Vibrato Vs Baroque

The Baroque era is an extremely important precursor to the music we know and love today. This time period (1600 to 1750) gave us much in the way of art. This art contained a large amount of embellishment because that is what was considered to be beautiful. All facets of art were influenced by these beliefs. Especially music which is a form of art that has always had a profound place in humanity’s history is no exception to this. Although music of the baroque period has helped us grow into the places we are now with music, it has many performance characteristics that are unique to this era. There are several differences between modern vibrato and baroque period vibrato. Vibratos in the baroque period had a much stricter set of rules to be
The color that was being looked for in an ensemble type setting was given by adding voices to the ensemble. In baroque ensemble singing straight tone singing was considered to be the most beautiful to listen to. This differs greatly from modern choral singing in that today vibrato is used to add worth and color to the sound were as purity of sound is what was looked for in the baroque period.

One of the biggest things unique to the baroque era was the instruments that were used. Violins were one of the instruments that had major differences that allowed for different musical ideas to be expressed. The biggest difference that I noticed was the flatter bridge on a baroque instrument. My understating of these instrumental variations is that the flatter bridge allows the player to sustain more notes for a longer period of time.

Another significant difference between baroque and modern violins are the bows. My comprehension of the differences between bows is that baroque bows were straight in shape which means that there was a whole different way that the bow had to be held. A More modern bow has a completely different way. On the modern violin the bridge on the instrument is much more curved than the baroque period
These instruments with a pipe organ and the harpsichord Were some of the first have to be two and in this new method. These two instruments were some of the first to be two and with equal temperament. Equally tempered tuning allowed for composers of keyboard music in the baroque period to compose music of a much more virtuosic nature. Because of the newly equally tempered turning system performers were more able to now freely ornament music on top of what they could read on the page. This new tuning method also enabled baroque chamber music to have parts that were more woven together and synchronized. This also allowed for the chamber ensembles to use Boston continuo or to be supported by a baseline in a keyboard instrument that was overlaid with the melodic structure.
There were many performance venues in the baroque period. His music has always been a part of the sacred tradition. Churches and cathedrals were an extremely important part Of that tradition as performance venues for the sacred music of the baroque period. The baroque period was the beginning Of instruments being used in church for religious purposes. This is a bold step forward Because before this time only voices Were considered to be a wholly enough to be heard in the church