Similarities and Differences Between the Music of Baroque Era and Modern-Day Music

Music has been around since before the birth of Christ and since then it has evolved, morphed and changed drastically since its inception. To provide further insight, I will be comparing music from the Baroque era to more modern music from recent years; there is just over a two-hundred-year gap between both! The opening excerpt it will be about a band called System of a Down, as they played at the Rock in Rio Festival back in 2015. The next excerpt is from the Croatian Baroque Ensemble that performed J.S Bach’s – Concerto for Two Violins posted on YouTube in 2012.

As stated above, I chose a rock concert performed by the band System of a Down at the Rock in Rio Festival. On initial listening and the first impressions of the show, I noticed that the entire concert was teeming with life and extremely noisy. The lead singer appeared out from the smoke and darkness, and the seemingly endless amount of people went chaotic.

His movement as the lead was almost as a conductor orchestrating his music by setting the tempo and rhythm with his hands while singing with an alluring, harsh voice. The current members include a lead vocalist, lead guitar, bass, and drums. Although typically I don’t listen to this type of rock music, I did appreciate this band's act because of the members of the group had this unbelievable intensity, and I think that makes a great performance.

For the next excerpt, I chose the Croatian Baroque Ensemble that played Concerto for Two Violins by Johann Sebastian Bach. I truly expected to be disinterested after the first minutes watching and listening to the composition, but that never happened, sat back and savored the music. The best part was listening to the different instruments used comprised of the baroque flute, viola, cello, violin and double bass. The atmosphere was alive, but not as loud or energetic as a modern rock piece, and it was simply peaceful and delicate. Each member of the ensemble was gracefully moving with the sound of the music but was also one with each note played in perfect sync.

Similarities are also a key factor as to why over the decades the two genres can coincide among each other. One being the way they bring people together from all walks of life, a rich, poor, young or old person can experience the same feeling even though having to two different lifestyles. For example, during the rock concert I saw an old lady in the endless sea of people jamming out with the younger crowd, regardless of her elderly age.

Beyond being similar, they are different as well, both excerpts are distinctive in style and taste, the crowds they draw in and how they sound. For that reason, I find both appealing because of their diversity. The rock band featured a group that is all anthemic vibes with strong lyrical output with the lead singer’s voice I find uncommon that matches that to a tee. Having said this, I still wouldn’t want to partake in the crowd that attends concerts like this because of the fierce and frantic energy that tends to be born in these types of environments.

Therefore, I can appreciate the newest in technological advancements that we have readily available at our fingertips such as music streaming, radio and YouTube, where you can have exposure to the music without the distractions of the masses surrounding you in chaos. The energy I felt, both concerts highlight the differences. At the rock concert where most people attend to be entertained, party and connect with the artists; Baroque era concert was more of a formal and higher level of prestigious, well respected gathering.

To review, the Baroque music era and modern-day music, specifically rock, are wildly different and similar even going through centuries of evolution. Between the rage inducing vocals and dramatic drum solos that consist of a classic rock song while the Baroque produces more of a softer end of the spectrum that harvests lovely flutes and violins. Both have a niche in the world of music and play to the inner parts of the persons’ personality either they know it or not. For System of a Down, playing at the Rock in Rio Festival to thousands of people or Croatian Baroque Ensemble that performed J.S Bach’s – Concerto for Two Violins; you can learn so much from just listening to them! How much more will music continue to break the barriers sonically and lead the frontier of future generations?