WELCOME to the wonderful world
of BAROQUEMUSIC
What is baroque music?
Why it is so rewarding
A Baroque Music Sampler
Baroque Composers' Portraits
Rare Baroque Instruments
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What is the essence of baroque music? Baroque music expresses order, the fundamental order of the universe. Yet it is always lively and tuneful. Music reflects the mood of the times, then as now as always. Follow the development of music through this brief outline, from the earliest times to the present day, with baroque music in historical context.
BAROQUE MUSIC DEFINED
Music and its performance has its fashions, like everything else. There are currently two schools of thought in the performance of baroque music: the "modern" and the "authentic" - though both names are misleading. A little knowledge of these alternatives will guide you in your subsequent choice of recordings.
BAROQUE MUSIC PERFORMANCE
Over two hours of baroque music samples for you to listen to. Examples of the works of major baroque composers, and of course, Johann Sebastian Bach.
A BAROQUE MUSIC SAMPLER
Biographical notes on some of the better-known baroque composers - Albinoni, JS Bach, Corelli, Geminiani, Handel, Scarlatti, Telemann and others - plus notes on influential musical centers and developments in different countries, illustrating the origins of "baroque", and the breadth of baroque musical "globalisation"!
BAROQUE COMPOSERS & MUSICIANS
biographies and notes
Get to know the major baroque composers better through their portraits.
Check the BAROQUE COMPOSERS' PORTRAIT GALLERY
Why not delve yet further into the world of baroque performance? Read about one of Bach's favorite keyboard instruments, custom-built to his own specifications, yet now almost impossible to hear on record. Or discover the difference between the Italian violin bow which we know today, and the German baroque bow which is never seen nor heard today, though popular in baroque Germany (check the accompanying illustration from 1732). The vital difference: the German bow can play chords - which makes Bach's pieces for solo violin infinitely more interesting, not to mention accurate!
The Lute-harpsichord: A Forgotten Instrument
The Baroque German Violin Bow: A Lost Art
Contemporary with, and a personal friend of JS Bach was one of the two leading baroque organ-builders: Gottfried Silbermann. There are still some 30 of Silbermann's organs extant in Saxony, southern Germany, many in near-original condition, from the small village organs in which he excelled, to the 3-Manual, 44-Stop organ in Freiberg Cathedral. This site offers a group of pages, together giving you an illustrated tour and all the information you need for a visit! We prepared this site for, and in conjunction with the Silbermann Museum in Frauenstein, Saxony.
GOTTFRIED SILBERMANN:
Master Organ-Builder of the German Baroque. | 