THE BAROQUE
ITS MUSIC & OTHER ARTS

The dynamics of a style which flowed over the European continent for 150 years,
and which flourished during religious and political upheavals as mind-altering as today’s. Music’s new forms – opera, oratorio, concerto, sonata, anthem, cantata, toccata, madrigal and others – aroused the affections in ever-increasingly different ways as each country adapted the flamboyant style to its language and society. Life, love, death and the rest!

Lecture 1 - I TALY – Wellspring of the Baroque
The fertile peninsula which gave us the Renaissance is the site for a
stunning set of new ideas in all the arts – at a time when innovations in
expression were welcomed with astonishment. With Florence & Rome as
centers, the Baroque swiftly spread through Italy & into other countries.

Lecture 2 - FRANCE – Efflourescence for the Glory of a King
The cult of monarchy grew from Henri IV & Louis XIII to staggering
heights under Louis XIV – with music as its sonorous tool. Intrigues
between the forces of Church & State shape exquisitely music’s direction
& stimulate imitations & adaptations everywhere.

Lecture 3 - GERMANY – An Empire for Music
Hapsburg glory paves the way for a mighty procession of musical giants:
Schütz, Buxtehude, the Bach family, Handel & Telemann – who transform
the style during the Thirty Years War & develop it to serve Catholic &
Lutheran constituencies both sacred & secular – with glorious results.

Lecture 4 - ENGLAND– The Sceptred Isle
The Great Fire, the Commnonwealth & the Restoration swept England up
in change unlike anything in had felt in Elizabeth’s long reign – with big
consequences for the music of Tallis, Byrd, Gibbons and the great Purcell.
London is the locus for intense & tuneful activity.

Lecture 5 - THE GREAT SYNTHESIS – The Style at its Apex
Sublime masterpiece of the era’s giants – Handel, Bach, Scarlatti,
Rameau and others – draw upon every aspect of the vast range of
musical & artistic idioms, coloring expression and inviting merger.
These heights defy the next generation which take a new path.

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