rssBach's musical forbears
Before the Bach cantatas, a little history. Buxtehude, Kuhnau et al
All sources of information about BWV 4, the cantata that begins my listening program, discuss previous baroque cantatas. It is helpful to have a musical context, but I will not even try to present a history of western church music. Here are some sources for Baroque music development.
Baroque composers by birth date
Baroque time line and list by birth date
Baroque music describes a style of European classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1750.[1] This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance and was followed by the Classical era. The word "baroque" came from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning "misshapen pearl",[2] a strikingly fitting characterization of the architecture of this period; later, the name came to be applied also to its music. Baroque music forms a major portion of the classical music canon, being widely studied, performed, and listened to. It is associated with composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Jean-Baptiste Lully, George Frideric Handel, Arcangelo Corelli, Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Philippe Rameau and Henry Purcell. The baroque period saw the development of functional tonality. During the period, composers and performers used more elaborate musical ornamentation; made changes in musical notation, and developed new instrumental playing techniques. Baroque music expanded the size, range, and complexity of instrumental performance, and also established opera as a musical genre. Many musical terms and concepts from this era are still in use today. -- Baroque music definition from wikipedia
Character of baroque music, a very nice synopsis
Baroque instrumental development
Baroque secular vocal music
As I listen to the cantatas, I hope to include some comparisons to earlier related music.
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