Traits of Baroque Era Music

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry, and I am thrilled that you are joining me for the first episode of season 3! If you haven’t listened to either seasons 1 or 2, please go back and give those a listen! The goal of this podcast is to provide learners and music-curious people with aural resources to study, learn, and review topics chronologically from music history! In this episode, we’ll explore all of the defining traits of Baroque music—from its dramatic expression and rhythmic drive to the elegance of counterpoint and ornamentation. The Baroque period spans roughly from 1600 to 1750—beginning around the emergence of opera in Italy and concluding with the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. It was a time of transformation, with music moving from the modal, sacred chants of the Renaissance toward a more expressive, harmonically rich, and instrumentally varied style. The term Baroque comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning a misshapen pearl. Initially, it was used pejoratively, suggesting something overly ornate or convoluted. But today, we celebrate this music for those very qualities.