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New!
 | Rustic revelry : JS Bach Peasant cantata & duets by Henry Purcell, performed by Pepe Becker, soprano ; David Morriss, bass ; The Baroque Players.
Contents : Bauern-Kantate = Peasant cantata / Johann Sebastian Bach -- Sound a parley ; As Amoret and Thirsis lay ; Dialogue: Fair Iris and her swain ; Dialogue: Since times are so bad ; Dialogue : You say 'tis love ; Ah! How sweet it is to love ; Bacchus is a pow'r divine ; Come, let us agree / Henry Purcell.
Recorded live in concert in February 2006 at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wellington.
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What is it? The Baroque period in music is generally taken to be occuring between 1600-1750, or, from Monteverdi to Bach and Handel. But its not a simple time definition. A description of the main characteristics and "flavour of the baroque" can be found in Music of the Baroque (library book), or Baroque Music Now (web-site).
Relaxing Baroque CDs
Vivaldi for diverse instruments.
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La stravaganza : 12 violin concertos,
by Antonio Vivaldi.
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Baroque duet.
Performed by Kathleen Battle, &
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet.
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Baroque guitar concerti, by Gerald Garcia.
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Art of the Baroque harpsichord,
includes works by Bach, Scarlatti, Handel. | 
The Bells of St. Genevieve and other Baroque delights,
English Chamber Orchestra.
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Baroque adagios. (2 CDs).
Includes works by Albinoni, Gluck, Tartini, Corelli, Purcell. | 
Simply baroque,
performed by Yo-Yo Ma, cellist. | 
Flute concertos,
by CPE Bach. | 
Keyboard concertos, nos. 3, 5, 6, 7, by Bach,
played by Murray Perahia. | 
Kennedy plays Bach.
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Baroque inventions, performed by Julian Gray & Ronald Pearl, guitarists. |
Some Baroque composers
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) German. Very prolific composer, whose output covered short keyboard works, church cantatas, concertos, as well as large scale vocal works although no operas. He was famed as an organ virtuoso, and a master of counterpoint. His works are usually identified by a BWV numbering system, e.g. BWV 1006.
Sample individual works:
Instrumental
 | Per cembalo solo..., by J.S. Bach.
"Keyboard virtuoso Richard Egarr offers inspired readings from among Bach's most familiar works (Italian concerto, Chromatic Fantasia and fugue) and rarely heard transcriptions of Vivaldi, plus his own completion of the unfinished Fugue in C minor, BWV 906." (CD case.)
|  | Suites for solo cello, by Bach, performed by Janos Starker.
This is Janos Starker's fifth recording of Bach's cello suites. Starker plays all the marked repeats in the score, making them an even richer experience. This playing satisfies all requirements of the head and the heart...(Amazon) |  | Well-tempered Klavier, performed by Angela Hewitt. This is a collection of 48 pieces for keyboard, in 2 books, covering all keys. The keyboard score for this work is shelved at 781.4 BAC.
| Orchestral
Vocal
 | St Matthew Passion, Performers - Christine Schafer, Dorothea Roschmann, sopranos ; Bernarda Fink, Elisabeth von Magnus, contraltos ; Christoph Pregardien, Michael Schade, Markus Schafer, tenors ; Matthias Goerne, Dietrich Henschel, Oliver Widmer, basses ; Wiener Sangerknaben ; Arnold Schoenberg Chor ; Concentus musicus Wien ; Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor.
The vocal score for this work is shelved at 780.6 BAC.
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Georg Frederic Handel (1685-1759) German. Another prolific composer, whose output covered a wide range. Unlike Bach, though, he composed many operas, and "dramatic oratorios", and lived in England for over 30 years, where Queen Anne was a key patron.
Sample individual works:
Orchestral
 | The best of Handel, (Various performers). Contains works such as Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Concerto in B flat, op. 4 no. 6, Concerto grosso in C : Alexander's Feast, Water music, Serse. Largo, Music for the Royal fireworks. |
Vocal
 | Messiah. Performers - Dorothea Roschmann, Susan Gritton, sopranos ; Bernarda Fink, contralto ; Charles Daniels, tenor ; Neal Davies, bass ; Gabrieli Consort & Players ; Paul McCreesh, conductor. The vocal score for this work is shelved at 780.6 HAN. |
Other Handel scores:
Sonatas for violin and continuo (Henle) (shelved at 781.3 HAN).
Organ concerto, op 4, nos 1-6 (shelved at 782.7 HAN.)
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) Italian. Bridges the transition from the Renaissance (with his early madrigals) into the Baroque period. His opera Orfeo is generally attributed as the 'first', and for that reason alone is definitely worth a listen, even if it is not. We also learn a lot about Baroque performance as he wrote the opera out twice - once with how the ornamentation should be performed and then without it written in full. Another work worth sampling is his L'Orfeo.
Sample CD:
 | Vespers by Monteverdi. (CD) Robert King (Conductor), Peter Harvey (Bass, Performer), Robert Evans (Bass, Performer), Robert MacDonald (Bass, Performer), King's Consort Choir (Vocals). "Having owned and listened to several recommended recordings of this wonderful work over the years, each with its faults, I am delighted to say that this is the definitive recording for me. .... Here that music is so splendidly performed (and recorded, in an ideal acoustic) that all criticism tends to be suspended. Above all this is a supremely enjoyable performance that also happens to sound more convincing than others that what one is hearing is what Monteverdi intended." (Amazon UK customer) |
Henry Purcell (1659-1695) English. If the first opera is attributed to Monteverdi, the first English opera is attributed to Purcell. He also wrote a large number of songs, and chamber music, together with theatre music (often described as 'incidental music') for larger ensembles. As the court composer to Charles II many of his compositions revolved around royal occasions. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.
Sample CD:
 | Dido and Aeneas, performed by Lynne Dawson, Rosemary Joshua,sopranos ; Dominique Visse, counter-tenor ; Gerald Finley, baritone ; other soloists ; Clare College Chapel Choir ; Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment ; Rene Jacobs, director. |
Guiseppe Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) (Not to be confused with his father Alessandro). Italian. Although he also wrote much vocal music, it is for his keyboard works that he is generally known today. Grove Concise Dictionary of Music biography entry on Scarlatti
Sample CD:
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1757) Italian. Known as the "Red Priest" (because of his hair), he was dismissed from his post as the music teacher at a girl's orphanage for declining to say mass. Although he was a superb violinist, he also wrote successfully for many woodwind instruments, as well as some 60 religious pieces of his total surviving output of over 600 works. His main contribution to music history was to establish the concerto form as an instrumental standard - the soloist contrasted with the full orchestra.
Sample individual works:
Orchestral
 | La pastorella and other concertos. Chandos Baroque Players.
Concerto in G minor, RV 105 for recorder, oboe, violin, bassoon and continuo -- Concerto in D major, RV 95 (La pastorella) for recorder, oboe violin, bassoon and continuo -- Concerto in G minor, RV 107 for recorder, oboe, 2 violins and continuo -- Concerto in C major, RV 87 for recorder, oboe, 2 violins and continuo -- Trio sonata in A minor, RV 86 for recorder, bassoon and continuo -- Concerto in D major, RV 94 for recorder, oboe, violin, bassoon and continuo
|  | 7 flute concertos ; 7 recorder concertos . Janet See, Stephen Schultz (RV 533) flutes (CD 1) ; Marion Verbruggen, recorder (CD 2) ; Daniel Godburn, bassoon (RV 104) Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra ; Nicholas McGegan, director.
|  | L'estro armonico : op. 3. Fabio Biondi, violin, director ; Europa Galante.
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 | Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in A minor, op. 3 no. 8, RV522; Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, op. 8 nos.1-4 : Le quattro stagioni and other works, , by Vivaldi. Performed by Nigel Kennedy with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker.
IS this better than 'the last'? Either way, it's great listening. (The library has several versions)
| Vocal
 | Gloria, RV 589, Performers - The Monteverdi Choir ; English Baroque Soloists ; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor. |
Sample Vivaldi Score:
Concerto Grosso in B minor - Estro armonico no 10 (Eulenburg) (shelved at 782.77 VIV).
Books on Baroque
 | Music of the Baroque, by David Schulenberg.
This textbook on European music between 1600 and 1750 discusses the principal musical traditions of the period and analyzes representatives works, placing them within their larger historical context. Among the issues receiving special consideration are performance practice, musical rhetoric, and the role of women as both composers and performers. (Amazon) |  | Baroque music : style and performance : a handbook, by Robert Donington.
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Italian Baroque masters : Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Cavalli, Corelli, A. Scarlatti, Vivaldi, D. Scarlatti, edited by Denis Arnold and others.
North European baroque masters : Schutz, Froberger, Buxtehude, Purcell, Telemann, edited by Joshua Rifkin and others.
Some Baroque DVDs @ Wellington City Libraries. N.B. Please note the actual DVD links listed in Amazon are not available for purchase from within NZ. If you are considering purchase you need to obtain versions which are cleared for New Zealand viewing rights.
 |  Agrippina, Music by Handel ; libretto by Vincenzo Grimani ; adapted by Michael Hampe ; directed for stage by Michael Hampe ; directed for TV by Thomas Olofsson.
Performers : Gunter von Kannen (Claudio) ; Barbara Daniels (Agrippina) ; David Kuebler (Nerone) ; Janice Hall (Poppea) ; Claudio Nicolai (Ottone) ; Ulrich Hielscher (Pallante) ; Eberhard Katz (Narciso) ; Carlos Feller (Lesbo) ; London Baroque Players ; Arnold Ostman, conductor.
While the characters are based on historical figures the plot is comedic rather than epic. Claudio, Emperor of Rome, names Ottone, as his heir, but his wife, Agrippina, hopes to place her own son, Nerone, on the throne. |  | Handel's Water music : recreating a Royal spectacular.
Documentary film introduced by Peter Ackroyd with historians Phillipa Glanville, and Jeremy Black. This is a documentary rather than a "performance". There is a special feature following the river route as it would have looked in 1717.
|  | The Goldberg variations : from Glenn Gould plays Bach : a film by Bruno Monsaingeon.
Introduction ; Glen Gould in conversation with Bruno Monsaingeon -- Goldberg variations : BWV 988.
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Also:
Coronation anthems, by Handel.
Filmed at The Dominicanen Church, Zwolle, The Netherlands.
Cast: Holland Boys Choir, Dutch Baroque Collegium with Sir David Willcocks as conductor.
Banquet of the senses : madrigali erotici e spirituali, by Claudio Monteverdi.
Filmed at The Palazzo Te, Manuta, Italy. Duration: 48'09 min.
Cast: Consort of Musicke ; Anthony Rooley director and lute.
Sacred music : Te Deum, Jubilate, Anthems, Funeral music for Queen Mary, by Henry Purcell.
Filmed at Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge, England.
Duration: 58,30 min.
Cast: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge ; Andrew Manze, Marshall Marcus, violins ; Jan Schlapp, viola ; Jenny Ward-Clarke, bass violin ; Liz Kenny, William Carter, Theorbo, Jonathan Brown, Keri Dexter, organ ; Baroque Brass of London ; Timothy Brown, conductor.
Selected Baroque Web-site links The Baroque Era Short introduction to the essential characteristics of the Baroque era, as well as the principal musical forms and composers.
Baroque Music performance This section (of a much larger site on Baroque music) describes the current hot topics about the "authenticity" of Baroque music performance.
If it ain't Baroque... This site takes a different approach. While it offers the usual composer links, it succinctly places places baroque music within historical and societal trends. This site very accessible, and unlike some others, as the title suggests, doesn't take itself too seriously.
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