User:EKT0315/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Name of article: Baroque music
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. I chose this topic to evaluate, because Baroque music was one of the three suggested topics to use for evaluation. This article is also rated as C-class, so improvements are likely.

Lead
The Lead 's introductory sentence could provide more transition. While they did state that Baroque music was a form of art music composed during 1600-1750, they could have use the transitionary sentence used three paragraphs down to include where the term Baroque originated from. Combining both facts in the opening paragraph would give the reader a more clear idea of what they will be learning about. The Lead doesn't give the reader a clear overview of the article's major sections in the opening paragraph, or even in the second or third paragraph. They bounce around facts about the Baroque era, such as: the era preceded Classical music, and that Baroque era composers were expected to already be accomplished in their melodic lines and accompaniment parts. The Lead could have talked more in depth about all of the facts about the Baroque period in music within the body of the article. The opening paragraphs should include a brief overview of the topic, and include transition sentences to let the reader know of the major sections within their article on the era. As a reader on this topic, I would have liked to see more concise and organized introductory information given about Baroque music. Then, I would have liked the etymology and history sections to contain the bulk of the facts the Lead mentions in their opening paragraphs.

Content
In the etymology section, I think there is too much emphasis on when the term Baroque, as it relates to music, was more widely accepted. There is almost too much information on the back and forth acceptance of the term by academics, and the Lead writes a lot about the first use of the term being centered around architecture and art. These side notes, while interesting, distract from the actual topic of Baroque Music. Less is more in this instance. In the major sections of the article, Early baroque music (1580–1630), Middle baroque music (1630–1680), and Late baroque music (1680–1730), the Lead writes about a few of the composers of the Baroque era, with more emphasis on the Italian and French composers. However, there is no transition between these sections of information. For example, after the Early baroque music section, which ends talking about how some composers transitioned from the Renaissance style of music to the Baroque style, the Lead jumps completely into the political and economical shifts in the centralized court at the time. The middle baroque music section would have been better started with the information on composer Jean-Baptiste Lully. From there, the Lead could have transitioned into the details of how operas and oratorios became more expressive of emotions, therefore, the need to shift focus toward the court and political uprising of the time ensued. There is hardly any information on the Late Baroque music era section. More elaboration is needed. Overall, more detailed emphasis on the characteristics of the Baroque musical era, and the importance of those characteristics to define the era are desperately needed throughout the major sections of the article. As a reader, I'm still missing these key characteristics of the Baroque era that would clearly define how this era was set apart from the Renaissance or Classical eras of music.

Tone and Balance
The article is neutral in terms of stating factual information. I'd say that the Lead writes more on the Italian composers than the rest of the European composers of the Baroque era. Perhaps their sources used were more biased toward the works of the Italian composers. Ideally, more information on the composers of the Baroque era, along with their contributions to the music, are needed in the article. The tone of the article is balanced and neutral, because of the lack of information overall. The Lead could have included much more information and references on the composers, without seeming biased or overrepresented.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions

There are several references in the article to Oxford University Press as a source. However, these links don't work, as there is a subscription required to view the source. I count 11 references that cite this source, so it's unfortunate that readers can't evaluate the validity of the Oxford University Press on the topic of Baroque music. There are a couple of spots within the article where a citation is needed. For instance, in the early Baroque music section, the writer notes that one of the characteristics of Baroque music, tonality, stemmed from the idea that certain chord progressions could provide closure at the end of the piece, but the Lead didn't provide a source for this characteristic of Baroque style music. In the beginning of the article, the author lists a lot of composers as "Key" composers of the era. What makes these composers the key composers of the era? More clarification is needed, and the Lead should have focused on a shorter list of key composers to tell readers how those composers shaped the Baroque era the most. Then, the Lead could have provided proper citation for those composer's works, instead of listing so many composers, along with the sources that can't be accessed without a subscription to verify validity.

Organization
The organization in this article is lacking. There are no clear and concise transitions between topics, and it seems like the Lead just inserted random facts about the Baroque music era wherever they felt the need for more filler. When the Lead does give information on some of the Baroque music era characteristics, their descriptions are very vague. The reader learns that during this musical era composers used more elaborate musical ornamentaion, but what exactly that means is left open to interpretation, with no citation to back up this fact.

Images and Media


The images in the article are helpful and informative. There are good captions to highlight key points. The images do adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations. The layout could be improved. It might be helpful to have the images of the composers inserted in an every other pattern, where one picture is on the right side after the corresponding paragraph, and the next is on the left side.

Checking the talk page
This article is rated as a C-class article. There is some debate on the talk page about the subgenre of the Galante style of Baroque on the talk page. One user thinks there should be no mention of the Galante style within the topic of the Baroque music period, while another user feels it should be included within the late Baroque music era section of the article. Adding two more sections to the 3-part major sections division to talk about the other sub styles of the late Baroque era could offer an easier transition between periods within the Baroque era, as well as offer valid sources from the opposing historian views. Wikipedians discuss the topic with neutrality in mind. Some of the referenced material in the course textbook offers more than factual information; some of it is slightly biased.

Overall impressions
Overall, there is relevant and helpful information on the topic of Baroque Music from this article. The strengths of this article are: it provides the reader with most of the basics on the topic, and a general sense of the timeline of the Baroque era. There could be better organization and flow of the information, and a better explanation of the characteristics of Baroque style music. Why did music style and composition shift during this period? What, specifically, prompted the shifts of characteristics within each period of the Baroque music era? Those questions were left unanswered by a novice of the topic.

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