music in the ages
music in the agesEarly Baroque Period
(1600 - 1680)
The most important figure of the Early Baroque period was the Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi. He transformed music through his imaginative development of traditional forms. In particular, the dramatic styles of his madrigals (vocal compositions) anticipates the solo cantata and operatic recitative (a singing styles that resembles speech) of the Late Baroque period. Monteverdi was also the earliest significant composer of opera.
Other music that flourished during this period was church organ music. Dutch composer Jan Sweelinck pioneered a number of forms, including the fugue, which strongly influenced J.S. Bach. Another leading musician was Dietrich Buxtehude, whose...
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