Baroque pop

Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. Although harpsichords had been deployed for a number of pop hits

Characteristics#

In classical music, the term “Baroque” 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. 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. 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.

Forerunners#

The Boston Globes Matthew Guerrieri credits the origins of baroque pop to American pop musicians and record producers like Phil Spector and the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson placing the harpsichord 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. Slates Forrest Wickman credits the Beatles’ producer, George Martin, along with Paul McCartney 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’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 classical 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.”

Origins#

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. Gendron’s “baroque rock” examples include “Walk Away Renée” with Spanky and Our Gang’s “Sunday Will Never Be the Same” (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” (1966, 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”, “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, “which mixed everyday lyrics with music hall and Edwardiana to create lysergically enhanced parlour music”. Also in 1967, producer Mark Wirtz attempted to create a baroque pop concept album with A Teenage Opera, but the project as a whole remained unfinished. However, the single “Excerpt from A Teenage Opera” reached No. 2 in the UK. 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 (1968), Honeybus’s single “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (1968), Scott Walker’s chamber pop, and Crosby, Stills & Nash vocal harmonies.

Dissipation and revival (1970s–present)#

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 and individual members of Honeybus. 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 production that dominated in the 1990s. Between the 1990s and 2010s, baroque pop enjoyed a revival with bands like the Divine Comedy. The American rock band Panic! at the Disco shifted to a baroque pop sound with their 2008 album Pretty. Odd. English rock band Arctic Monkeys shifted to a baroque pop sound with their 2018 album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino and their 2022 album The Car, most likely influenced by frontman Alex Turner’s work with the Last Shadow Puppets.

Genre family: 1960s in music, 1970s in music, 20th-century music genres, American styles of music, British styles of music, Rock music genres