Róbert Mandel

Baroque is a period and style of Western art music spanning roughly 1600–1750. It is characterized by the birth of functional tonality, the widespread use of basso continuo (figured bass), and a love of contrast—between soloist and ensemble, loud and soft, and different timbres. Hallmark genres and forms of the era include opera, cantata, oratorio, concerto (especially the concerto grosso), dance suite, sonata, and fugue. Textures range from expressive monody to intricate counterpoint, and melodies are richly ornamented with trills, mordents, and appoggiaturas. Baroque music flourished in churches, courts, and theaters across Europe, with regional styles (Italian, French, German, English) shaping distinctive approaches to rhythm, dance, harmony, and ornamentation.

Hurdy-gurdy is a drone‑based musical style centered on the hurdy-gurdy (vielle à roue), a string instrument sounded by a rosined wheel turned with a crank. Melodies are played on keyed chanterelle strings while one or more bourdon (drone) strings provide a continuous tonal bed. A distinctive "buzzing" bridge (the trompette or chien) can be engaged rhythmically by subtle wrist accents on the crank, turning the instrument into its own rhythm section. The genre draws on medieval, Renaissance, and rural European folk dance traditions (especially from central France, Iberia, and Central/Eastern Europe), but it also thrives in contemporary folk revival and experimental settings. Typical repertoire includes bourrées, waltzes, marches, and modal airs in Dorian, Mixolydian, and Aeolian modes, performed solo or with companions such as bagpipes, diatonic accordion, fiddle, and frame drums.