URDANETA CITY UNIVERSITY

San Vicente West, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan

College of Business and Accountancy

ART APPRECIATION

GROUP 10

Instrumental music:
 Baroque
 Classical
 Romantic
 Modern

SUBMITTED BY:
JAJHE PACETES
RENALYN PASCUA
MARIA TERESA PALARUAN

SUBMITTED TO:
SIR. JERIC SALVADOR
INTRODUCTION
In today's world, instrumental music has fallen far outside mainstream tastes.
When most people think of instrumental music, they tend to think of boring orchestral
music played in a fancy concert hall for old people, elitists, or nerds. In reality,
instrumental music is simply another genre of music for people to enjoy, and it is just as
varied as popular music is today. The impact of music to our emotion is that creates
awareness of our current emotional estate, in contrary, music can evoke our feeling
through its structural properties. Music holds the power to bring people together in
different ways. Music can make us expressive and help us in understanding our feelings
and emotions in a better manner. Whereas popular music consists of a variety of
genres, like pop, rap, hip-hop, rock, and country, classical music is similarly made up of
different categories, the largest being the four major periods, Baroque, Classical,
Romantic, and Modern. There is no single way to define classical music aside from
music belonging to one of these four periods; however, some music written in the 20th
and 21st centuries begin to straddle the line between classical and popular music,
making it difficult to categorize a piece of music as belonging solely to the classical
tradition.

CONTENT
Music is art concerned with combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of
form or emotional expression, usually according to cultural standards of rhythm, melody
and harmony. music has evolved over centuries. New styles and different features have
been created at different times and for different purposes.
MUSICAL PERIODS
Music has evolved from the Early period featuring music written for the human voice to
today’s wide variety of musical styles.
BAROQUE (1600 - 1750)
The Baroque period started around 1600 and ended around 1750, and included
composers like Bach, Vivaldi and Handel, who pioneered new styles like the concerto
and the sonata. An important type of instrumental music in the Baroque era was the
concerto, while opera spread to France and England and composers such as Rameau,
Handel and Purcell began producing great works. The idea that instruments should be
grouped together in a standard way created the first versions of the modern orchestra.
Bach is regarded as one of the greatest geniuses in the history of music. He
demonstrated a standard approach to harmony that dominated music until the late 19th
century.

Characteristics of Baroque music include:

● Polyphonic texture: multiple melodic lines in different voices

 ● Unity of mood: each piece features a single emotion (i.e. a piece that
begins happy will remain happy)
● Continuity of rhythm: rhythmic patterns are often repeated throughout a
piece
● Repetition of melody: the melody is repeated; though it is distinct, it is not
lyrical
● Terraced dynamics: dynamics change suddenly rather than gradually
● Ornamentation (music flourishes, often fast notes, to decorate the main
note)
● Less use of instrumental music; large use of the harpsichord

CLASSICAL (1750 - 1830)

The classical period started around 1750 and includes composers like Haydn,
Mozart and Beethoven. Orchestras went through great changes:harpsichord or organ
were no longer their musical foundation and wind instruments such as the horn,
trumpet, clarinet, flute and oboe joined the strings to create a new, distinctive sound.
The orchestral set-up led to the era’s most important type of music, the symphony. The
classical era was dominated by its two greatest composers, Haydn and Mozart. In the
last years of the 18th century came Beethoven, who split apart the Classical style at the
seams, marking the dawn of the Romantic era in music.

Characteristics of Classical music include:

● Single melody with accompaniment: one voice carries the primary melody
while another voice plays a simpler line that supports the melody
● Larger variety of keys, melodies, rhythms, and dynamics
● More contrast in a piece
● Shorter, clearer melodies than in Baroque music
● More emphasis on instrumental music
● Primary forms of composition: sonata, trio, string quartet, symphony,
concerto

ROMANTIC (1830 - 1900)

The Romantic period started around 1830 and ended around 1900, as
compositions became increasingly expressive and inventive. Expansive symphonies,
virtuosic piano music, dramatic operas, and passionate songs took inspiration from art
and literature. Famous Romantic composers include Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mahler and
Verdi- to name but a few. The Romantic era is known for its intense energy and
passion. Classical music featured greater expression, and music grew closer to art,
literature and theater. As well as symphonies, the tone poem and descriptive overture
were popular as pieces of orchestral music that evoked anything from a painting to a
feeling of national pride.

Characteristics of Romantic music include:

● Freer form and more personal expression of emotion

● Emphasis on lyrical melodies and themes
● More modulation (change in key) to unexpected keys: the overall effect of
this is that it is harder for the listener to predict what will happen next in
the piece
● More chromaticism and scales other than major/minor
● Greater variety in pitch, dynamics, and rhythm
● Less traditional chord progressions
● Program music: more pieces inspired by literary/artistic sources
● Greater emphasis on nationalism: many composers infused cultural songs
or dances into their works

MODERN

We should know by now that modern music is technically music created from
1900 to the present day, not just music that we know today. Symphonies, solo
concertos, choral music, ballet music, opera, and string quarters are typical genres
during the modern period. Just like the modern art wherein artists deviate from
traditional art in favour of experimentation, Modern music reflects unique characteristics
compared to music before the Modern Period. Typical melodic lines of modern music
are wide- ranging but dissonant and chromatic. Polytonality, which means using two
equal but conflicting tonal centers at the same time, and atonality, meaning an absence
of a clear tonal center. Rhythm is usually vigorous and asymmetrical. Some composers
even write music using simultaneous meters that are in conflict with one another to
make the music more complex. Musical texture is also diverse, and there are no specific
words that can describe the texture of modern Music.
CONCLUSION

In ancient times, it was a very pervasive belief that music can actually produce
emotion to the listeners. Music’s beneficial effects on mental health have been known
for thousands of years. Music could bring people to communicate and bring different
people together. Some of the earliest periods are sharply defined, because the changes
which created them were major. The Baroque period was a time of excited
experimentation in music as harmonies and counterpoint were developed and varying
patterns of themes were tried. The music and the instruments were becoming quite
capable of producing many different patterns and sounds. The classical period was a
time for the development of form and structure, and was characterized by attention to
control, balance, symmetry, proportion and restraint. The Romantic was the symbolic
flowering of music as an artistic medium for emotional expression. It was then that the
symphony and the opera were developed into the high arts they have become. The
Modern Era has been a period of turbulent change in musical style and taste. Many
modern "art-music" composers have explored untraditional sounds and have based
their music on rhythm, texture and tone color, instead of the more traditional aspects of
melody and harmony. Music is the complete package for improving our soul and mind
equally. This is the reason why a long drive with slow and melodious music can change
one’s mood to a happy and merry going one. It can help to erase all the negative
thoughts from our mind and to make it more positive and happier. This indeed improves
our concentration and works to enhance our overall skills.

ACTIVITY

QUESTIONS;

1. Why music is art?

2. What are the characteristics of Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern?
3. In two to three sentences make a summary of your realization about
instrumental music?