Arts and Design Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-6061 (Paper) ISSN 2225-059X (Online) Vol.25, 2014 16 The Reflection of the Baroque Era to Flute and Bassoon Sabriye Ozkan * Burcin Barut Dikicigiller School of Music and Drama, Department of Music, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey *E-mail of the corresponding author: sgulmez@anadolu.edu.tr Abstract This study aimes to assist the performance of the works by gathering data about the works for flute and bassoon which are in woodwind instruments of the Baroque era. In music history, the Baroque era is accepted that it starts with the years of 1600 and ends with death of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1750. During this period which lasted nearly 150 years, flute and bassoon which are in woodwind instruments, have an important place in instrumental music. Interestingly, before the Baroque period the flute and the bassoon were not often used for solo performances due to their limited technical capacity. After the developments that took place in sonatas and concertos, and the improvements in the technical capacity of the flute and bassoon, the composers were able to use these instruments more often in their works. Nowadays, the works for flute and bassoon by important composers of the Baroque era, Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and Georg Philipp Telemann, are accepted to be the keystone of instruments at educational and solo repertoire. At the end of study, it has been aimed to assist the rendition of the works by giving examples of sonatas and concertos written for flute and bassoon by Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and Georg Philipp Telemann. These examples aim to help with the interpretation of their work. Keywords: Baroque Era, Flute, Bassoon. 1. Introduction Baroque period comprises the first half of the 17 th century and the second half of the 18 th century. In the renaissance period, the beginning of enlightenment of the society and the theme of freedom in the cultural life was felt deeply in all branches of art. In the Medieval age the art was under the pressure of church and was meant to represent religious thoughts. However, with the renaissance, art started to include personal emotions, questioned the reality of everyday life and moved towards freedom. The important music critics divided the Baroque period into three stages; the early, middle and the late Baroque period. In the early Baroque period between 1600 and 1650, there were so many schools and movements such as Venice School, Florence School and Naples Harpsichord School, where the practice of figured bass was highly common. In the middle Baroque period between 1650 and 1700, all the techniques and musical systems reached a mature expression. Instrumental music reached an equal importance with the vocal music. Especially in German, Italian and French composers work, these techniques were underlined more. In the late Baroque period between 1700 and 1750, the balance between the melodic and rhythmic structure was more visual and composing techniques were given more importance. The contrast in music was used in the Baroque period for the first time. This contrast was often used in the sound limit, rhythmic structure and in the expression of deep emotions through music. Also the notion of nuance was also valued more and broad expression of nuance was developed further. The improvement in the musical and technical expression supported the transition from modal system to tonal system and the development of the harmonic system. Due to such improvements the beginning and the end sentences of the music became clearer. In this period where the instrumental music stood out, apart from concertos and suites, there were also other forms of music such as oratorios, cantatas and operas. The other factor that symbolised the period was the importance of ornamentation in the sound. The sound that enriches or adds colours to a sound group is called ornamentation. Today the pieces that Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and Georg Philipp Telemann wrote for flute and bassoon, who were the important composers of the period, are accepted as the corner stones in education and for solo repertoires. Seen the period as an early, middle and the late period, majority of the pieces that were written for flute and bassoons coincide the late Baroque period. The ornamentation and complication that composers generally used in their works were the contrast to the previous period’s plain and simple way of expression. This music language that was written at the time was difficult to interpret due to the insufficient structure of the instruments. Although the instruments have not fully evolved today, to overcome this issue requires professionalism from musicians. 2. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Antonio Vivaldi, an Italian composer and a violin player who lived between 1678 and 1741, was one of the most important figures of the Baroque period.