What Is Basso Continuo?

I am a conductor and ensemble leader in Basel, Switzerland. In this video I am covering the basics of Basso Continuo (b.c. for short). You might have heard that it's a fundamental pillar of music in the 16th and 17th century in Europe and might have encountered it under different names: Generalbass in Germany, Thoroughbass or Figured Bass in England. But what exactly is it? Why was it "invented"? And why have people called those times the "Basso Continuo Era"? I hope I can help you and clarify the WHY behind this concept and its origins. My website: http://www.davidfasold.de Where I studied: https://www.musik-akademie.ch/schola-cantorum-basiliensis/de/home.html What I studied: https://www.fhnw.ch/de/studium/musik/schola-cantorum-basiliensis/master-of-arts-in-spezialisierter-musikalischer-performance/alte-musik-generalbass_ensembleleitung 00:00 Intro 00:35 What is music like in 16th century Italy? 01:17 Welcome to the instruments 02:11 Sonare sopra il basso 03:02 Basso seguente and Basso continuo 04:18 Music with few voices: Stile moderno 05:30 Music for the stage: Stile rappresentativo 07:26 After the experiments: Consolidation of Basso Continuo 08:04 Figures 08:30 A new era 09:00 Closing thoughts