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Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid 1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropriation of
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
compositional styles (
contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
melodies and functional harmony patterns) and dramatic or melancholic gestures.
Harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
s figure prominently, while
oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...
s,
French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
s, and
string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...
s are also common. Although harpsichords had been deployed for a number of pop hits since the 1940s, starting in the 1960s, some record producers increasingly placed the instrument in the foreground of their arrangements. Inspired partly by
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' song " In My Life" (1965), various groups were incorporating baroque and classical instrumentation by early 1966. The term "baroque rock" was coined in promotional material for the Left Banke, who used harpsichords and violins in their arrangements and whose 1966 song " Walk Away Renée" exemplified the style. Baroque pop's mainstream popularity faded by the 1970s, partially because punk rock,
disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric p ...
and
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest ha ...
took over; nonetheless, music was still produced within the genre's tradition. Philadelphia soul in the 1970s and chamber pop in the 1990s both incorporated the spirit of baroque pop while the latter contested much of the time's low fidelity musical aesthetic.


Characteristics

In classical music, the term "
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
" is used to describe the art music of Europe approximately between the years 1600 and 1750, with some of its most prominent composers including J. S. Bach and
Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread ...
.Essentials of music: Baroque composers
ason derulo .
Much of the instrumentation of baroque pop is akin to that of the late Baroque period or the early Classical period, chronologically defined as the period of European music from 1690 to 1760 and stylistically defined by balanced phrases, clarity and beauty. Baroque pop, stylistically, fuses elements of rock with classical music, often incorporating layered harmonies, strings, and horns to achieve a majestic, orchestral sound. Its prominent characteristics are the use of
contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
melodies and functional harmony patterns. It was intended to be a more serious and mature outgrowth of rock music. Journalist Bob Stanley uses the term "English baroque" to describe a subset that existed between 1968 and 1973, after the genre's more widespread presence in rock and pop. "Baroque rock" may be invoked as a synonym of "baroque pop" or as its own distinct term. In Spain, the genre was very important and famous during the 60s. The easy-to-hear music was permiting to the artists use rock as a soft way combined with pop, good view from gobern and people. It were a boom of a lot of bands and singers, some more famous than others, but as example Karina
Los Mismos
Los Bravos, Formula V, etc...


History


Precursors (early 1960s)

''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''s Matthew Guerrieri credits the origins of baroque pop to American pop musicians and record producers like
Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...
and
the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
'
Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop music, pop composition, ex ...
placing the
harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
in the foreground of their arrangements. Harpsichords were widely available in recording studios, and had been used in popular music since as early as the 1940s, but the instrument did not gain prominence until the 1960s. One of the first
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...
hits to use a harpsichord was
the Jamies The Jamies were an American singing group, led by siblings Tom and Serena Jameson, based in Boston. They are best known for the song " Summertime, Summertime." Career " Summertime, Summertime," the group's 1958 single for Epic Records, reached # ...
' "Summertime, Summertime" (1958). Later examples cited by Guerrieri range from the Beach Boys' "
I Get Around "I Get Around" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys and the opening track from their 1964 album '' All Summer Long''. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the autobiographical lyrics describe the group's reaction to their newfound ...
" (1964) and "
When I Grow Up (To Be a Man) "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1965 album '' The Beach Boys Today!''. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the lyrics describe a boy who is anxious of when he stops being a teenager, pon ...
" (1965) to
the Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Lo ...
"
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin is a song by Phil Spector, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, first recorded in 1964 by the American vocal duo the Righteous Brothers, whose version was also produced by Spector and is cited by some music critics as ...
" (1964) and the Mamas & the Papas' " Monday, Monday" (1966). Guerrieri speculates that the harpsichord may have been desirable for its buzzing, stinging timbre, which suited "the treble-heavy pop soundscape" of the time. The 1964 single " She's Not There" by the English band the Zombies marked a starting point for baroque pop, according to Stanley. He writes that the song "didn't feature any oboes but stuck out rather dramatically in 1964, the year of ' You Really Got Me' and ' Little Red Rooster'", and its refined qualities were emphasised by singer Colin Blunstone having an enunciation that was "pure St Albans grammar". Along with
Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gr ...
, Spector melded pop music with classical elements before they were combined with rock. Music historian Andrew Grant Jackson states that "the era of baroque pop", in which "rock melded with classical elements", began with
the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...
' " Play with Fire" (February 1965) and Brian Wilson's work on '' The Beach Boys Today!'' (March 1965). In Jackson's view, baroque pop and chamber pop were one and the same. ''
Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
''s Forrest Wickman credits
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' producer,
George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...
, along with
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
and Wilson, as some of the men "most responsible" for the move into baroque pop. Author Bernard Gendron says that, further to American composer and conductor
Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
's public approval of the band's music, the Beatles were feted in the "art-music world" in the summer of 1965 through the arrival of "'Beatles à la Baroque' or more generically 'baroque rock'". He also writes that since this phenomenon preceded the release of Beatles recordings such as " Yesterday" (which used a baroque-style string quartet), it is likely that the band did not instigate the link between their music and its classical components, but were in fact responding to classical and baroque readings of their work. These readings also included the 1965 album '' The Baroque Beatles Book'', where their songs were reimagined in a tongue-in-cheek Baroque setting. A classically trained musician, Martin played what sounded like a baroque harpsichord solo on the Beatles' " In My Life", released on their December 1965 album '' Rubber Soul''. Author Joe Harrington comments that due to the Beatles' influence in all areas of pop music's development, "In My Life" led to the arrival of "baroque-rock". Producer Tommy LiPuma recalled that "Once the Beatles featured that harpsichord sound on 'In My Life,' pop producers began working it in."


Emergence (mid to late 1960s)

The genre originated in the United Kingdom and the United States. By early 1966, further to ''Rubber Soul'', various groups began using baroque and classical instrumentation, described as a "baroque rock" movement by Gendron. Among these recordings was the Rolling Stones' " Lady Jane". The popularity of harpsichords in pop, rock and soul arrangements at this time reflected a desire for unusual sounds and, in the case of many American producers, a sought-for association with the retrospective focus that informed London's fashion scene and the psychedelic music scene there. The Zombies' "She's Not There", together with a predilection for all things British through the Beatles' international success, inspired New York musician Michael Brown to form the Left Banke. Stanley considers the band's " Walk Away Renée" (1966) to be the first recognizable baroque pop single. "Baroque rock" was the label devised by the Left Banke's publicists and the music press. According to music critic
Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...
, "the sobriquet may have been ham-fisted, but certainly there were many Baroque elements in the Left Banke's pop—the stately arrangements, the brilliant use of keyboards and harpsichords, the soaring violins, and the beautiful group harmonies." The band's follow-up single, "
Pretty Ballerina "Pretty Ballerina" is a song written by pianist Michael Brown that was released as a single by his band the Left Banke in December 1966. It peaked at number 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number 4 on the Canadian ''RPM'' chart. The ...
", continued their absorption in the genre. Guitarist Rick Brand later described their lyrics as "rather self-consciously beautiful musical whimsy, as you find in the latter 18th-century Romantic music, pre-
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
". Although the Beach Boys' '' Pet Sounds'' (1966) has been advanced in later years as baroque pop, or even the first example of the genre, no contemporary press material referred to the album as "baroque", and instead commentators focused on the album's " progressive" traits. The album's baroque-pop aesthetics were limited to only one track, " God Only Knows", a song that ''
The Record The Record may refer to: Music * ''The Record'' (album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Records, an English power pop band * '' Their Greatest Hits: The Record'', a 2001 greatest-hits album by the pop-music group Bee G ...
''s Jim Beckerman deemed "baroque rock" in the same "retro instrumentation and elegant harmonies" vein as the Beatles' " Eleanor Rigby" (1966) and Procol Harum's " A Whiter Shade of Pale" (1967). Gendron's "baroque rock" examples include "Walk Away Renée" with Spanky and Our Gang's "
Sunday Will Never Be the Same "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" is a 1967 song by the American band Spanky and Our Gang from their self-titled debut album. The single peaked at #9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #7 in the Canadian ''RPM'' Magazine charts. The song was writ ...
" (1967), and the Stone Poneys' " Different Drum" (1967) – all of which used harpsichord and strings – and the Rolling Stones' "Lady Jane" (harpsichord and dulcimer) and the Lovin' Spoonful's "Rain on the Roof" (1967, harpsichord-sounding guitars). Music journalist Steve Smith highlights the Moody Blues and Procol Harum as "major practitioners" of baroque pop. He recognizes "
For No One "For No One" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album ''Revolver''. It was written by Paul McCartney, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. A blend of baroque pop and chamber music, the song is about the end of a relat ...
", " She's Leaving Home" and " Piggies" as other examples of the Beatles' forays in the genre, and " Ride On, Baby" and " Ruby Tuesday" as further examples of the Rolling Stones' baroque pop. According to Stanley, the period of sustained commercial success for pop and rock recordings with harpsichords and string quartets climaxed with the Beatles' 1967 album ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composi ...
'', "which mixed everyday lyrics with
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...
and Edwardiana to create lysergically enhanced
parlour music Parlour music is a type of popular music which, as the name suggests, is intended to be performed in the parlours of houses, usually by amateur singers and pianists. Disseminated as sheet music, its heyday came in the 19th century, as a result of ...
". At this time, the development in musical arrangements presented by baroque pop was challenged by the breakthrough of psychedelic rock bands from the San Francisco scene. In a climate equally informed by political radicalism in 1968, Stanley writes, "English baroque" continued as a combined simulacrum of the Zombies' album '' Odessey and Oracle'' (1968), McCartney's contributions to ''
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
'' (1968),
Honeybus Honeybus were a 1960s pop group formed in April 1967, in London. They are best known for their 1968 UK Top 10 hit single, "I Can't Let Maggie Go", written by group member Pete Dello who also composed their previous single "(Do I Figure) In Y ...
' single "
I Can't Let Maggie Go "I Can't Let Maggie Go" is a song by the British pop group Honeybus from early 1968. Written by band member Pete Dello, it was released as a non-album single. The song became an international Top 20 hit, reaching number 13 in New Zealand and numb ...
" (1968), Scott Walker's chamber pop, and
Crosby, Stills & Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth memb ...
vocal harmonies. English baroque survived into the early 1970s, as record labels sought to capitalize on the singer-songwriter phenomenon by offering lavish string arrangements to unknowns. Among these artists were
Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...
and individual members of Honeybus.


Dissipation and revival (1970s–present)

The "quaintness" of baroque pop and the use of violins and classical guitar became the target of parody at the end of the psychedelic era. In the 1990s, chamber pop derived from the "spirit" of baroque pop, characterized by an infusion of orchestral arrangements or classical style composition. It originated as a response to the
lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...
production that dominated in the 1990s. Between the 1990s and 2010s, baroque pop enjoyed a revival with bands like
the Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...
and The Last Shadow Puppets.


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{Authority control 20th-century music genres Rock music genres British rock music genres 1960s in music 1970s in music British styles of music American styles of music