The Baroque was derived from the Portuguese word barroco, it is a pearl of irregular shape and used in the jewelry of that time. It began in 1600 and stretched throughout the century and through half of the European History. The Baroque era was a monarchy when European rulers took the French splendor as their own. Similar to the Renaissance Era, Baroque was the age of reason. This was also the time battles were fought against religion. .
Music also changed during this new era. During the Renaissance era polyphonic music was popular, but during the Baroque era it changed to homophonic. This was a new music named monody, which means there is only one singer with the help of instruments. At this time musicians were called Camerata, which meant salon in Italian. Musicians of the Camerata were usually aristocratic humanists who wanted to resurrect the music and art from ancient Greece. .
Later, music became more demanding. Composers started to write a more advanced playing technique. With the more demanding techniques came challenging harpsichord sonatas, and virtuosi violin works. Improvisation played a major role in Baroque music also. Singers and players contributed their creative works so often that the music on stage was completely different from that on paper.
The rise of opera also began during this time frame. New names for musicians started to develop as well. One name that male singers were called when they were castrated during boyhood, which preserved the soprano or alto voice for the rest of his life, was castrato. Women also became professional musicians, but most continued their roles as hostess at saloons and patrons of the arts.
The Baroque Era caused opera to rise in different places such as, Italy, France and England. Opera brought a new out look on music, and even instruments. The instruments became broader and were being made out of different materials. An example was the piano it turned into three different instruments that were important to opera, the organ, harpsichord, and the clavichord.
