baroque pop
A pop music style incorporating elements of Baroque-era classical music, such as orchestral strings, harpsichords, and elaborate contrapuntal arrangements.
In Depth
Baroque pop emerged in the mid-1960s when pop and rock musicians began incorporating classical instrumentation and compositional techniques into their recordings. The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" (with its string octet), the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, and the Left Banke's "Walk Away Renée" were early landmarks. Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" productions, though not strictly baroque, created a precedent for orchestral pop ambition.
The genre reached its apex with the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the Zombies' Odessey and Oracle. Burt Bacharach's sophisticated songwriting and arranging also fell within this tradition. After fading in the 1970s, baroque pop was revived by artists like the Divine Comedy, Rufus Wainwright, and Joanna Newsom. The term now broadly describes any pop music that draws on classical orchestration and formal complexity — from Sufjan Stevens to Father John Misty.
The Left Banke's 1966 hit "Walk Away Renée" is often credited as the first baroque pop single — its harpsichord and strings were revolutionary for a pop song and influenced the Beatles' own orchestral experiments.