Dipping my toes in to Baroque

I visited Titian last weekend and and we sampled various composers, Handel, Vivaldi, Boyce and a few Italians whose names escaped me.

I tended to prefer this to some most of the 19th century stuff I've heard. Yes I know thats a hundred years and many composers and I haven't even given the 18th a chance yet, but I've got to start somewhere!

Is there a 'The Best Baroque Album Ever!' available? So point me in the right direction

 

As you're a jazz man, Lee, a preference for the baroque doesn't surprise me, because the distance between the two is not as great as that between the jazz and romantic (=big orchestral) worlds. Jacques Loussier always found Bach a bit of a swinger!

Baroque is actually a terrible name - they took the term from the architecture of the same name, but the term in music is applied not to a particular style (there were a number of distinct styles), but to the time period (approx. 1600-1760). It started with the forerunners (the Gabrielis, Schütz), Monteverdi was the major transition figure and it culminated in the giants Bach and Handel.

There do indeed exist baroque sampler CDs - I've seen them, but I haven't got any. I recommend starting with the best-known works, all of which have enormous ear appeal. These are:

Handel - Water Music and Royal Fireworks Music. Simply two of the best bits of light music ever written. I am particularly fond of the Pinnock/English Concert versions, but Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists have also highly rated versions - and they're both on a single CD.

Bach - The Brandenburg Concertos. A group of widely varied concerti grossi. Best known is the strings-only No.3, but the others are also excellent. The most spectacular is No.2 with its wildly shrilling trumpet. I like the modern instrument version of Marriner and the ASMF with an all-star cast (such as Michala Petri)

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons. Four concerti taken from a bigger series. Typical Vivaldi, bright and lively. There is an enormous number of recordings available.

Bach - the orchestral suites. Sometimes called overtures. There are four of these. No.2 is famous for the badinerie for flute (you will know the tune, rest assured), and No.3 gave us "Air on a G String".

Bach - organ. A record of Bach's greatest hits for the King of Instruments is always worthwhile. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is the one that always turns up (and a great piece it is), but there are soooooo many others.

Happy listening!

 

Lee

you will receive a present from me...
The other composers were:
Scarlatti, Albinoni, Boccherini (not really Baroque), Pachebel and (?)

tones,
we heard all those stuff except for the organ music.

 

If you want to try some baroque vocal music, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater would be a good one to try. If it doesn't move you, best see your doctor.

 

I don't see if a music moves you and other milions of people should move everybody.
And especially those who it doesn't move should be declared ill.

In another thread of this forum, there are just discussing how different people hear differently music. This has a great impact how music moves (or not) people differently.

 

Tony

Yes noticed the similarities with Jazz myself. I went to a concert with some Correlli being played. 12 musicians standing up almost taking turns to solo. I loved that and could really imagine that back in the day they may well have extended and improvised.

Alan, if you read the other thread, you find vocals aren't high in my priority list, but I will always try something at least once (maybe twice if it doesn't hurt). Actually found some samples here http://digilander.libero.it/cmi/stabatmater/stabatmater1.html and give them a listen.

So thanks for the suggestions.

 

In searching around I came across http://www.classiccat.net/ which in their own words is 'a directory with links to over 2500 free to download classical performances on the internet'

Looks like I could be busy for a while

 

Improvisation was very much a part of music in those days (indeed, it continued through to about the time of Beethoven - Beethoven left two gaps in the violin concerto for cadenzas, which were intended to be improvised - these days most soloists use the cadenzas written by Fritz Kreisler). At one point, Bach was challenged to an improvisation contest on the organ. When the time of the contest came, the other competitor couldn't be found - apparently he had overheard Bach warming up on the organ and immediately left town!

Here's something you might like:

Bob James playing the music of Jean-Philippe Rameau, one of the great French keyboard composers, on synthesisers. To my ears, it remains true to the spirit of the music, and I think that Rameau would have loved it.

 

Well, I always thought when overdosed this piece can sound rather like those two stray female cats outside my window soliciting for tomcat love at midnight.

Time to get coat, see doc etc etc...

ps: the Abbado version is rather nice

 

I've heard the Bob James cd. I'm sure it was at Titian's so it might even have been yours Tony. And yes I did enjoy it.

 

Lee, I came across this on Friday in Musik Hug in the depths of Zürich railway station:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...2994/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/026-8457546-9574813

It has many of the baroque "warhorses", including the whole of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", but split up and with other bits in between (not as outlandish as you might think - the four are four entirely separate three-movement concerti). There are a lot of good things in there, including the fabulous Vivaldi double trumpet concerto.

Speaking of which, here's another one worth having, should you accidentally come across it - I think it's been deleted:

The Läubin brothers are all trumpeters with major German orchestras, and they combine here with organist Simon Preston in a cathedral to make a simply magnificent sound. The stunning version of Handel's "See, the conqu'ring hero comes" from "Judas Maccabeus" is worth the price of the CD alone.

P.S. If you put "best baroque" into the classical section of Amazon, a number of possibilities emerge.

 

I believe soon enough Lee will have so much baroque that it will take him more than a year or two to listen to it all.
:yikes:

It might not be the best but it's baroque.

 

re the brandenburg concertos.

i was fortunate enough to get my hands on a copy of the Collegium Auriem (sp?) version on BASF Harmonia Mundi. I cannot rate this recording Highly enough... especially number 4. the recorder one.

Charity shops often have great baroque albums cheap. I'm still searching for the missing half of the L'oiseau-Lyre Italian baroque album by Neville Marriner and ASM...

 

Thanks, you reminded me of my decision to acquire the Collegium Aureum set on CD (just rerealeased by HMD).

 

Thanks. I didn't know it was getting a CD release. Yay!

 

I haven't heard the Collegium Aureum one, but this is my personal favourite:

http://www.jsbach.org/brandenburg.html

 

Collegium Aureum

Yes , and the Marriner II recording is indeed one of the best modern-instrument recordings IMO too (don't forget the Redel II though). But the Collegium Aureum recording has got the advantage of period instruments and some exceptional soloists (Edward Tarr, Helmut Hucke, Hans-Martin Linde, Ulrich Koch and Gustav Leonhardt to mention a few), and the actual price is only 10 Euro. It is almost impossible to get it cheaper and better.

 

Ordered the Collegium Aureum (last one on Amazon Deutschland - or perhaps they just say that to lure gullible people like me)!

How goes it with Leusink, Pe-Zulu? The latest Gardiner is due chez moi this week.

 

The Collegium Aureum is available at www.jpc.de too. It was announced about 2 months ago, I can't imagine, it should be out of sale already.
I try to listen to at least six of Leusinks cantatas a week. Pause with the Rilling listening . I have to say, that I like Leusink better, not the least because of the fine soloists, esp. R.Holton and B.Ramselar, I appreciate her clear and almost boyish voice. The countertenor on the other hand sounds IMO much like a pupil of Rene Jacobs, and like RdS I don't like this theatrical style.

Regards,

 

the brandenburg concertos

When I come home I better see what interpretations I have except for ... Karajan.
I have several LPs with the Collegium Aureum: must check about the brandenburg concertos.

@Lee
it would be interesting to know which baroque music CDs you've heard at home and what do you think about them.