art, poetry and music of the seventeenth century and first half of the eighteenth century are marked by the Baroque period. The most obvious characteristics of this style are the grandeur, power, drama and the search for complex effects decorative, reflecting the splendor of the rising absolute monarchies of Europe. Even the major Italian cities (particularly Rome, Florence and Venice) are able to integrate with European prestige in the artistic life: indeed, one can say that the most important center in Europe and in which the Baroque rooted it was Rome. In the seventeenth century the nobility is still the ruling class, but this time is affirmed in another class, the bourgeoisie, very powerful in economic terms, that represents the end of production (bankers, merchants, manufacturing, artisans) and which will form the 'ring connection between the misery of peasants and laborers and the boundless wealth of the nobles. The courts of the nobles are asserted forcefully as centers of musical activity. Singers, instrumentalists, composers, choirmaster and dance teachers gravitate to the luxurious residences of absolute monarchs, regardless of expense, try to give an image of magnificence and grandeur. Every important event, public or private, is solemnly celebrated for days and in these parties music is the main attraction: the musical theater, dance, ballet, instrumental music. The public is no longer made only by nobles and courtiers, but also from rich families, ambitious social prestige. The Church, meanwhile, is steadily losing its hegemony in music, as he was born a place that will dominate the musical life until the early twentieth century: theater .
Literature:
dodges baroque literature in the sixteenth century that the rules were developed through discussions poetic and rhetoric , and rejects the convention classicist that equates beauty with an idealized representation of reality in forms composed and balanced. The baroque rather aims at producing pleasure through its effect, the spectacle, wonder, obtained with the use of a language or pathetic hyperbolic . By the assessment of the public policy of pleasing appearance of the text, we tend to focus on current rather than on tradition, and so on the ephemeral, linked to strong and dramatic expressiveness. In many cases, the language tends to purge itself of its cognitive dimension as well as its potential to become the civil function where you process rhetorical devices aimed at themselves, as an intellectual game.
The "wonder" core concept of Baroque poetry, working on language is pursued along two main lines. The first is to give strength to the language of the senses and stimulate the imagination through the extensive use of metaphors , the which are theorized paths: from a common type of metaphor and of itself a little surprising, such as "pink, queen of flowers", we list the qualities and characteristics of the "pink" and "the queen" and then "transfer" (the metaphor is "transfer" of meaning from a context not just a right) data of a series in the other and vice versa. The other director, which is closely related to the first, is that the use of "concepts" to make precious and brilliant language.
The "concept", the other key element of this literature, is an artifact rhetorical means combining images from very different and very distant nell'accostare things together, but among them the poet, a sort of mental illumination, captures, with subtle intelligence, analogies hidden and never seen before, though often bizarre. The "concept" itself and with the option of producing "concepts" are referred to with terms like "genius", "sharpness," "witty," "spirit." These then connect more employed in the various European literatures: French esprit, agudeza in English, English wit, Witz in tedesco.Un 'Another of the baroque language is to blur the scope traditional word, the strictly literary, directing it to other artistic fields, in some cases, the word tends to ask, for the meticulous description, in competition with painting, in other, pivoting on the phonetic values \u200b\u200band emptying of the referential function, it becomes in music. Similarly, the Baroque literature tends to blur the boundaries - this time inside the literature - including the kinds , creating new combinations such as heroic poem . The principle, in the case of encroachment of the literature in art and the overrunning of a kind in the other, the same rule that the construction of metaphors, which combine their areas of reality never approached before. In all these trends and events underlies the idea that poetry is made a spectacular, in which the relationship with the public is primary. Life is meant to accentuate the drama and poetry, marked by ambiguity and illusion to the point that the likelihood (the character of the poem) is contiguous to the truth on the one hand and the other false. This dimension of appearance of deception can be unstable and display of virtuosity, but also a radical expression of disappointment, almost as in life it is impossible to separate the true from the false appearance consistency, life from death. No coincidence that the theme of death recurs obsessively and communicates a sense of structural insecurity.
Giambattista Marino
Giambattista Marino is the greatest exponent of Baroque poetry of the sixteenth century. Born in Naples in 1569, is alive because the beginning of 1600 and inevitably absorbs the anxieties, the uncertainties, the same ideology. He traveled to many Italian courts and, as a few of his colleagues of the time was much sought after in every city and court, as to be fought for, to procure his extraordinary poetic vein. Peculiarities of his poetry is of course the character encomiastic: many depictions and praise poetry, ensured a noble family greater consolidation of power. It was a particularly interesting because it is excessive in flattery, it uses superb presumption and the apparent superiority over his colleagues with whom he used to present and, not infrequently brought him the enmity of many intellectual circles. Its size was so huge and so popular that reputation, it is called "sea". Many poets of the time, in fact, made reference to the fees proposed in his work that led to the establishment of a true school of poetry. He wrote several works, among the most important "La Lira" and "La Sampogna" even if others compose original writings in which the issue becomes an expression of love and sensual pleasure as well as the physical cause of torment and suffering. This is obviously a classic topus, which traces the line in the lyric of Provence. The theme of love, becomes an artificial reflection, devoid of all meaning and cultural value.
Here is a brief excerpt from "the pound" ... Woman Combing her Hair ...
"golden waves,
el'onde were hair
ivory ship one day fendea;
a man while the ivory reggeaper these errors and those precious ... "
baroque music
The term Baroque is used to classify the music composed during the period of spread of baroque art. The main Baroque composers who are considered today are Bach, Handel and Antonio Vivaldi. We note, in this era, an underlying unity between the Renaissance and Baroque music, but towards the end of the sixteenth century, there was a significant change of style: it can be seen by comparing some of the later works of Palestrina with the more mature Monteverdi, in which there is a strong influence of Humanism.
humanistic doctrine, for composers of the sixteenth century., Leading to the domination of the lyrics to the music while the music had hitherto prevailed. The word that best expressed as a human individuality, was of primary importance in the humanistic view, which was forbidden to choke you with the music. To meet this need, the composers the time they adopted a style consisting of a single melodic line, with a harmonic accompaniment, and to reinforce the concepts expressed in the text were used different methods.
In these centuries, composers depended on the courts or by the clergy, as in the past: it was not until the Romantic period in order to attend the termination of this dependence. So we asked the composers music suits occasions, on commission, for example, was commissioned in Monteverdi's Orfeo for the carnival of Mantua, while Bach composed sacred cantatas for the Sunday service at the Cathedral of St. Thomas. Moreover, the composition on "order" not excluding the creation of such masterpieces as the St. Matthew Passion and the Magnificat, just JS Bach. A merit of the Baroque era was the largest study of the expressive capabilities of the instruments which are no longer so easily interchangeable with each other and allowed him to achieve higher level compared to previous times. At the beginning of the seventeenth century monody (singing in unison) prevailed, and the polyphony is developed further, leading to high levels of instrumental counterpoint shown by the Bach fugues. In the process of simplification through, start the modern codification of the concept of tonality: the eight ways earlier in 1700, were completely replaced by the two modes (major and minor) known in western music.
Finally, the instrumental forms most successful period was the suite and the sonata. The suite was a selection of dances, usually presented in four parts Allemande, current, sarabande and gigue: usually these were in the same tone, in which each dance had two parts, of which the first module in a shade close, second round instead of the initial hue, all was then repeated two volte.La sonata originally was similar to the suite, then they differed, consisting simply in one, maximum two movements. Later we define two types of sonata da camera (based on dance movements) and sonata da chiesa, the content solemn.
