The history of music has been classified in different periods. Baroque, Classic, and Romantic are some of the generally accepted periods in which style in music are associated with a period of time. The music of famous composers like J. S. Bach, W. A. Mozart, and L. V. Beethoven are examples of the style of each period respectively. In music history class, most students learn that the Baroque period ended with the death of Johann Sebastian Bach (March 31st, 1685 – July 28th, 1750). For many, July 29th, 1750 is when the Classical period started, but that is a wrong statement. The dates of periods in music history can be ambiguous. Successive periods in music history overlap. The style in music did not change from a day to another, it is a process where trends in music were slowly adopted by composers. Some scholars disagree in the labels that are currently used to classify periods in music, whether is called, Renaissance, Medieval, Impressions, etc. those delimitations would always describe a moment in history where music style was consistently homogeneous in a specific region in Europe without assuming that the style previously developed was completely abandoned.
The term Baroque it is derived from the Portuguese barroco, meaning a pearl of irregular or bulbous shape. It has been generally assumed that the word was first applied to the fine arts in reference to architecture. Charles de Brosses (February 7th, 1709 – May 7th, 1777), a French writer criticized the architect of a Roman palace for transferring to a large-scale the style of baroque ornamentation that better suited small objects like gold cases or dinnerware. The earliest application to the fine arts appears to have been, rather, in reference to music. Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his Dictionnaire de musique (Paris, 1768) said, ‘A baroque music is that in which the harmony is confused, charged with modulations and dissonances, the melody is harsh and little natural, the intonation difficult, and the movement constrained.’ This definition became accepted but it was far to be considered as a term to describe a historical period in music. Curt Sachs used Wölfflin’s theory of the Baroque systematically to music. Because of Wölfflin’s theory was written to differentiate visual arts and not music, the comparison of Sach lacked support. It was only until the mid-20th century when Paul Lang and Manfred Bukofzer gave the term ‘Baroque’ a meaning in English. Lang did not discuss the concept or the word in themselves but elaborated with a wealth of detail the forces at work culturally, intellectually and socially that led to the ‘fading’ of the Renaissance and rise of the Baroque style in art and music. Bukofzer used the terms ‘Renaissance’ and ‘Baroque’ ‘as convenient labels for periods which apply equally well to music history and other fields of civilization.’
Styles in major musical periods are easy to differentiate. For example, it is easy to point out the differences between works from the Baroque and the Classical period. The Concerto for violin and strings “The Summer” from “The Four Seasons” composed approximately in 1721 by Antonio Vivaldi (March 4th, 1678 – July 28th 1741) and Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola in E flat major K. 364 composed in 1779 by Wolfgang A. Mozart (January 27th, 1756 – December 5th, 1791) are two major works composed in different periods. The Baroque style in Vivaldi’s violin concerto is evident with the fast change of the harmonies, the prominent use of counterpoint, the over-decorated melody, and the instrumentation of the orchestra. In “Sinfonia concertante” the harmonies move slow, the melody is prominent over the accompaniment, the size of the orchestra is larger, and the orchestra includes a section of winds.
Finding differences in the last two examples was an easy task. But that is not always the case. The differences are less noticeable in Johann Christian Bach (September 5th, 1735 – January 1st, 1782), Keyboard Concerto in E-flat, Op, 7 No.5 with W. A. Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major K. 456.
The piece of J. C. Bach is composed in Galant style, and the Piece by W. A. Mozart is from the Classical period. Both styles are closed related.
The Galant Style was a distinctive style from the 1720s to 1770s approximately. Starting in the late Baroque into the first years of the Classical period. The Galant style represents an opposition of the complex counterpoint developed in the Baroque. The music composed in this period was at the service of the Bourgeoisie that was looking for an intimate environment of music. The Galant style is simpler and requires less virtuosity than the Baroque style. Other characteristics of this style are in the use of homophonic textures, the importance of the melody as a device of expression, the construction of musical phrases of regular length, harmonic progressions with the constant use of Tonic and Dominant, rich in modulations, and a functional use of the bass line.
The music of the Classical period was influenced by the Enlightenment. In this period was a preference for music that was composed under the “natural philosophy,” rejecting the excess of sophistication from the Baroque. The structural form of the music was simpler with symmetric phrases. The texture in this music is a melody with an accompaniment. The melody is always performed by the instrument with a high pitch, being the protagonist in the style. The other instruments are the accompaniment, in a homophonic texture with imitative polyphony, and abandoning the use of figured bass. The structure of the melody usually came in two sections, the first one usually in Tonic is a statement that could be considered a question, and the subsequent melody is considered an answer that usually moves through the Dominant. The harmonies are functional, with progressions that are based on the Tonic, Subdominant, and Dominant. The structure of the harmonies is symmetrical with well-defined cadences. The ensembles in the Classical period are larger if compared with the Baroque period. The music contains dynamics what restricts the free interpretation of the music.
The Galant Style and the music from the Classical Period are similar. Both styles took distance from the old-fashioned Baroque and looked for simpler music. The Galant Style sometimes is called music of the pre-classical period, and it is considered the predecessor of the Classicism in music because it is similar in style. This similarity makes hard to classify what is Galant and what is Classic. The line that separates both styles is blurry, and this is one of the problems that different scholars had pointed out when marking limits in the Music Periods. It is difficult to determinate when a period starts and ends.
The current classification of musical periods is also used as a reference when it comes to the performance of a musical work. For example, in a string instrument the bow stroke used in pieces from the Baroque es slightly different of the ones used in music from the Classical Period. These strokes were highly influenced by the design of the bows. The evolution of the bow allowed that musicians explored new strokes, that would translate in a new color in the music. During the Baroque period, a concave bow was unable to execute spiccato (staccato off the string), but spiccato was a common stroke used during the Classical Period. The construction of the bow changed into a stick with a convex curvature allowing the musician to control a jumping bow over the strings, therefore spiccato became a stroke that was easy and clean. Knowing those differences would improve the accuracy of the performance of a musical piece. Therefore in a piece considered Baroque, the use of the spiccato is inconceivable. Similar differences could be done in techniques like vibrato. Because of early string instruments lacked modern components like the chinrest in violins and violas, and the endpin in cellos, this forced the musician to hold the instrument using the left hand, avoiding a free movement of the hand in the fingerboard and being impossible to do vibrato. Such as differences influenced the music style in each period, For performers, it is an advantage associate this differences among musical period because such details help to construct an idea of how the music should sound.
Baroque Bows
For a more accurate and variated performance of music, it would be better if a performer understands the musical differences between Galant Style and Classical style. A division of small subcategories between the Classical Period would contribute to less monotonous sound in what is considered Classical. In this case, Galant style could be added as a subcategory of the Classical Period, because Galant Style shares several common elements with Classical works but maintains different aspects that are only part of the Galant Style. It is easy to assume that Glant Style music can be performed in the same way as a Classical piece. However, a Galant piece is different. It might be necessary to have contact with this repertoire to understand the differences in the melody and the structure of the pieces.
The proposal of including the Galant Style as a subcategory in the Classical Period maybe would never be materialized. However, in the general understanding of musical style, performers can easily see the differences and the common elements among musical works. Maybe the definition of Galant Style is not enough to understand the stylistic differences with the Classical style. Only the experiences of playing the work of J. C. Bach or another composer that wrote music in Galant Style is the way to understand the differences between both, Classical and Galant. When styles are closely related it is easy to generalize and group works and composers in a larger category. It is important to set the differences between styles to avoid monotony. Not all the works from the Classical Period should be performed under the same rules. Differences between composers and small styles would allow a wide palette of options for the performer. Certainly, J. C. Bach was an early attempt of simplicity in music, who shared common elements with the posterior Classical period, however, the style in his music is different, and the performer can recreate those small differences when performing in order to create music that follows aesthetic elements that would enrich the understanding of a musical piece.
J. C. Bach
Resources
Bolen, Jane M. “The Five Berlin Cembalo Concertos, P. 390, of John Christian Bach a Critical Edition.” PhD diss., Florida State University, 1974. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
Cudworth, Charles. “Baroque, Rococo, Galant, Classic.” In MMR, 83 (1953), 172–5
Cudworth, Charles. “Cadence Galante: The Story of a Cliché.” In MMR, 79 (1949), 176–8
Dell‘Olio, Pepina. “Violin Bow Construction and Its Influence on Bowing Technique in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.” PhD diss., Florida State University, 2009. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
Derry, Lisa A. “The Pre-Classical Concerto of Johann Christian Bach: First Movement Design in the Eighteen ‘London’ Keyboard Concertos.” PhD diss., Indiana University, 1993. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
Palisca, Claude. “Baroque.” Grove Music Online. January 20, 2001.
Webster, James. “The Eighteenth Century as a Musical-Historical Period?” Eighteenth Century Music 1, no. 1 (2004): 47–60.
The Phonograph 101 