Stile Concitato: Literally means “agitated style”, it is a way of portaying agitation, anger or war-like feelings and actions in the music. For example through rapidly redeating notes. This was first created by Monteverdi, he took and example from the Pyrrhic, which is an ancient Greek war dance. An example of such music can be seen in Monteverdi’s L’incoronatione di Poppea as well as Carissimi’s Jephte.

French Overture: During the baroque period, the French overture was widely used and its development has largely been accredited to French baroque composer Jean-Baptiste Lully. The French overture consists of three parts: slow beginning (dotted format and sometimes full of exaggerated rhythms) following a second phase consisting of fugal intonations followed by an end which is essentially almost like the beginning (slow). An example of such a musical form is shown by Lully’s Armide.

Stile Antico: this is a term used to refer to the old sacred choral/orchestral/opera pieces, almost nearing gregorian. This style is often religiously motivated in nature and is often associated with significantly older compositional styles. An example of this is shown in late baroque composers like Bach and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

Stile Moderno: a term created by Claudio Monteverdi, stile moderno (otherwise known as seconda pratica) is basically an early baroque period style that highly valued freedom from its genre limitations (particularly counterpoint rules) towards more flexible approaches to music in general. An example is Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Arianna.

Opera Seria: This term is Italian for “serious” opera conducted for higher gentiles or nobles during the 1700s. It was a style of opera made for the autocratic courts who enjoyed luxurious ambience and richness. One of its founders was German composer Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783) who composed several opera serias like Tigrane.

Recitative & Aria: Recitative is described in baroque music as a musical mimic of direct speech either for a solo vocalist and an accompaniment through the uses of a simple melody line or a rhetorical rhythmic movement. It is similar to an aria in which specific sections are played expressively through the melody (it does not always have to be the singer). For example, Handel’s Rodelindas Gemächer uses both aria and recitative.

Ritornello: Used often in baroque music, ritornello is used to describe the repetitive occurance of a passage for an orchestra often in its beginning or last movement. It is generally considered a refrain or a chorus. It is often used in solo concertos or aria as described above. Handel and Bach often favourited the ritornello technique in Rodelindas Gemächer and the Brandenburg Concertos respectively.

Oratorio: Oratorio is considered a immense musical composition consisting of a choir, soloists, and an orchestra. It resembles closely to that of an opera, but does not include drama or literary storylines including romance and murder—it is strictly a sacred musical composition often discussing religious themes and stories. An example of this is Schütz Weihnachtshistorie (often considered the first German oratorio) and one of the most Handel’s Messiah.