The Baroque era's name Baroque, meaning "exaggerated," "abnormal," or even "bizarre," cultivated some of the most revolutionary music and ideas in the composition timeline itself. Its image, ranging from the misery and lavishness shown through art and the political and economic being of the period, has distinguished this era over time through evolution and exploration. The culture and politics surrounding this era and the techniques and methods created are the keys to understanding the Baroque era and its success in bringing music to where it is today. Absolute monarchy was the main form of political structure during the Baroque era. Culture in the forms of music and art was centralized to the satisfaction of the aristocracy. Ensembles and institutions such as operas, orchestras, and choirs performed musical themes about deities and heroes, bolstering the nobility's ego through likeness. Music and art not only reached the royals and the wealthy, but also the middle class. Recreational composition occurred in the homeland with genres such as comic opera and prose novel. During the Baroque era, science also emerged through the ideas of Galileo, Copernicus, Descartes, and many other great minds. It is in this period that research on the human body and the functioning of the universe is carried out. Not only did the culture of this era experience great knowledge and creativity, but also wars and unrest in Europe due to religion, shaped by the Catholic and Protestant dynasties in brutal combat against each other. With religion came colonization and reform, pushing the cycle of historical development forward. I find this repetitive progression of cause and effect to be the force that produces new results, regardless of time spent... in the middle of paper... and on Tumblr. With all these improvements and advances made, the Baroque was an international period that experienced various collaborations with different nations and cultures. I find that this aspect of Baroque reflects how music is today. With inventions like the Internet, television, radio, I can listen to artists who have expanded their art across all three mediums. Reading Prelude 3, "The Baroque Spirit" taught me how the culture and politics of the time influenced his techniques and methods which together created and cultivated a musical period like no other. Like all musical waves, the Baroque era contributed through its culture, music and art, to the current existence of not only music, but the world today. Works Cited Forney, Kristine, and Joseph Machlis. The enjoyment of music. 11th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2011. Print.