Lesson 35: Introduction to Baroque Style and Affect

Identify the dominant affect of a Baroque piece in its first few bars.
Play three pieces in contrasting affects and let the affect shape every detail.

Lesson 32 — Baroque dance forms.

Baroque rhetorical style.
Affect (the doctrine of affections).
Pulse and gesture.

Each Baroque piece is one feeling, sustained.

The Baroque worked on a doctrine of affects — the idea that each piece, or each section, expresses one unified emotional character: joy, melancholy, anger, serenity, heroism. The composer chose tempo, mode, articulation, and figuration to fit that affect, and the performer's job is to sustain it. Modern interpretation often varies expressively within a piece; Baroque interpretation does not. The character is set, and the player serves it.

Joyful — major, fast, leaping

Major key, fast tempo, light articulation, broken-chord and leaping figures.

Melancholic — minor, slow, sighing

Minor key, slow tempo, descending phrases with appoggiature on strong beats. The “sigh” figure: a leaned note resolving downward.

Heroic — major, dotted, ceremonial

Dotted rhythms in the French overture style. Strong attack, broad phrasing.

Now play these

Vivaldi: Concerto RV 443 (Largo): Serene affect. Long, lyrical, unbroken. Sustain the character.
Handel: Sonata in A minor, HWV 362: The slow movements are melancholic; the fast movements vigorous. One affect per movement.
Telemann: Six Sonatas, TWV 40:101: Multiple movements, each with its own affect. Identify the affect, then play.

When you can play a Baroque piece with a sustained, identifiable affect — one a listener could name — move on to Lesson 36.