Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below a bass note. The numerals and symbols indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones that a musician playing piano, harpsichord, organ, or lute should play in relation to the bass note. Figured bass is closely associated with basso continuo: a historically improvised accompaniment used in almost all genres of music in the Baroque period of Classical music, though rarely in modern music. Figured bass is also known as thoroughbass.
The concerto grosso is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists and full orchestra. This is in contrast to the solo concerto which features a single solo instrument with the melody line, accompanied by the orchestra.
A chaconne is a type of musical composition often used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line which offers a compositional outline for variation, decoration, figuration and melodic invention. In this it closely resembles the passacaglia. It originates and was particularly popular in the Baroque era; a large number of Chaconnes exist from the 17th- and 18th- centuries.
The Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach, are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721. The original French title is Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments, meaning "Six Concertos for several instruments". Some of them feature several solo instruments in combination. They are widely regarded as some of the best orchestral compositions of the Baroque era.
Trevor David Pinnock is a British harpsichordist and conductor.
Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing the continuo part are called the continuo group.
Hille Perl is a German virtuoso performer of the viola da gamba and lirone. She is considered to be one of the world's finest viola da gamba players, specializing in solo and ensemble music of the 17th and 18th centuries. She has a particular interest in French Baroque repertoire for seven-string bass viola da gamba. She also performs Spanish, Italian, German, and modern repertoire for the instrument and has released many CDs.
Emilie Autumn Liddell is an American singer-songwriter, poet, author and violinist. Autumn's musical style is described by her as "Fairy Pop", "Fantasy Rock" or "Victoriandustrial". It is influenced by glam rock and from plays, novels, and history, particularly the Victorian era. Performing with her all-female backup dancers The Bloody Crumpets, Autumn incorporates elements of classical music, cabaret, electronica, and glam rock with theatrics, and burlesque.
Marco Uccellini was an Italian Baroque violinist and composer. His output of mainly secular music for solo violin is considered to have been important in the rise of independent instrumental classical music, and in the development of violin technique.
Jukka Santeri Tiensuu is a Finnish contemporary classical composer, harpsichordist, pianist and conductor.
Rachel Barton Pine is an American violinist. She debuted with the Chicago Symphony at age 10, and was the first American and youngest ever gold medal winner of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition. The Washington Post wrote that she "displays a power and confidence that puts her in the top echelon."
Nigel North is an English lutenist, musicologist, and pedagogue.
Enchant is the debut studio album by Emilie Autumn, originally released on February 26, 2003, by Traitor Records and re-released on August 17, 2007 by Trisol Music Group. The original release also included the Enchant Puzzle.
Laced/Unlaced is a two-disc instrumental album by Emilie Autumn, released in 2007 by Trisol Music Group. Disc one, "Laced", is a re-release of On a Day..., Autumn's fledgling record, with the addition of several previously unreleased live recordings from her teenage years. Disc two, "Unlaced", contains all electric violin recordings. A limited-edition CD + book set was released on March 9, 2007 with just 2000 copies being printed worldwide, and the jewel case album was re-released on June 15.
Vivaldi’s Cello is an album by Yo-Yo Ma and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra with Ton Koopman as conductor, released in 2004 on Sony Classical Records. It contains various arrangements taken from Antonio Vivaldi's operas and oratorios.
Baroque music refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from approximately 1600 to 1750. This era followed the Renaissance music era, and was followed in turn by the Classical era, with the galant style marking the transition between Baroque and Classical eras. The Baroque period is divided into three major phases: early, middle, and late. Overlapping in time, they are conventionally dated from 1580 to 1650, from 1630 to 1700, and from 1680 to 1750. Baroque music forms a major portion of the "classical music" canon, and is now widely studied, performed, and listened to. The term "baroque" comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning "misshapen pearl". The works of George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach are considered the pinnacle of the Baroque period. Key composers of the Baroque era include, Claudio Monteverdi, Domenico Scarlatti, Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi, Henry Purcell, Georg Philipp Telemann, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Arcangelo Corelli, François Couperin, Heinrich Schütz, Dieterich Buxtehude, and others.
Johannes Pramsohler is a violinist, conductor and record producer, specialised in Historically informed performance, currently based in Paris.
The MA Festival Brugge, short for the festival Musica Antiqua Bruges in Bruges, Belgium, is a festival of early music and historically informed performances, started in 1960. The program includes concerts, master classes, conferences, visits in the region, exhibitions, instrument market, and international competitions that concentrates in a three-year cycle on organ, harpsichord, pianoforte and other period instruments, vocals, and baroque ensembles. The specialised festival is part of the Festival of Flanders.
The Brook Street Band is a music ensemble playing on baroque instruments which takes its name from the London street where composer George Frideric Handel lived from 1723-1759. The Band was formed in 1996 by baroque cellist Tatty Theo to perform and record the chamber music of Handel and his contemporaries.
