Classic for the Unmistakable: How to Identify Baroque Music

Of Harpsichord and the First “Schlager”: On the Music of Bach, Handel & Co

One conclusion from this podcast episode about Baroque music: Somehow, what Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi composed wasn’t too far from a classic rock song for guitar drums. Why rocks were already so expected in the Baroque era is only one question that Katrin Neusmeyer and Wilhelm Senkovic are asking themselves this time around. In addition, it is also about how musical rules were created in the Baroque era that still apply today, how music can be considered both overloaded and at the same time completely underrated – and what the oldest operas still performed today look like. We also listen carefully to what you can recognize from Baroque music by: the typical harpsichord chirping is one, but not the only clue.

Excerpts from the following recordings can be heard:

JS Bach (after A. Vivaldi): Concerto for Four Harpsichords (Karl Richter Munich Bach Orchestra, DG)

Frank Martin: Petite Symphonie concertante (Orchester de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, Decca)

Claudio Monteverdi: “Orfeo” (Alice Cott, Emmanuel Chaim, EMI)

G.F. Handel: “Ariodante.” Annes Sofie von Otter, Les Musiciens du Louvre – Marc Minkowski (DG)

JS Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3 & Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, Musica Antiqua Cologne (DG)

“Classic for the Tactless” He is part of the “Musiksalon” podcast and appears every second Saturday.