The Baroque era

1600–1750

Ornate, dramatic music of courts and churches — fugues, concertos and opera are born.

♪The sound of the Baroque

Baroque music is grand, busy and dramatic — like the gilded palaces it was written for. Opera is born in Italy and sweeps Europe; the concerto pits a dazzling soloist against the orchestra; and the fugue sends one theme chasing itself through every voice. Underneath nearly everything runs the basso continuo — a harpsichord and cello 'engine room' laying down the harmony. Melodies are decorated with trills and flourishes like golden ornaments, and each movement commits to a single vivid mood, driven by a steady, unstoppable pulse.

What to listen for

A steady, motoring pulse that never lets up — feel it drive forward
Trills and curling decorations on the melody, like carved gold
Echo effects: a phrase played loud, then instantly repeated soft
A fugue's single theme entering again and again, voice after voice

❖The world at the time

This was the age of magnificent kings and revolutionary science. Louis XIV, the 'Sun King', built Versailles and made splendour a tool of power — every court in Europe wanted its own orchestra to match. Meanwhile Galileo pointed telescopes at the sky, Isaac Newton explained gravity and the laws of motion, and Peter the Great dragged Russia into the modern age, founding St Petersburg in 1703. Trade ships linked continents, coffee houses buzzed with new ideas, and churches and princes competed to employ the greatest musicians — among them Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, all born within four years of each other.

♪6 composers of the Baroque — meet them

Jean-Baptiste Lully 1632–1687

Henry Purcell 1659–1695

Antonio Vivaldi 1678–1741

Jean-Philippe Rameau 1683–1764

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750

George Frideric Handel 1685–1759

✧Notable people of the age

Louis XIV (1638–1715) — The 'Sun King' himself — Lully's dance partner, employer and all-powerful patron.
Molière (1622–1673) — France's great comic playwright, Lully's partner in the comédie-ballet.
Isaac Newton (1643–1727) — Explaining the universe in England as Lully ruled music in France.
Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723) — Rebuilding London (and St Paul's) as Purcell filled its churches with music.
King Charles II (1630–1685) — The music-loving 'Merry Monarch' whose court employed the young Purcell.
Peter the Great (1672–1725) — Russian tsar who modernised Russia and founded St Petersburg.
Daniel Defoe (c.1660–1731) — Author of Robinson Crusoe.
Canaletto (1697–1768) — Painter famous for glowing views of Vivaldi's Venice.
Voltaire (1694–1778) — The great French writer, who even wrote opera librettos for Rameau.
King Louis XV (1710–1774) — The king who made Rameau his official court composer.
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) — American inventor and statesman — flying kites while Bach wrote fugues.
Frederick the Great (1712–1786) — Flute-playing Prussian king who gave Bach the royal theme for The Musical Offering.
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) — Author of Gulliver's Travels; dean of the Dublin cathedral whose choir sang in Messiah's premiere city.
George II (1683–1760) — The king who (legend says) stood for the Hallelujah chorus.
William Hogarth (1697–1764) — Painter and satirist of Handel's London.

❖Meanwhile in the world…

1643Louis XIV becomes King of France, aged just four.

1660The monarchy is restored in England as Charles II takes the throne.

1666The Great Fire of London destroys much of the city.

1666The Great Fire of London burns for four days.

1682Louis XIV moves his court into the vast new palace of Versailles.

1682Peter the Great becomes Tsar of Russia; Louis XIV moves his court into the Palace of Versailles.

1685Bach and Handel are both born, two years after Rameau.

1685An amazing year for music: Handel and Domenico Scarlatti are born within months of Bach.

1687Isaac Newton publishes his laws of motion and gravity.

1687Isaac Newton publishes his Principia, explaining gravity.

1687Isaac Newton publishes the Principia, explaining gravity and the laws of motion.

1688The 'Glorious Revolution' brings William and Mary to the English throne.

1707England and Scotland unite to form Great Britain.

1714George I, from Hanover in Germany (Handel's former employer!), becomes King of Great Britain.

1715Louis XIV dies after a 72-year reign; his great-grandson Louis XV succeeds him.

1719Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe, one of the first English novels.

1720The South Sea Bubble — one of history's first stock-market crashes — rocks London.

1721Venice is Europe's party capital — masked carnivals, opera houses and gondolas everywhere.

1721Peter the Great declares the Russian Empire.

1726Jonathan Swift publishes Gulliver's Travels.

1733John Kay invents the flying shuttle, an early spark of the Industrial Revolution.

1735Carl Linnaeus publishes his system for naming all living things.

1742Celsius proposes his temperature scale; Handel's Messiah premieres in Dublin.

1750The Industrial Revolution is stirring in Britain as Bach dies — one era ends as another begins.

1751The famous French Encyclopédie begins publishing, spreading the ideas of the Enlightenment.

1752Benjamin Franklin performs his famous kite experiment with lightning.

1755Samuel Johnson publishes his great Dictionary of the English Language.

1756The Seven Years' War, a truly global conflict, breaks out.

✧ See it all at a glance — an interactive lifespan chart of every composer and event, click-to-explore, in the full interactive site →