If you have taken classical music
lessons or studied music history I'm sure that you have heard about the 4 different musical periods. What can one say about the Baroque Period? There are many interesting facts about this period and in my own personal opinion it is a very challenging period for piano music. There are 4 Periods in music which are as follows in chronological order of earliest to latest:
- Baroque 1600-1750
- Classical 1750-1820
- Romantic 1820-1900
- Modern 1900-Present
Although every period has it's own merits and different styles of music I wanted to talk about the Baroque music this time. Why do I think that the Baroque style is challenging? Specific for this period the piano had not yet reached it's glory days. Instead of the pianos that we well know and love they had harpsichords which did not have pedals like we enjoy now. So when music was being composed it tended to be moving on a much quicker basis, instead of the long holds and use of fermatas that we can enjoy now for a little break.
Another trademark would be in the style of the music. In our other periods we can enjoy melodies and harmonies. Instead we have polyphonic music. Which is music written where each hand has it's own melodies. So next time you play or even listen to something from Bach or any other composer of this era try and listen for those multiple lines that are intertwining.
Unfortunately during this time period, even the most famous of composers did not have a life you'd imagine with their work and names going on through history. They would commonly be either hired by the church or other wealthy nobles and would live in their good graces as entertainment, but when they were tired of them or wished for someone else they would have to find another wealthy patron.
