Baroque music was celebrated due to its rich and large sound, full of vitality and grandeur. The music corresponded with the baroque art of the time and also with the changes that were occurring in the world and society then. A lot of baroque music was about challenging the ideas placed onto society both by aristocracy and the church. Apart from larger-than-life music, the genre also offered a lot in terms of evoking emotions and feelings, but oftentimes from an objective and detached standpoint.
Baroque music has a very distinct sound, musically. To identify a baroque piece, it can help to learn about some of the genre's most defining traits. Some typical baroque concepts are rapid harmonic rhythm, polyphonic texture, figured bass, extended phrasing, full tonality and plentiful improvisation. Also, in baroque music, instrumentals were significantly more common than singing.
Baroque music is an umbrella term for many different divisions of the genre. The genre encompassed a handful of Western European nations, which are Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. The baroque music from each of those nations sounded markedly different than the others. The genre also can be divided up into early, middle and later categories. Both secular and sacred varieties also existed.
One way to identify baroque music is by knowing which instruments were used in its pieces. Some key instruments from the baroque era are the bassoon, violoncello, contrabass, organ, trombone, viola, oboe, flute, harpsichord, recorder, horn, lute, violin and trumpet.