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Period: 1550 to
Emilio de'Cavalieri
Roman nobleman; one of the founders of the opera; the first to publish a figured bass; also an organist, singing teacher, dancer, choreographer. -
Period: 1551 to
Giulio Caccini
One of the founders of opera; gave a description of the new singing style in his book of "songs" of 1602; Italian composer, singer, teacher, and instrumentalist. -
Period: 1557 to
Giovanni Gabrieli
Italian composer and organist; noted for his use of instruments in his sacred music. -
Period: 1561 to
Jacopo Peri
One of the founders of opera; claimed to be the first in 1597; significant contribution to monody and the recitative style. -
Period: 1563 to
John Dowland
English, possibly Irish; lutenist and the leading composer of lute music; Catholic; served in the court of Denmark. -
Period: 1564 to
William Shakespeare
English playwright and poet; he has been an important force in the field of music from his day to ours. -
Period: 1567 to
Claudio Monteverdi
The most important composer of the early baroque; one of the inventors of the new seconda practica. -
Period: 1570 to
Florentine Camerata
Beginning in the 1570s, a group of intellectuals that met to discuss the arts - members included Caccini, Peri, Girolamo Mei, Vincenzo Galilei -
Period: to
Orlando Gibbons
English; composer of Anglican Church anthems; keyboardist; a leading composer in 17th-century England. -
Period: to
Girolamo Frescobaldi
First modern keyboard virtuoso and composer; he was the most influential keyboard composer of the early Baroque; he was the first European composer to focus on instrumental music. -
Period: to
Heinrich Schutz
Most important German composer of the Middle Baroque; studied in Venice; reportedly composer the first German opera. -
Period: to
Early Baroque
Genres: opera, ballet, masses, magnificants, vespers, motets, madrigals, cantatas, oratorios,
Stylistic traits: homophony/polyphony, free rhythm, poetic form, binary form, contrast, markings used now
Inventions: opera, the oboe
The end of the Ming Dynasty (1644) -
Period: to
Giacomo Carissimi
A leading composer of Roman cantatas and oratorios. -
Period: to
Barbara Strozzi
Virtuoso singer and most prolific composer of cantatas in the 17th century -
Period: to
Giovanni Legrenzi
Italian composer and organist; influential in the middle Baroque. -
Period: to
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Establisher of French opera and ballet; dancer and violinist; Italian by birth, but claimed by France. -
Period: to
Dieterich Buxtehude
German organist and composer; most important organ composer before J.S. Bach. -
Period: to
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Composer of French opera; pupil of Carissimi. -
Period: to
John Blow
English composer of odes; organist. -
Period: to
Middle Baroque
Genres: cantatas, opera, concerto, sonata, trio, ballets
Stylistic traits: recitative melodies, tonal system, ritornellos, strings dominated
Inventions: candy cane, pocket watch
Salem Witch Trials (1692) -
Period: to
Arcangelo Corelli
Most important Italian composer of sonatas and concertos; also the most influential violinist of the Baroque. -
Period: to
Johann Pachelbel
German composer and organist; a leading composer of his time. -
Period: to
Giuseppe Torelli
Contributed the most to the development of the concert around 1700; wrote for trumpet and strings; virtuoso violinist. -
Period: to
Henry Purcell
Most important English composer in the 17th century. -
Period: to
Alessandro Scarlatti
Important Italian composer; teacher in Naples; his death ends the Baroque opera. -
Period: to
Francois Couperin
French composer, keyboardist; one of the most important French composers. -
Period: to
Antonio Vivaldi
Italian composer, he laid the foundations for late Baroque instrumental music. -
Period: to
Gerog Philipp Telemann
The most prolific German composer of his day. -
Period: to
Jean-Philippe Rameau
French composer and theorist. -
Period: to
Johann Sebastian Bach
Considered the Baroque master; wrote no operas; master of counterpoint; he became an icon for future generations and is still one of the most revered composers today. -
Period: to
Gerog Friedrich Handel
German musician; lived in England, inventor of the English oratorio. -
Period: to
Domenico Scarlatti
Son of Alessandro; keyboard composer and virtuoso. -
Period: to
Johann Joachim Quantz
German composer; flutist and flute teacher for Fredrick the Great in Berlin. -
Period: to
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Galant Neapolitan composer; he died young and his achievements were romanticized after his death. -
Period: to
Late Baroque
Genres: opera, cantata, oratorio, concerto, sonata
Stylistic traits: fortspinning, basso continuo, steady tempos, 16th notes, polyphony/homophony, binary form
Inventions: Piano, tuning fork
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