#baroque

• Albinoni — The surname of the famous Italian composer and violinist Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1751), a prominent representative of Baroque music, globally recognized for his operas, oboe concertos, and the famous Adagio in G minor.
• Aleijadinho — The nickname and established artistic name of Antônio Francisco Lisboa, a famous Brazilian sculptor and architect from the colonial period, recognized as the greatest representative of the Baroque and Rococo styles in Latin America. Despite a severe degenerative disease that deformed his hands and feet, he sculpted monumental masterpieces in wood and soapstone, his name literally meaning 'The Little Cripple' in Portuguese.
• Allemande — A traditional dance of German origin, in a moderate tempo and binary meter (usually 2/4 or 4/4), emerging in the 16th century and later becoming, during the Baroque period, the mandatory first structural movement of a classical instrumental suite (alongside the courante, sarabande, and gigue). As a musical form, it is characterized by a fluid, contrapuntal melodic flow and a solemn, elegant character.
• Allegri — An Italian family name of European renown, famous in cultural history especially through Gregorio Allegri (1582–1652), a baroque composer and Catholic priest, author of the famous sacred choral work 'Miserere mei, Deus'. Additionally, the name is widely known in the contemporary sports world due to the Italian football manager Massimiliano Allegri.
• Allemande — A traditional folk dance in binary or quaternary meter, of German origin, emerging in the 16th century, characterized by a moderate, steady, and flowing movement. In the Baroque period, the term designates the instrumental piece with a grave, polyphonic character that systematically opens the classical dance suite, being followed by the courante, sarabande, and gigue.
• Allemande — A simplified phonetic variant or rare spelling sometimes used in old Romanian texts for 'allemande'; a traditional German dance with a moderate movement, in binary or quaternary meter, appearing in the 16th century, which became a fixed instrumental piece opening the classical Baroque suite.
• Little Cupid — Hypocoristic diminutive of the noun 'amor'; a figurative representation of the god of love (Cupid or Eros) in the form of a chubby, winged, and cute little child, armed with a bow and arrows. In art history and interior decoration, the term describes anthropomorphic plastic motifs known as putti, frequently used in Baroque and Rococo styles to symbolize innocent love or erotic play.
• Enfilade — A structural arrangement of several rooms, doors, courtyards, or architectural elements aligned in a straight line, so that their successive opening offers a long and continuous perspective over the entire assembly. In historical military tactics, the term denotes a firing position or direction parallel to the fortification line or the enemy's troop line, allowing the sweeping of the entire front with a single fire.
• Appoggiatura — A secondary ornamental musical note, lacking its own temporal value within the measure, which precedes a main long note and is executed rapidly, borrowing a portion of its time value; an expressive melodic embellishment. This harmonic structure creates a transient dissonance followed immediately by a consonant resolution on the base sound, specific to Baroque and Classical styles.
• Archetto — A musical term borrowed from Italian denoting a small or slender bow, specifically used for period instruments of the viola family or for executing miniature technical details in Baroque music. In a structural-constructive sense, archetto also represents the elastic bridge or curved tension element that holds the horsehair strands, playing a crucial role in controlling dynamic nuances and sound articulation.
• Archiviola — An experimental period musical instrument or hybrid variant of the viola family, structurally equipped with a keyboard and a continuous bowed rotary mechanism (similar to a hurdy-gurdy or viola organista), designed to produce sustained orchestral sounds. In an organological sense, archiviola represents a Renaissance and Baroque attempt to combine the polyphony of keyboard instruments with the timbral richness and dynamic expressiveness of bowed strings.
• Archlute — A historical plucked string instrument that emerged during the Baroque period as an extended variant of the Renaissance lute. Structurally characterized by an elongated neck and a second pegbox designed to accommodate extra open bass strings (diapasons) that were not fretted, it was frequently utilized in Baroque chamber music and orchestras for performing basso continuo accompaniment.
• Arciliuto — The Italian nomenclature and international neologism for the archlute, a plucked string instrument developed during the Baroque era. This device structurally combines the traditional lute body with an extended neck supporting two separate pegboxes, allowing the tensioning of extra open bass strings used to sustain the basso continuo in seventeenth and eighteenth-century chamber music ensembles.
• Arcimandola — A historical plucked string instrument from the mandolin family, developed in Italy toward the late Baroque and early Classical periods. This device structurally represents an extended variant of the mandola or mandolin, featuring a larger soundbox and an elongated neck equipped with an extension for additional open bass strings, utilized to enrich the lower register in string ensembles of the era.
• Armenierstadt — The historical German name for the municipality of Gherla in Cluj County, Transylvania, structurally founded as a Baroque city in the 18th century by Armenian Catholic communities colonized in the region. The name literally translates to 'city of the Armenians' and reflects the special administrative status, economic privileges, and unique Western-style urban planning that the settlement possessed within the Habsburg Empire.
• Armida — A famous female character, a seductive sorceress in the epic poem 'Jerusalem Delivered' (Gerusalemme liberata) written by Torquato Tasso in the 16th century; by extension, the name became an eponym for a fascinating woman capable of enchanting or manipulating men through her sensual charms. This character inspired numerous musical operas, paintings, and plays during the Baroque and Romantic eras.
• Arpanetta — A small historical plucked string instrument, resembling a miniature harp or a vertical psaltery, predominantly used during the early Baroque period for accompaniment and chamber music. Its delicate structural framework allowed for crystalline acoustics, symbolizing interpretive refinement within European aristocratic salons.
• Arpicordo — A historical keyboard instrument with plucked strings, closely related to the spinet and the harpsichord, predominantly used within the Italian cultural sphere during the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. It was highly valued for its relatively compact size and its bright, percussive, and crystalline sound, frequently utilized for performing polyphonic salon music.
• Aubigne — A proper surname of French origin; it refers specifically to Agrippa d'Aubigné (1552–1630), a French poet, Huguenot soldier, and historian from the era of the Wars of Religion. His masterpiece, 'Les Tragiques', is a monumental epic and satirical poem of baroque nature describing the persecutions suffered by Protestants.
• Bach — A globally famous German surname, borne by an entire dynasty of musicians, culminating in Johann Sebastian Bach, the genius of the Baroque era, a composer and organist renowned for his absolute mastery of counterpoint and fugue. In a secondary sense, the word originates from the German common noun 'Bach' meaning brook, and is used as a toponymic element across numerous European regions.