited with pioneer-

is

modern

physics, mostly

through his studies of motion.

In his

capacity as astronomer,

he made important contributions to astronomy

and telescopy. He
telescopes,

motion of

tides,

don't travel

built

came up

in

number

of

advanced

with an explanation for the

and determined that

projectiles

straight lines, but rather in curved

trajectories. Galileo

taught mathematics at

uni-

and Padua. He challenged

versities in Pisa
Aristotle's theories

about

falling

bodies and the

nature of the heavens by demonstrating mathematically that

all

objects

fall

at the

same

rate,

century astronomer Ptolemy about the nature

of the planets

and

their orbits.

regardless of their weight. His participation in a

sentenced by the Inquisition to

debate with philosophers over the significance

for suspicion of heresy.

of a supernova explosion

in

604

challenged

the Aristotelian idea that change could not occur

in

the heavens. Galileo's Dialogue, published

in

632, was an

impartial examination of the

theories of both Copernicus

his studies

to

house

when

arrest,

his

publication

life

He was

able to continue

was commuted

and published Discourses and

Mathematical Demonstrations, the basis

new

was

in prison

sentence

kind of physic, in

1638.

and the second-

Frontispiece of Galileo's

Its

so angered the Church that Galileo

Systems Cosmicum published

1641

for a

(')/ir

r'/>/irof//'r

Copernicus' position

was considered not only

cal,

radi-

but heretical. In fact,

ninety years later Galileo was

Rome

called to

during the

Inquisition and sentenced to

life

imprisonment

for disre-

garding an order never to teach

Copernicanism. The sentence

Above:
to

Sir Isaac

Newton's study of light

conclude that white

many

light

is

actually

led

him

was

arrest,

rays of different colors. Below: Geometric

compass of the

by Galileo.

sort used

The

later

commuted

to house

made up of

but Galileo's work was

banned

in Italy.

Church notwithstanding, Johannes

superstitions of the

Kepler used Copernicus' theory to formulate his view that the planets

have

elliptical,

motion that

not circular

later

orbits.

helped Sir Isaac

Galileo Galilei proposed theories of

Newton come up with

his Universal

Theory of Gravitation and to pen what many consider the most profound

book ever published,

scientific

Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica

(Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy).

If

Newton

is

remembered

as the

one who

in his Principia collated

the most advanced thinking of the day into a coherent scientific theory,
Galileo

is

remembered

lished thought

inquiry

if

as the thinker

who urged

that traditions

and

estab-

must always be challenged by observable and measurable

science

is

to progress.

With

science fragmented and

basic truths, scientists of the

still

unaware of many

Baroque era were often also con-

sidered philosophers. Likewise, since scientific inspirations

frequently originated as philosophical thought, philosophers of

the age frequently dabbled in science.

Among

the promi-

nent philosopher-scientists of the time were Rene

Descartes, Blaise Pascal, and the British political
theorist

34

John Locke.

wiertee

and

tfyiifhsopfiy

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

Kepler

wos

a strong sup-

porter of Copernicus,

proposed nearly

years before Kepler

born that the Earth

is

who

thirty

was

not the center of the

universe. While Copernicus theorized that

the Earth and the other planets revolve

around a stationary Sun, he also believed

that their orbits

were

circular.

Kepler

proved mathematically that the orbit of

Mars

is

in

fact elliptical. That

was one

of

the three Laws of Planetary Motion for

which Kepler

made

is

now famous. He

also

the connection between the speed

at which planets travel

their distances

in their orbits

and

from the Sun, the foundation

ing the orbits of the planets. Kepler

for

have been the

Isaac Newton's later postulation of the Universal

Theory of Gravitation.

In

627

wrote about a

Kepler published

the Rudolphine Tables, a reference book detail-

A device used

try

Kepler to

lated

illustrate his early theory

35

first

trip

to the

also

Moon, and even specu-

about the possibility of

of planetary

may

science fiction writer; he

orbits.

life

there.

< )lic

'fiiiri)ijiir

oh-"

Franz Hals' portrait o/Rene Descartes hangs

in the

Louvre.

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Despite a traditional Jesuit education, Descartes decided as a young
to concoct a unified science of nature. His

absolutely reliable

major goals were to devise an

method of reaching Truth and

foundation for the

new

to provide a conceptual

physics of Copernicus and Galileo. Descartes

believed that mathematics was the only absolute

reality

man

method of

and he came up with a system of withholding

that was not absolutely unquestionable. In his

work

establishing

his belief in anything

as a

mathematician,

he unified algebra and geometry and developed what would come

to be

called Cartesian coordinates; as a philosopher, Descartes explored the idea

of "universal doubt," concluding that the only thing that could not be

doubted was thinking

"I

think, therefore

itself.

He summed

am."

this

up in his famous statement,

cjiirncc alift ^lulosopluj

Sir Isaac

Newton (1642-1727)

?rrftl
rf^-w^x-v?*.

*~~U*

-UJ*

^C

A ^^u^- -^u^

AV & AQ

SOLUTION OP THE PROPI

Newton's

^ L"

***

-*"

^^

y^i* A~Ml

c~^~.

<Jtt

F-M

Ol

rlfl

*~fr~/*_

A?CZ.

2 /^^i

&<

al

u &teJU*

<W^/^

*^_,

BRACIIY3TOCHROIIE, OR CVRV]

his

HTOH.

of integral

light

is

that each type of ray

lilt

of

telescope,

first reflecting

and

optics.

of

Motion, Universal Theory of

Gravitation,

and

Principio

brought answers, or at least

plausible explanations, to

many

been

of the loose

ends and

mponderoble questions of

Newton's tech

work

Newton devised and

Newton's Laws

matical resources necessary

to

the

spectrum) and

refracted in a slightly

rations of light

to double-check the accuracy

seemed

that

the result of his other explo-

time because the mathe-

Still,

is

different way.

laid

tech-

of the results hadn't

He demonstrated

of different colored rays (the

unprovable at the

invented yet.

entity.

actually comprised of a "bundle"

and

Most

"new math" was

a pure, uniform

new

the groundwork for the

differential calculus.

is

white

natur-

many accom-

plishments and contributions,

mathematics

and

philosopher, Newton,

among

niques

/G-~*^J< *^je</

A,^.

'Cyc4y

the world's greatest

scientific thinker

nically

solution to the problem of the "curve of quickest descent."

Arguably

his

t~

CC

m,

physics

just fine in practice,

and astronomy. His

existing

insights into

mathe-

serving mostly as problem solving tools for

matics and celestial mechanics advanced the

computing areas, tangents, and the lengths

development

of curved lines.

eral generations. In recognition of his

In

optics

and astronomy, Newton

debunked the established notion that white

Newton

designed and built the

and most

of those disciplines by at least sev-

Queen Anne awarded him

light

708, the

first reflecting telescope,

efficient optical telescopes.

>;

first

work,

a knighthood

such honor for a

scientist.

a forerunner of today's

largest

in

U )hc r '(ltir<),jiu

Blaise

Pa scal (1623-1662)

Pascal, a

Frenchman

like Descartes,

influenced later generations of the-

ologians and philosophers. His meditations

faith in

on human

God, Pensees (Thoughts), preceded

stomach tumor

his

would

will

be

is

by

lose everything
Pascal's

that

lost

this belief

if

in

and man's

painful death from a

Wager," his most

at the age of thirty-nine. In "Pascal's

famous theorem, he concluded that belief

nothing

own

suffering

God

God does not exist,

is

rational because

but

if

He

one

by not believing.

immediate contributions included a computing machine

considered a predecessor of today's

modern computers.

(Pascal, the

computer language used universally today, was named

Frenchman.)

does,

He

for the

invented the syringe, and he also developed a

Hydrostatics, the practical application of

hydraulic press and air and hydraulic brakes.

which can be seen

Law

of

in the

('Icinicc aiul

r
iiiif()so/)(iij

John Loc ke (163 2- 1704)

The

English philosopher and

John Locke

political theorist

was an eminent gentleman

and

a friend to quite a few

prominent seventeenth-century notables. In philosophy

he

is

credited with founding

British Empiricism,

an out-

look that equates knowledge

with experience and identifies

experience as the font of

ideas.

all

Unlike the Rationalists,

who held

that the

human mind

with a certain number of innate, or "built-in,"

argued that everything one learns or knows must
experience. In his Essay Concerning

knowledge

in terms of

Human

is

endowed

ideas, the Empiricists

first

be gathered through

Understanding, Locke spoke of

Newtonian Science, and he was another

philoso-

pher to believe that mathematics was the only irrefutable method of

determining anything with certainty.

As
Liberalism.

a political theorist,

He

disagreed with

Locke wrote extensively

Thomas Hobbes' view

in favor of

of the world as a

dangerous place in which citizens must sunender their individual rights to

a

supreme ruler

in

exchange

for protection. In

Two

Government, Locke argued that the purpose of a state

rights

and

liberties of its citizens; failing that, citizens

maybe even the

duty, to rebel. In

"A

is

to protect the

have the

right,

and

Letter Concerning Toleration,"

Locke defended freedom of religion, but not unequivocally.

39

Treatises of

%fbe <$aroqu <rra

Literature
The

great writers of the Baroque era

often wrestled with the classical

theme

of man's role in the scheme of things.

Criticism and satire were popular forms,
particularly in

an age when

radical

new

discoveries regularly upset the status quo.

Poetry was also an ubiquitous form, and

the most respected poet of the day was

probably the Englishman John Milton.

John Milton (1608-1674)

An

outspoken and scholarly man,

Milton

poems

is

best

remembered

for his epic

Paradise Lost and Paradise

Regained. During his lifetime he also

raised his voice in protest against the

monarchy, religious intolerance, and

what he saw
ings of the

as

the weaknesses and

church and the

clergy.

fail-

When his second wife

left

him, Milton

wrote The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, one of a number of pamphlets

in

which he argued

in favor of divorce.

Milton was on the side of the Parliamentarians during the

English Civil

War and

wrote passionately in favor of freedom ot the press

and against the restoration of the monarchy.

40

He

believed that monarchs

SBiteratwn

Blindness forced )ohn \lilcon to dictate

can

much

of his wank

to his daughters.

That

rule only with the consent of their subjects.

views

on

religious toleration

were not shared by Charles

jailed briefly following the Restoration (possibly

for the stated reason of

Council of State.

He

idea

having served

41

II.

Milton was

because of his writings),

as Secretary to

was ultimately released

and Milton's

after

Oliver Cromwell's

paying a

fine.

&m

(joUe ^Baroque

John Dry den

(1 63

John Dryden was

a

spokesman

poetry,

7 00)

a contemporary of Milton

and considered himself to be

Known

for the sensibilities of his generation.

Dryden

also wrote in

many

mostly for his

other forms: literary criticism,

satire,

comedy, and heroic tragedy.

Although he was
cal convictions,

definitely a

man

of shifting religious and politi-

Dryden nevertheless wrote eloquently

whatever position he took. His Heroic Stanzas,

for

for

and about

example, eulogizes

Oliver Cromwell while his Astraea Redux celebrates the restoration of

Charles

II

Commonwealth and

(following the collapse of Cromwell's

Protectorate). Furthermore,

the English Puritans, the

Absalom and Achitophel

Whig

Party,

and the

conspiring to deprive the throne of England of

is

on

Earl of Shaftsbury for

first

its

a satirical attack

legitimate heir.

Dryden was England's Poet Laureate for a

time.

Of his

poetry and his

contribution to England's

poetic tradition Samuel

Johnson observed, "He

found
left it

it

in brick,

and he

in marble."

Rig/it:

An elaborate

theater

production at Versailles.

r:

Ulci'/ilim

Jean-Baptiste Moliere

( 1

622- 1 67 3

Like Shakespeare, Moliere was not

only a playwright bur also an

entrepreneur, founding theatrical

companies

in

which he

also acted

and directed. Moliere was known

chiefly as the author of satirical

comedies that reveal man's

foibles

and pretensions, and many of

his

plays are frequently performed

today, a testament to the timelessness of his
art. Tartuffe,

Don

themes and the potency of his

Juan, and The Misanthrope are plays whose

been familiar to theatergoers

for

titles

have

hundreds of years.

Moliere was heavily influenced by Italian theater, particularly the

commedia dell'arte troupes he encountered on

his tours.

bunctiousness of those performances, refining

his

own,

He tamed

them and coming up with

less frivolous style.

Moliere was admired by King Louis XIV's brother,

his patron. Later, Moliere

ment

the ram-

to the

Sun King

was appointed an

himself.

43

official

who became

provider of entertain-

r,

'(')lir

f)((roiji(r

Jean Racine (1639-1699)

Not only

a contemporary of Moliere, Racine also had several of his early

plays produced by the elder playwright.

While many other playwrights of the period chose

on comedy and

satire,

to concentrate

Racine was obsessed with tragedy; he also wrote

elegant and melancholy poetry.

As

a playwright, Racine often wrestled

with the classical theme of man's struggle with an unchangeable

fate.

His

excruciating exploration of the passions of humanity and of his charac-

ters

particularly their motives

sustaining voice.
his skill

writer.

and

are the ingredients that give his

Though Racine was

status improved,

Theatergoers today

Britannicus,

know Racine

44

at first imitative of Pierre Corneille,

and soon came

and Andromaque.

work

to rival those of the earlier

for

such pieces

as Phedre,

.V,IISIC

Music
The

idea of dualism

is

probably what best sums up the transition from the

Renaissance to the early Baroque, not only in musical innovations but in

most other aspects

startling contrasts

next to small,

Dualism

is

as well.

when

when

There was an appreciation of the often

old ideas coexisted with new,

when

ornate was considered along with the ordinary.

a significant ingredient in the development of Baroque music,

which

built substantially

which

also

saw the

rise

on the Renaissance

ideal of counterpoint,

of instrumental forms that did not rely

(though voices remained important to Baroque composers).

Dualism may have inspired the

characteristic "give

and take" of

Baroque musical forms

Above:

big stood

vocals

A fanciful rendering of a typical

informal gathering of musicians in the

Baroque. Right: The harpsichord was a

principal instrument in

Baroque era music.

45

on

and

voices

%Ke^SaroqueSm

'

PE"5>

?-^r
k/U

c-rv

^j%^
J. S.

Bach's manuscript /or a sob n'ohn sonata.

opposing instrumentals,
Nevertheless,

it

is

soloists

opposing the orchestral group, and so on.

a cooperative opposition that heightens Baroque

music's emotional impact rather than leading

existing as undercurrents in

it

into chaos.

Sometimes

an otherwise smoothly flowing

piece, the

when one

section of

oppositions are sometimes manifested

more

clearly

the orchestra takes the lead for several measures, another section answers,

and the

first

takes

up the lead again,

resulting in a musical tug of war.

.V/'/.v/
II SIC

The Baroque was

While music

primarily a musician's era.

in the late Renaissance

had become quite

vocal and instrumental counterpoint were

highly developed instruments were used mostly
complex

as a

platform to showcase or accentuate

lyrics.

In contrast,

what became paramount during the Baroque was the

message the music
of instrumental

itself could

convey.

The

intricacies

harmony were advanced through

the use of basso continuo and tonality. Long-form

music for instrumental

soloists or groups,

such as

sonatas and concertos, was developed. Musical notation (as in allegro, adagio, forte, etc.) was introduced to TheServaisCeUo.
indicate

tempo and emotion. The concept of instrumental

is

improvisation developed: Baroque composers often did not

write solo parts into their pieces; instead, they
tions, the equivalent of "insert solo here,"

improvise. Likewise, in basso continuo,

made

^
on

ianus

'

display at

he Smithsonian

"

nota-

1
1
.!!!'.!.:.

and musicians were expected to

harmony

parts for the bass

paniment were often noted on sheet music only

as single

accom-

numbers.

The

ohe ($aroque

'/

o')f"

.Yiisir

accompanist was expected to translate

the

number

into the musical interval

above or below

a particular note

and

improvise, or "realize," the harmony.

For the

first

time, because of these

experiments in harmony and tonality,

compositions often started in one key

and ended

in another, a

Baroque inno-

vation called modulation.

The beginning
of the Baroque era also

vm

corresponds with the

emergence

-3V

in Italy of the

vocal music that eventu-

became opera.

In

Cj

Florence, during the last

fe

decade of the 1500s,

group of intellectuals

ally

^8

_"\_

^~
-4%

calling themselves the

^*

Camerata began reviving

.

now

Greek

tragedies using a device

called

monody, an emotional, ex-

pressive, solo vocal piece

with sparse

accompaniment that eventually came

to be called

an

aria.

The Camerata realized

that the

popular Renaissance madrigal was not

the right platform for the kind of storytelling

it

wanted to do, and

a theater

Interior of the Regio Theater. Turin. Italy.

49

r'f)firo(jiii'

'(')l(r

oj/vf

George

Handel (1685-1759)

Frideric

when, soon

he moved

after,

to England.

was

It

England

in

formance

during a

1711

visit

to

to see a per-

of his successful

opera Rinoldo that Handel

evi-

dently decided he would like

to live there permanently.

After

return

brief

Germany, Handel

to

settled in

London, eventually becoming

a British citizen. Three years
later,

1714,

in

employer

in

his

former

Hanover become

King George

of England,

guaranteeing an agreeable
start to Handel's

British subject.

planted
..lough

born

in

Germany,

Handel spent most of

life in

JL

England and

is

director of the Royal

also of the

his adult

buried

leading

in

(Remarkably, Handel's considerable talent,

which manifested

itself

sively,

his father for

spending four years

became adept

in Italy

many

two

is

most renowned), ond

an opera

form for which he

also

oratorios (the

form

for

is

remembered).

On

his return to

Germany, Handel was

appointed musical director

to

the royal house

Hanover:

this

German became

Academy

of Music

director of Italian

a leading Baroque

also as the

in

appointment

would recommend him

Handel's original
score for Messiah.

50

composer

Messiah, Handel contributed

English choral music.

where he

there he wrote

(a

torio

at the Italian musical style. While

which he

in fact,

Famous

young man, he traveled exten-

years.) As a

as a

and

Opera

composer

of the form.

when he was very

young, was discouraged by

life

The trans-

Second Academy. He was London's

composer and

and was,

London's Westminster Abbey.

new

of the ora-

brilliantly to

9 SIC
11

Published manuscript of Handel's opera Julius Caesar.

SI


'<'

)lic''flnruijiir

H.EKedlich

>

inrOir

MONTEVERDI

firCinr

mot

mfii

it

mm fimr no
Vs

mm

taf

*.

tnta* or

mm

in

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MONTEVERDI
A fanciful cover of a bigraphy of Monteverdi.
style
less

was developed in which

arias

were linked together by recitatives

musical vocal parts meant mostly to advance the

story.

The new form

was quickly embraced and spread to Rome, Venice, and Naples where

it

was enhanced and embellished. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), the

undisputed master of the madrigal and a genius of both the late

Renaissance and early Baroque, debuted his opera Orfeo in 1607.
tained

themes

arias, recitatives,

for operas shifted

religion. In

Venice the

and madrigal-like instrumental

parts. In

It

con-

Rome,

away from Greek myth and legend, and toward

first

public opera house opened in 1637. But

52

it

was

:V,HSIC

A view of Naples
Naples that became the center of Italian opera in the
1600s,

and from there the form spread throughout Europe.

Neapolitan opera stressed the

tive parts played less significant roles,

at all.

latter half of the

aria.

Orchestra, chorus, and recita-

and sometimes were not employed

Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) was the premier composer of

Neapolitan opera, and completed 114 during his

Handel (1685-1759), a German who spent many

composed operas

career.

George Fnderic

years in England, also

in the Neapolitan style during the Baroque.

S3

we ^amque m

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

number

of

potronnge posts throughout

his

He held

later

He

mostly with churches.

life,

fathered twenty children, sev-

them becoming talented

eral of

musicians

Johann

their

in

own

right:

Christian, Carl Philipp

Emanuel, and Wilhelm Freide-

mann.

It

was

his association with

the church that required him to

compose and perform sacred

music.

He

also

is

known

to

hove

experimented with musical theory

and

composing great

structure,

works that were never

performed

Mass

in

in

publicly

his lifetime.

The

B Minor and The Art of

the Fugue are two such. The Aft

of the Fugue, unfinished at

the greatest com-

Arguably
poser

in

history,

known

death,

Western musical

of a

Bach was better

in his lifetime

organist, though his musical

too startling.

more

in virtually

every form and genre of his day.

Many-

sacred and secular, choral and instrumental-are now considered masterpieces.

is

believed that his output

lific,

but that a great

cantatas and oratorios

was even more

many

It

pro-

of his works,

in particular,

were

lost.

Born into a family of musicians

in

was orphaned

at

Eisenach, Germany, Bach

nine and

himself

went

was an

to live with his brother,

who

organist.

A cantata in Leipzig,

in

1750

the Baroque era to an end.

who found them

During his lifetime, Bach produced

form that Bach evidently knew was

Bach's death

and keyboard

than one thousand compositions

his

intricate exploration
falling

out of fashion.

as an

innovations often got him into trouble with

employers and audiences

was an immensely

1732.

officially

brought

9fi/(SIC

Original manuscript of J. S. Bach's Invention

No.

55

8.

jj/Qisu
/(-

(T\

The new forms

that arose during the

Baroque manifested themselves differently in

different places.

French opera and what was

called "dramatic music" in England and

Germany were

very different from Italian opera

and from each

As with other forms

other.

artistic expression,

of

Baroque music was shaped

The

by the norms of the prevailing culture.

French, for example, put ballet into their operas

and

stressed

drama and orchestration

than did the

far

more

Even though Handel

Italians.

wrote opera while living in London, the English

didn't appreciate the

form nearly

as enthusiasti-

($
everyone

cally as

on

their

own

else.

They

version

did,

however, put

lavish masques,

were plays mostly on mythological

which

topics, that

included songs, poetry readings, choruses,

instrumentation, and occasionally, recitatives

and dances. German opera was called

Singspiel,

but that form referred mostly to the later comic

operas. Early

exactly

German

on the

Italian

Germans watched
their

opera was based almost

model, and usually the

Italian

companies perform

own creations.
Religion and politics played major roles

in

how music was

written, although

it

An assortment of Baroque uooduind instruments,

including: clarino, cometto,

coma da caccia, crumhorn.

curtal, hautbois, sacbut, serpent,

shawm.

was

^JjJic

G&xmque

(urn

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Known

os "the Red Priest"

because of

his red hair, Vivaldi

stopped saying Mass soon

after his ordination in

and pursued a career as a

preneur,

He

jl^H

and composer.
traveled extensively, producing operas

throughout Europe,
While he

703

violinist, entre-

is

known

to

many

of

them

his

own.

have boasted and perhaps

even exaggerated about the number of

compositions, at least

450

his

own

concertos by Vivaldi

VfL

have recently been found.

For reasons that are

still

not clear, Vivaldi

*

was

died, impoverished, in Vienna.

abouts of the bulk of

for

more than a

by the

of

J.

his

^^^

many

who were

That brush with Boch more than two hun-

manuscripts
in this

dred years ago assured that the music of the

researching the

once-forsaken Vivaldi would eventually be

he

rediscovered, recorded, and admired by on

S. Bach. Fortunately for Vivaldi,

had made an impression on Bach, who even

some

audience far larger than the one he had had

while he lived.

of the Italian's

violin concertos.

Relatively

new

in the

The where-

were uncovered

arranged for the keyboard

^^^^^^V

work was unknown

century. But

Italian virtuoso

century, by scholars

work

\J

forgotten almost immediately after he

'

Baroque

era, the double bass

58

descended from the

viol.

jmcsic

Members of the

violin family.

59

J)l,c

r'fl(ir()(jHr (jin

during the Baroque that patronage from both church and state began
to take a

concerts,

back seat to private commissions, paid admission to public

and performance

emerging middle

class

royalties.

As

colonialism enriched Europe, the

demanded, and could pay

ment. Once the sole domain of the church,

for,

royalty,

musical entertain-

and the wealthy,

music became available to nearly everyone during the Baroque.

Still,

and exercised

the
it

Church had considerable

influence

on many composers

during the Counter Reformation. Liturgical music,

reli-

gious music written for use in church ceremonies, was a significant

product of the Baroque

era.

Nonliturgical music, religious in nature but

not intended for church ceremonies, also flourished. Catholic strongholds

such as

Rome and some

of the imperial European cities kept alive the

Renaissance a capella tradition in both forms. In other,

areas, or in Protestant strongholds,

in the
reality

wTu'le

new

style,

less

parochial

masses and motets were often written

and sometimes were

as lavish

and

flashy as operas.

The

was that composers often wrote whatever they wanted. Johann

dance music was a fundamental Baroque form not

,

60

all

of it was meant for dancing.

jj/Cusk

Sebastian

Bach's Mass in

Minor, written

for

the Catholic service,

tacle as anything

the Baroque.

Bach

is

as

grand a spec-

produced during
also wrote

more than two

hundred cantatas, the principal form of

Protestant church music.

Oratorios were another Baroque innovation.

which

George

a distinct offshoot of opera

is

orchestration, but
of Handel's

Frideric

and

Handel perfected

uses arias, recitative, chorus,

no scenery or costumes. The Messiah

more than twenty

this form,

is

and

the most famous

oratorios.

Dance music was both run and important

for

Baroque composers.

A lively or pleasing dance suite could do wonders for a musician's standing

with his patron. Dance music was not always meant for dancing, how-

ever

much of

composed

it

was intended

in sets called suites or partitas.

a harpsichord or clavichord, a

Dances were usually

for listening.

The

instrumentation was usually

chamber ensemble, and sometimes

an orchestra. Some of the most popular Baroque dance types were the
slow sarabande, the moderately
courante,

and the very

lively gigiie,

fast allemande,

which

in a particular partita.

til

usually

the

somewhat

was the

last

taster

movement

<

r
)liv

'f)nrotjiic

/,>/

The Brandenburg Concertos

The

six

Brandenburg Concertos

sively.

were written over a consider-

in

1721

to the orchestra of Christian

able period of time and not

Ludwig, Margrave (prince) of Brandenburg, an

necessarily

important German nobleman

in

the order

in

have met two years eadier

which they ore currently numbered. They are

significant

They were assembled by Bach

and presented

because Bach introduced unusual

At

Brandenburgs that do not appear

grossi,

in

time

Bach

may

presented

he

Brandenburgs, Bach was working

instrumental elements into the majority of the

temporary concern'

the

whom

in Berlin.

the

Cothen,

in

Germany, having moved there from Weimar,

other con-

where

which featured solo

parts for stringed instruments almost exclu-

ist.

for nine years

he had been court organ-

The No. 5 Concerto

thought to be the

is

one composed

in

certainly in Cothen.

Bach's

first

flute paired

last

the set, almost

It

includes

use of the transverse

with

violin,

but

it is

pri-

marily a harpsichord concerto and

marks

the

inauguration

that form.

Bach's Brandenburg

Concerto No. 5

D Major

is

in

a showcase

for the harpsichord.

es

of

statf.str

Gaspar Netscher's Viol da

Gamba

Lesson hangs

in the

Louvre.

Sonatas and concertos were two great innovations of the middle

Baroque and answered the main puzzle posed

at the

how to sustain

composition in which there

interest in a long-form musical

beginning of the

was no singing. Broadly speaking, sonatas were works

for

one or more

era:

solo

instruments; concertos were compositions for orchestral groups.

There are
sonata forms

different kinds of sonatas

came about

and concertos. The major

gradually during the early 1600s and, through

experimentation and innovation, evolved from single, long-form solo

pieces into

multi-movement works. The unaccompanied solo sonata

tures either violin, cello, or harpsichord, the

fea-

accompanied solo sonata

requires at least three instruments, usually violin, cello,

and harpsichord

with basso continuo provided by either the cello or harpsichord; and the

most important Baroque sonata form, the

trio sonata, generally

was per-

formed with four instruments.

Concertos too came in different

flavors. Originally,

concerto was

used to describe a composition for voices that also had instrumental parts,

but around 1650 the word began to refer to a purely orchestral piece in

63

%he (&roqu m

Alessandro Marcello (1684-1750)

though

Even

younger brother

his

transcribing a piece by Antonio Vivaldi,

who

Benedetto wrote far more music,

was a contemporary

Alessandro Marcello

Venetian, and the author of a multitude of

example

tante-o man

for

a better

is

compositions. There

of Venetian nobile dilet-

whom

of Marcello, a fellow

was

a lot of confusion

about the true authorship of the concerto,

the composing and

performing of music was an enchantment

which

rather than a livelihood. Alessandro Marcello's

brother Benedetto. Researchers eventually

musical output

was

sparse, but

it

was

only one

later

still

was

attributed to Marcello's

covered a published copy of the concerto

part of on active, creative imagination that also

original key, with Alessandro

produced poetry of distinction, painting,

composer.

and serious work

singing,

philosophy and

in

In his

mathematics.
Marcello's

Oboe Concerto

scribed

it

for

embellished

keyboard

it

in

his

in

attracted the attention of

who

published music (twelve cantatas,

D Minor was

Alessandro shows himself to have been a

have

superb craftsman, concerned with giving a

day

to

Johann Sebastian
slightly

and

unique voice to each of

contrasts with

tran-

(BMV 974). Bach may

his day,

have been under the impression that he was

who

many

The

style.

orchestral form.

It

his

compositions. This

of the lesser

often based

composers of

new

pieces on

themes they had already explored.

which groups of instruments "opposed" each other

Baroque

as the

a set of concertos, and a set of violin sonatas),

regarded highly enough

Bach,

named

dis-

in its

in the characteristic

concerto grosso was the Baroque's most important

was written

for

what

are called the

tutti

and

concertino

groups within an orchestral ensemble; the concertino was a small array of

two or three solo instruments, usually

remainder of the group

Of

The

played against the

opposition was usually in alternating

movement, but sometimes the contrast was written

sections within a

an ongoing

(tutti).

strings, that

as

battle.

the instrumental advances

made during

the Baroque, the

invention of the fortepiano and the development of the violin family rank
at the top of the

list,

even though

virtually

no Baroque music was com-

posed for the piano. Technological advancements brought improvements

to existing instruments such as the organ, harpsichord,

The

lute faded

from popularity.

Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the fortepiano

soft") in

Baroque

and woodwinds.

Florence in 1709, a
era. Its

full forty

hammer and

(literally,

years before the "official"

"loud-

end of the

sustain abilities were primitive by today's

standards, but they allowed musicians a greater

the plucking action of the harpsichord.

While

dynamic range than did

this

breakthrough

for the

keyboard ought to have captured the imagination of Baroque composers

te

'llSIf

and performers,
the fortepiano

it

apparently did not.

It

was not

became widely recognized and

when

however, caught on rapidly

from the viol family around

its

various

until the late 1700s that

The

used.

violin family,

members were developed

700.

The Baroque did not end

abruptly.

Some

of

its

forms and fashions

were summarily dropped, but many others either gradually faded away, or

were transformed by

later

innovations into the emerging pre-Classical

and Classical periods. Again, culture and geography played a major

In France, the light and ornate
against the heavy, ponderous

^^^K^

Rococo

style

part.

was definitely a backlash

High Baroque. The Gennans evidently

liked

Plk^V

SpH
FW"^S^^
- Sir

^S*

M & 1

JH
'

mmr
Nicholas Toumier's

The Concert

hangs in the Louvre.

'( )ln

fl/iroijiif /'jiv

Arcangelo

An

noted

(1653-1713)

and

Italian violinist

composer,

Corelli

Corelli

is

for his contribu-

tions to the trio sonata

and concerto grosso forms.

born near Bologna,

Corelli,

employed most

number
day.

lin

life

in

was

Rome by

of the leading music patrons of his

He was a

section of

Santa

of his

leader of the instrumental

Rome's

Cecilia

prestigious

and served

and music

virtuoso

for a

Academy
time as

director for

of

vio-

Rome's

celebrated music patron, Cardinal Pietro

Ottoboni.
Corelli

twelve solo

wrote nearly
violin

fifty trio

sonatas,

sonatas, and at leost

Below: Manuscript for a Corelli

twelve concert! grossi.

trio

ONAT.E
Tre

a
Dtte Yiolim

e.

YvAont Col 3a/so j*r I'Ory

Arcangelo Coiell
2>a Fu/lanano

J>ttto

H Boloiindt

Opera Prima
Derniere Edition
'a

YjktucUc on

ajovctc' Ic .^hrtrxut

Feu ArCas&elo

A
Chez.

Corixli

AMS

XSTIEMm XOGXK

66

<x

sonata.

a<;IISIC

An altar in

the

Baroque Church of St. Ignatius, Rome.

the heavyhandedness and carried

on with

their

period and their more elegant Empfindsamer

gence of

new

styles,

there

and what came next. As

is

no

in the

modemo (new

the tide, at

first

mixing

order. Others, Like

era,

style),

J.

S.

between the Baroque

beginning of the Baroque

stile

literary

But even with the emer-

clear demarcation

Monteverdi composed in both the

stile

Stil.

Sturm und Drang

era,

when

antico (old, Renaissance style)

and

many Baroque composers began

shifting with

and ultimately contributing

the

styles

fully to

new

Bach, whose death in 1750 marks the end of the

were never able to adapt, or didn't want

to.

Bach, the greatest musi-

cian of the Baroque, went to his grave knowing that his work was thought

by

many

to be stodgy, pretentious,

and out of date.

67

fj//r

'

..

^Baroque

Largo: Musical notation indicating a very slow

6Cossaiy

tempo.

capella: Vocal music without instrumental

A t>'pe of poem set to music that first

Madrigal:

accompaniment.

evolved in

Adagio: Musical notation

indicating

a slow

\xirts

At first,

Italy.

required two voice

it

and simple accompaniment. At

tempo. (Faster than largo but not as fas t as

the sixteenth century

andante.)

any number of elaborate

peak

its

in

madrigals were uritten for

voice parts with

equally elaborate counterpoint accompaniment,

Allegro: Musical notation originally indicating

generally by stringed instruments.

a cheerful or joyous rendition of a musical passage.

It

now

indicates

a fast tempo. (Quicker

Allemande: Moderately
originated in

Germany;

France after 1500 and

It

in

Mass:

probably

was popular

it

masked

dance music

fast

double-time (2/4, for example)

in

An

important form of sacred music

and instruments, performed during

the Catholic rite, written in

notation indicating a moder-

Andante: Musical

ate tempo. (Faster than

accompanied by music.

actors, often

for voices

England.

later in

A short dramatic piece performed by

Masque:

than andante, but not as fast as presto.)

adagio but slower than

two

sections: the

Ordinary and

the Proper.

Modulation:

A change of key within a compo-

sition.

allegro.)

Monody:

A bass part,

Basso continuo:
board or

strings, consisting

often for key-

of a succession of

Motet: Originally a vocal

bass notes with figures indicating the musical

B\

which an improvised accompani-

intervals at

ment could be

An

Opera

off technical

skill.

of sacred music.

style

Baroque, motets came

Opera buffa: Comic

(occasionally) improvised pas-

sage near the end of a solo piece that served to

show

the

mental accompaniment,

played. Also called figured bass

or thoroughbass

Cadenza:

Expressive, dramatic single-voice

song, usually with simple accompaniment.

to include instru-

arias,

and

recitatives.

opera.

seria: Serious or tragic opera.

Oratorio: Essentially an opera without

The

scenery, costumes, or acting.

Cantata: The most important vocal form of the

based on the Bible,

Baroque, usually consisting of two or three elabtra, soloists,

is

story, usually

a chorus, orches-

told iry

and sometimes a

narrator.

orate solo songs connected by recitatives.

Concertino:

an

Presto: Musical notation indicating a very fast

A small group of soloists within

orchestra. Usually

two

liolins

and a

tempo.

cello,

accompanied by a harpsichord.

Recitative: Singing

(concertino) alternates back

and forth udth

the

Sarabande: Dance music

orchestra (turn)

Courante:

change in

and

often

mourn-

ful.

(usually 3/4 or 3/8)

A three-

Sonata:

or four-movement piece for

solo instrument, or for

Forte: Musical notation indicating that a pas-

phyed

little

in triple-time (3/4 or

3/8) that was slow, stately,

Lively dance music in triple-time

sage should be

with

speech.

mental piece in which a small group of soloists

full

style

pitch that imitates the natural inflections of

A multimovement instru-

Concerto grosso:

one designated

two instruments with

the lead, the other as

accom-

loudly.

paniment.

Fugue:

A simple musical statement that

is

Suite: Instrumental music that, during the

repeated and interwoven by different parts of a

Baroque was a composition

,

multi. voice

ensemble.

in

Gigue: Fast and

ally

lively

probably descended from

suite.

Irish

The

is

ally

gigue

and English jigs.

Improvisation: The "invention" of music as

different tempo.

"stylized

dance music that gener-

concluded a Baroque era

it

each

usually

dance" music, meaning no one actu-

danced

suite

in four parts

The music was

to

were

it.

the

Generally, the four parts of

allemande (moderate) cour-

(fast)

Also

called partita.

sarabande (slow) and gigue

ante

(fast).

being played. Usually, a soloist playing with a

larger

group

is

called

"make up," a part

upon

that

to improvise,

complements

Tutti:

or

the piece of

An

indication for

ble to play together.

music being played.

(>8

all

parts of an

ensem-

sictiers /jnitlc

xjistener's

Benedetto Marcello

/juidc

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

The Hunting Cantata, BWV 208 (1716)
Trio Sonata No.
in E-flat Major,

//

525

1727)

(c.

11

BWV

565

The Well-Tempered Clauer, Book

I,

Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue

D Minor, BWV 903 (1738)

1607)

Opera:
Dido
in

BWV 988 (1741)

Aria and Variations in the Italian Style,

BWV 989 (pre- 17 14)

Brandenburg Concertos Nos.
(c.

Purcell (1659-1695)

II,

& Aneas (1689)

Overture to Timon of Athens

Hail Bright Cecilia (1692)

Aria and 30 Variations ("Goldberg

Italian

L'Arianna(1608)

Henry

BWV 870-893 (1738-1742)

BWV 1046-1051

567-1643)

L'Or/eo(1607)

Book

Clavier,

BWV 846-869 (1722)

Variations"),

( 1

Operas:

1708)

(c.

The Well-Tempered

Musica (1733)

trionfo della Poesia e della

Scherzi Musicali a tre voci

D Minor,

in

stagicrni

Madrigals Books 1-6 (1587-1614)

BWV 552 (1739)

Toccata and Fugue

quattro

riso delle

il

Claudio Monteverdi

Prelude and Fugue in E-flat

("St. Anne's"),

pianto e

deii'anno(1731)

BWV

1686-1739)

Canjoni madngalesche per camera (1717)

1694)

Suites:

The Gordian Knot Untied ( 1 69 1

The Virtuous Wife(c. 1694)
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)

-6,

Operas:

1718-1720)

Gli equivoci nel sembriante

Concerto in F, BWV 971 ( 1735)

Unaccompanied Cello Nos. 1-6,

1679)

11

Mirridate Eupatore (1707)

/!

tigrane

Suites for

BWV

1007-1012

(c.

Serenatta: Diana

Gamba and

Sonatas for Viola da

1-3,
Solitudini

BWV 1027-1029 (1720)

of the Fugue, BWV 1080 (1749)

amene, bersagHo (1705)

sospiri ("Con
inhumama") (1712)

Andante, o miei

The Art

1602-1676)

& Endimione (1679-85)

Cantatas:

Harpsichord Nos.

Francesco Cavalli

(1715)

1720)

idea

Oratorios:

Operas:

L'assunzione della Beata Vergine

Egisto (1643)

Maria (1703)

Giasone (1648)

Son Fi&ppoNeri( 1705)

Cahs to (1651)

Oratorio per

Xerse (1654)

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)

Trio Sonatas Nos. 1-12, Op.

Variations

(1681)

St.

St. Cecilia

Concern Grossi Nos.

1-12,

Op. 6 (1714)

Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)

Partite sopra I'aria della Romanesca (1616)

Capriccio sopra

la

bassa fiammenga (1624)

Capriccio di durezze

1624)

GaliardsNos. 1-5(1627)
35 Canzoni (1628)

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Suites in F Major, G Major, D Major

Domenico

Scarlatti

3 (1734)

("Grand Concertos"), Op. 6 (1739)

(1685-1757)

Harpsichord

Part

(1733)

12 Violin Concerti, Op. 9

St. Cecilia's

Egypt (1739)

Day

738)

E Minor ("Table Music"),

e dell'imenzione; includes

Rinaldo (1711)

Israel in

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

12 Concerti, Op. 3 (L'estro Annomco)
12 Concerti, Op. 4 (La Srraiagan^a)
12 Concerti, Op. 8 (11 cimenio deS. armonia

Oratorios:

Ode for

Gottes-Dienst (1725-1726)

Suite in

Op. 4 (1738)

for

Continuo

or Harpsichord (1735)

Concerti Grossi Nos. 1-12,

concerto grosso

Cantata cycle: Der Harmonische

Six Fugues or Voluntary's for Organ

Concerti for Harpsichord or Organ,

di

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)

Concerto in F-sharp Minor for Violin
Concerto in E Minor for Oboe, Strings,
and Continuo
Concerto in D Major for 3 Trumpets,
2 Oboes, Tympani, Strings, and

("Water Music," 1715-1717)

Concern Grossi Op.

(1715)

1680)

Mass (1720)

2 Sinfonie

30 sonatas

1627)

follia"

(c.

(begun 1715)

Correnti Nos. 1-4(1616)

(

Santissima Annun?iata

on "La

)ohn Passion

Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-12, Op. 5 (1700)

Toccata Prima

la

(1708)

738)

(LaCetra, 1727)

Messiah (1741)

Samson (1743)

69

Four Seasons)

rj
'(<)li('

f)(iro<liii'

r
Ju-ti(tcr's

(')!d

^motoqraphy &

/jiiide

r
Dubuque, Iowa:

W.C

Brown Co., 1970.

Palisca, Claude V. Norton Anthology

of Western Music, Vol.

I.

New York:

collage images:

Nancy

S.

SCALA/Art

Resource, Aldo Tutino/Art Resource,

Bridgeman/Art Resource, Giraudon/Art

Resource Alinari/Art Resource, pp. 17

Claude V. Prentice Hall

History of Music Series: Baroque Music,
Jrd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: 1991.
Palisca,

both, 31 top; Bridgeman/Art Resource, pp.

20,

* Rosenstiel, gen. ed. Schirmer History of

Music. New York: Schirmer, 1982.

Dituri/Envision, Art Resource,

rton, 1980.

Qrediis

'j(i,isimiion

Music of the Baroque.

Borrotf, Eolith.

50 bottom;

pp. 8-9;

Nancy S.

FPG

35 top, 39, 40

Dituri/Envision,

International, pp.
inset,

4041,

3,

32,

42, 43; Courtesy

of the Isabella Stewart Gardner

Companion to
Baroque Music. London: J.M. Dent and

Giraudon/Art Resource,

Sons, 1990.

33 top, 36, 38, 44, 47 both, 49, 51, 56, 58

Sadie, Julie

Anne,

ed.

Sadie, Stanley, ed. Grove's Dictionary of

Music. London: Macmillan, 1980.

Museum/Art Resource,

p.

26 bottom;
22 both, 26

p.

top,

bottom, 59, 63, 64, 66; B. Wolfgang

Hoffman/ Envision,

p. 12;

Erich

Lessing/Art Resource, p. 54 top;

New

York

Public Library, pp. 10, 52, 53 both, 55, 60;

North Wind Picture Archives,

pp. 9 top,

bottom, 15, 33 bottom, 34 top, 35

bottom, 37, 45 bottom; Scala/Art Resource,
11, 14

pp. 14 top, 16, 18-19, 21, 23, 24-25, 27

both, 28, 29, 30, 31 bottom, 34 bottom, 45

top, 48,

50 top, 58 top, 61, 67; Snark/Art

Resource, pp. 43, 46, 54 bottom; Aldo

Tutino/Art Resource, p. 62 bottom.

-**-

Baroque era

3(fe.
edc

fine arts, 17-31

history, 9-15

<9T

literature,

Absalom and Achitophel (Dryden), 42

Allegory of War and Peace (Rubens), 21

music, 45-67

40-44

philosophy, 32-39
science, 32-39

Andromaque (Racine), 44
Ange! (Bernini), 8

Battle of the

Anne, Queen of England, 37

Apollo and Daphne (Bernini), 29

Bernini,

Amazons (Rubens), 18-19

Giovanni Loremo,

17,

28-31

Bo\ Blouing Over Hot Coals

(El

Architecture, 29, 3

Greco), 17

Bntannicus (Racine), 44

Arias, 49, 52, 61

Aristotle, 32, 33

Art, 17-31

landscape, 2

Camerata, 49

portraiture, 21,

27

religious, 20, 21,

27

Renaissance influence on

Caravaggio, Michelangelo da, 22

Carracci, Annibale, 22

Catholic Church,

Baroque, 19, 20
use of light, 20, 22, 26

20

corruption, 13

Art of the Fugue (Bach), 54

Astroea Redux (Dryden), 42

40
domination by,

Astronomy,

influence,

33,

8, 10, 11, 14, 17,

choice, 12

criticism,

37

60

Jesuits in, 14

reform, 13, 14

Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel, 54

Bach, Johann Christian, 54

Bach, Wilhelm Freidemann, 54

I,

execution

Bach, Johann Sebastian, 54, 54-55,

58,60-61,64,67

34
King of England, 21

superstitions,

Charles

of,

15

Charles

II,

King of England, U, 15,41,42

Charles

II,

King of Spain, 12

70

Swle&

Church
of England,

ST
1

Kepler, Johannes, 34, 35

Protestant, 8,

Colonialism,

Commcdia

14

3,

60

8, 12,

s?

43

dell' arte,

Copernicus, Nicolaus, 32, 34,

Corelli, Arcangelo,

Law

Cristofori, Bartolomeo,

Cromwell, Oliver,

17,60

9, 14,

64

11, 15,

Black

The (Rubens), 16

Lost Supper,

66

in

(Rembrandt), 26

35, 36

Comeille, Pierre, 44

Counter Reformation,

and Gentleman

luidy

Concert, The (Tournier), 65

38
Laws of Planetary Motion, 35
"A Letter Concerning Toleration"
of Hydrostatics,

(Locke), 39

15,41,42

Liberalism, 39

Of

Light

spectrum, 37

David (Bernini), 31
use in painting, 20, 22, 26

Descartes, Rene, 36

white, 37

Dialogue (Galilei), 33

40-44

Literature,

Discourses and Mathematical

Demonstrations Concerning

New Sciences

Two

plays,

(Galilei),

33

Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce,

The

42

44

poetry, 40, 42, 44, 57

satire, 40, 42,

(Milton), 40

Don Juan

criticism, 40,

43

Locke, John, 39, 39

(Moliere), 43

Louis XIII, King of France,

Dryden, John, 42,42

Louis XIV, King of France, 12, 29, 43

Luther, Martin,

S
Ecstasy of St. Theresa (Bernini), 31, 31
El Greco, 17,22,22, 23,

ar
Madrigals, 49, 52

Empiricism, 39
Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Marcello, Alessandro, 64
Marcello, Benedetto, 64

"

(Locke), 39

Masques, 57

Mass

in

B Minor

(Bach), 54, 61

Mathematics, 33, 36, 37, 39

Ferdinand, King of Bohemia, 9, 11, 12

Francis

II

Frederick

Roman Emperor), 10
(Holy Roman Emperor), 14

(Holy
11

Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria,

Medici, Marie de, 20

Messiah (Handel), 50, 61

Milton, John, 40-41, 41

Misanthrope, The (Moliere), 43

Galilei, Galileo, 32, 32, 33, 33, 34,

George

I,

36

King of England, 50

Giulio Clovio (El Greco), 22

Moliere, Jean-Baptiste, 43, 43

Monteverdi, Claudio, 52, 67

Music
61

arias, 52,

Baroque, 45-67

Habshurg dynasty,

9, 11,

12

Handel, George Frideric, 50, 50, 51,

Camera ta, 49
64

cantatas,

choral, 50, 54, 61

53,57,61
Heresy, 13,33,34

concerti grossi, 62, 64, 66

Heroic Stanzas (Dryden), 42

concertos, 47, 58, 63, 64

Hobbes, Thomas, 39

dance, 61

Holy Roman Empire,

9,

10

harmony

47, 49

improvisation, 47, 49

Humanism, 8

instrumental, 45, 46, 47, 54, 61, 62,

63,64
Index of Forbidden Books, 14
Inquisition, 8, 14, 33,

34

modulation, 49
notation, 47
opera, 49, 50, 52, 53, 57, 58, 61
oratorios,

(f
Jesuits, 14,

36

Johnson, Samuel, 42
]ulius

50

Renaissance, 45, 47, 49, 60

Caesar (Handel), 51

sacred, 54, 60, 61

secular,

54

sonatas, 46, 47, 63, 64,

vocal, 45, 47,

66

49

^Baroque ra

0)1ic

Musical instruments, 47, 47

cello,

Renaissance,

clavichord, 61

Roundheads, 15

fortepiano, 64, 65

harpsichord, 45, 61 6 J
,

62, 62, 63

17,64

lute,

15,40,41,42

toration,

Rinaldo (Handel), 50

62

flute,

20

3,

music, 45, 47, 49, 60

63

Rubens, Peter Paul,

17, 20, 20, 21,

27

Rudolphine Tables (Kepler), 35

oboe, 64
organ, 64

Of

piano, 64

Saint Andrea

66

violin, 59, 62, 63, 64, 65,

woodwind, 56, 64

al

Quirinale

(church), 29, 30

Santa Bibiana, 29

Santa Maria della Vittoria, 31

SV

Scarlatti, Alessandro, 53,

Napoleon I, 10
Newton, Sir Isaac, 34, 35, 37
Night Watch (Rembrandt), 24-25

"On

29

Self Portrait (Bernini),

Self P(jrtrait (El

Self Portrait

Greco), 22

(Rembrandt), 26

20

Self Portrait (Rubens),

the Revolutions of the Heavenly

Spheres" (Copernicus), 32

Self Portrait

Singspkl,

Orfeo (Monteverdi), 52

St. Paul's

King of Germany, 10

I,

(van Dyck), 27

Servais Cello,

Opera, 49, 50, 52, 53, 57, 58

Otto

53

Sculpture, 29

47

57
Cathedral,

St. Peter's Basilica, 28,

Stradivarius cello,

29

47

Systema Cosmicum (Galilei), 33

Palazzo Chigi-Odescalchi, 29

Papacy, 10
political role,

Tartuffe (Moliere), 43

Paradise Lost (Milton),

Telescopes, 33, 37, 37

40

Paradise Regained (Milton),

40

38
Wager," 38

Pascal, Blaise, 38,

"Pascal's

Peace of Utrecht, 12
Pensees (Pascal), 38

Titian, 19, 20, 27

Tournier, Nicholas, 65

Treaty of Westphalia, 10, 12

The

Trinity,

(El

Greco), 23

Two Treatises of Government

(Locke), 39

Phedre (Racine), 44
Philip

III,

Philip V,

<u

King of Spain, 11
King of France, 12

Universal Theory of Gravitation, 34, 35, 37

Philosophiae Naturalis Principia

Mathematica (Newton), 34, 37

Physics, 33, 36, 37

Poetry, 40, 42, 44, 57

Popes

van Dyck, Anthony, 27, 27

van Rijn, Rembrandt. See Rembrandt.
Venus asks Vulcan to make Weapons

Alexander VII, 29
Gregory IX, 14
Innocent III, 13

John
Paul

Viol da

XII, 10
III,

Urban

Aenas (van Dyck), 27

Gamba Lesson

43
(Netscher), 63

Vivaldi, Antonio, 58, 58, 64

14, 14

VIII,

29

Portrait of the Servant of the

Young

for

Versailles Palace, 31,

Isabella

(Rubens), 2 J

War
English Civil, 15,40

Ptolemy, 32, 33

holy, 11, 12

of Spanish Succession, 12

Thirty Years',

9, 10,

12

Racine, Jean, 44, 44

Westminster Abbey, 50

Rape of Proserpine (Bernini), 29

Whitehall Palace, 21

Rationalism, 39

Reformation,

8,

Wren,
13

Religion. See Catholic Church; Church.

Religious tolerance, 15, 39, 41

Rembrandt, 24-26

72

Sir Christopher, 31

The

9Baroqw
The

^T

mg
~m

Lifetimes,

-^

& Mu^c

he Baroque era was the bridge

1 between the Renaissance and

the Enlightenment, a time

when

V ^ M oppressive politics were cast aside

^-^^ and the rights of the individual

were celebrated.

It

was an era that embraced,

among others, Newton, Rembrandt, Rubens,

Vivaldi,

and J.

Bach. Listen to and enjoy the

S.

great music while

and

ideas that

you learn about the events

made

music possible.

this

About the Author

Peter O.E. Bekker,

Jr. is

journalist, writer, editor,

tant.

He was

music

New York City-based

and computer consul-

critic for

the

CBS-owned

radio stations during a 14-year career with

CBS News.

look for other

Life,

Times,

titles in

the

& Music Series.

ISBN 0-9627134-4-9

90000>

ISBN 0-9627134-4-9