THE BEST OF BAROQUE

Sunday is a time for solemn music.  What better than Baroque, one of my very favorite genres.

From CMuse, 4 Famous Baroque Music Pieces You Should Listen To:

• #1  The Brandenburg Concertos, 1-6, J. S. Bach (1708-1721)--he completed the set in 1721
• #2  The Four Seasons, Antonio Vivaldi (1720-1723)
• #3  The Messiah, G. F. Handel (1741--completed in 24 days)
• #4  Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, J.S. Back (1717-1723)--go to link to hear Yo-Yo Ma play all six, taking almost three hours, from memory

Here is a top ten by liveaboutcom, where #4 from above is #1 and #1 from above is #6.

The Baroque period ranged from 1600 to 1750, preceded by the Renaissance (1400-1600) and followed by the Classical (1730-1820) periods.  The Romantic era extended from 1780 to 1910, with Modernists dominating from 1890 to 1950.

Sure, we have rock and rap, but "classical" music continues today:  postmodern/contemporary from 1930 and minimalist from 1965.  Baroque music was designed for listening, and concerts were typically a basso continuo group of harpsichordists and lute players, with string instruments.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau perhaps best explains the sounds:  Baroque music is that in which the harmony is confused, and loaded with modulations and dissonances. The singing is harsh and unnatural, the intonation difficult, and the movement limited. It appears that term comes from the word 'baroco' used by logicians.

A particular Baroque treasure is Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D.  Written more than 3 centuries ago, it was mostly forgotten, and again made popular in 1968 by Jean-Francois Paillard, leading to a re-showcase in the 1980 Ordinary People, then used by Carl Sagan in his Cosmos series, this version played by James Galway in 2000.  Go to a wedding or funeral, and you'll hear it again and again.

I've long wondered why Baroque, of all the genres, joined my list of favorites.  Perhaps this started for me with Canon in D.  Something to do with quiet and enchanting patterns with discordant moments.  Then again, like most of what is preached on Sundays, perhaps I'll never figure out the origin or truth.

Baroque came to rival my other top music genres on 19 October 2015 in Venice.  On this day, I met my Blue-Bar Pigeon, had possibly my best lunch ever at Quadri with St. Mark's Square as my view, featuring six wines and five courses of white truffles, then got the last seat in a theater where the San Marco Chamber Orchestra performed Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons.  He grew up in Venice and put together much of this composition here, close to where I was sitting.

PBS's Great Performances just this past week featured Scott Yoo traveling through Northern Italy, especially Venice, focusing on the life and works of Vivaldi.  Click here to watch the full 53 minute performance (without any fund-raising segments). A truly wonderful program.

For completeness, here are all the prominent Baroque composers:

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No serious ocean storms, although the Atlantic is messy:

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