Basso continuo is a performance and compositional technique central to Baroque music, in which a continuous bass line is played by one or more instruments, typically a cello, viola da gamba, or bassoon doubling the bass, together with a chordal instrument such as harpsichord or organ, which realizes the harmony indicated by figures written beneath the bass notes, a shorthand system known as figured bass. Functioning as the harmonic and rhythmic foundation beneath the melodic voices above it, basso continuo underpinned nearly all Baroque vocal and instrumental music from roughly 1600 to 1750, and because the keyboard part was improvised rather than fully written out, it gave individual performers real interpretive latitude in realizing the harmony each time a piece was played.
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Monteverdi was a pioneering user of basso continuo in early opera.
Basso continuo practice underpins the contrapuntal texture of Baroque music.
Bach wrote extensively over a basso continuo foundation in his sacred and chamber works.
Music, Art Forms basso continuo is a technique of the music art form.
Opera, Art Forms Basso continuo underpins the vocal recitative and aria texture of early opera.
A ground bass ostinato is a specific device within basso continuo practice.
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Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationBasso Continuo, Wikipedia summary leadQuote, Basso Continuo, Wikipedia summary lead
Basso continuo is a harmonic musical structure, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600-1750), that generally consisted of a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing the continuo part are called the continuo group.
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