The Baroque Era
When i think of the Baroqu peroid and what I can compare it to, i think of a teenager. A teenager is that that awkward between stage of a child and adult. Not yet fully developed and prone to drastic changes spotaniously. This is, what i believe, exactly how it was with the Baroque Era of Music.
When Was the Baroque Era?
The official company line on when the Baroque Era started, which you will find in every book, encyclopedia, or bubble-gum wrapper on the subject, was the year 1600. The event which earned 1600 this enviable distinction, as far as I can tell, was the simple fact that it has two zeros stuck on the end of it, thus making it fairly easy to remember. In contrast, the end of the Baroque Era was definitively set by Johann Sebastian Bach, the Grand-Poobah of Baroque music, who had the good foresight to die in a year also ending with a zero, thus giving historians another easy to remember date; 1750. For some Baroque zealots Bach’s death was truly the day that music died… at least it gave good closure.
The Origins of Baroque Music
Following the theme of teenagers. Eunuchs are guys who are missing an organ. Medieval doctors had learned that if a man's "pearls' were cut off of boys at an early age, none of the biological changes of puberty would occur. There would be no facial or body hair, their voices would not change, and all their acne problems would be virtually solved. At the turn of the century, being a eunuch was not as uncommon as one might think.
The men were eking out a meager living primarily playing the women’s roles in theatre when somebody realized that these guys not only acted like women, they could sing like women… in fact, they could sing BETTER than women. It turned out that these castrati had the high beautiful voices of women, and the strong powerful lungs and chest muscles of men. Well, as you might guess, once you build a better mousetrap you’ll soon need a better mouse. Composers had to write music that could
When Was the Baroque Era?
The official company line on when the Baroque Era started, which you will find in every book, encyclopedia, or bubble-gum wrapper on the subject, was the year 1600. The event which earned 1600 this enviable distinction, as far as I can tell, was the simple fact that it has two zeros stuck on the end of it, thus making it fairly easy to remember. In contrast, the end of the Baroque Era was definitively set by Johann Sebastian Bach, the Grand-Poobah of Baroque music, who had the good foresight to die in a year also ending with a zero, thus giving historians another easy to remember date; 1750. For some Baroque zealots Bach’s death was truly the day that music died… at least it gave good closure.
The Origins of Baroque Music
Following the theme of teenagers. Eunuchs are guys who are missing an organ. Medieval doctors had learned that if a man's "pearls' were cut off of boys at an early age, none of the biological changes of puberty would occur. There would be no facial or body hair, their voices would not change, and all their acne problems would be virtually solved. At the turn of the century, being a eunuch was not as uncommon as one might think.
The men were eking out a meager living primarily playing the women’s roles in theatre when somebody realized that these guys not only acted like women, they could sing like women… in fact, they could sing BETTER than women. It turned out that these castrati had the high beautiful voices of women, and the strong powerful lungs and chest muscles of men. Well, as you might guess, once you build a better mousetrap you’ll soon need a better mouse. Composers had to write music that could