Baroque Music and its Composers

'Baroque' was first used to describe the style of European 17th and 18th century churches and public buildings and hence means ornate, bizarre, exuberant, extravagant.

Baroque styles are many: early, middle and late Baroque,
Italian, French, English and German Baroque. Plus also the individual style of the composers.

Baroque period or baroque era 1600 - 1750 i.e. between the Late Renaissance and Early Classical periods.

How do you pronounce 'Baroque'?
- USA: rhymes with 'oak'
- Britain: rhymes with 'rock'

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Baroque Composers:

BACH, Johann Sebastian 1685 - 1750

German composer and organist.
The greatest of the Baroque composers. Yet during his lifetime he was better known as an organist than as a composer.
Learn more at our Bach pages

CORELLI, Arcangelo 1653 - 1713

Arcangelo Corelli, Italian late baroque composer.
Has been called:- "Father of the Concerto Grosso"
- "Founder of Modern Violin Technique"
- "The World's Greatest Violinist"
Learn more at our Corelli pages

HANDEL, George Frideric 1685 - 1759

Born in Germany the same year and region as Bach.
He later moved to England, his adopted country.
He is best known for his grand oratorio 'Messiah', his Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks.
Learn more at our Handel pages

LULLY, Jean-Baptiste 1632 - 1687

Italian born French composer. He was the musical director of the court of Louis XIV, "The Sun King".

Learn more at our Lully page

MONTEVERDI, Claudio 1567 - 1643

Important Italian composer considered to be the 'Father of Opera'.His first opera was "Orfeo", performed in Mantua in 1607.

Learn more at our Monteverdi pages

PACHELBEL, Johann 1653 - 1706

Johann Pachelbel, German composer, teacher and organist.
Unfairly labelled a 'one hit wonder' he is neverthless best known for his Canon in D.

Learn more at our Pachelbel pages

PERGOLESI, Giovanni Battista 1710 - 1736

Italian composer recognized as the 'Father of Comic opera'.
Tragically he died at only 26 years old, yet his works had an enormous influence on European music.
Learn more at our Pergolesi pages

PURCELL, Henry 1659 - 1695

He was the first English composer of comparable stature to the European composers.
Yet another composer to die too young, at 36 years old.
Learn more at our Purcell pages

VIVALDI, Antonio 1678 - 1741

'The Red Priest', Italian composer, violinist, teacher, priest, opera impresario.
His Four Seasons is the most played piece of classical music in the world.
Learn more at our Vivaldi pages
The above composers are the ones for which we have done profiles for this website. Other major baroque composers are:

Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643) Italian
Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1645–1704) French
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725) Italian
François Couperin (1668–1733) French
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) German
Jean-Phillippe Rameau (1683–1764) French
Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757) Italian

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Links - Where to go for more information:

BaroqueMusic.org - the best

Wikipedia

Baroque Music Resources

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