Baroque Culture (ca. 1600-1750)
History 104 / January 28, 2013

I. Basic features of the baroque style
         A. Artificiality: the natural world tamed to human tastes
                  1. Baroque hygiene
                  2. Baroque gardens
         B. Luxurious materials
                  1. Marble
                  2. Wallpaper painted in gold
                  3. Porcelain
                  4. Silk        
         C. Exoticism: the vogue for “Chinese” or “Oriental” themes
II. Touring a small German baroque/rococo palace: Schloss Brühl
III. Music for the courts of Europe
         A. The fugue, a typical baroque musical genre
                  1. Polyphonic (many voices)
                  2. One musical idea carried throughout
                  3. Continuous stream of music
         B. Händel’s Water Music: aristocratic entertainment
IV. How to win friends & influence people at Versailles
         (film clips from Ridicule)