View over the rooftops of Lübeck from St. Peter to St. Mary’s. Photo by Arnold Paul / Wikimedia Commons
This was a period in which the major genres, forms, and expressive language of the Baroque were standardize. Although many works composed during this period were of a longer duration or used a larger orchestra or a more modern tonal language than those considered earlier in this book, composers wrote in all the established genres of the seventeenth century—opera, oratorio, concerto, sonata, motet, mass, and cantata. These followed familiar conventions and were heard in many of the same contexts, including church, theater, home, and the streets.
Wendy Heller, Music in the Baroque, p. 182
Music in the Baroque: Companion Website by Wendy Heller 