Tag Archives: Baroque

Danielle de Niese: Beauty of the Baroque album

Australian-American lyric soprano Danielle de Niese is a name that has been cropping up for several years now on the Early Music scene. About a decade ago or so, Baroque music was quite a niche type of music, but I have noticed a growing trend that seems to indicate it is becoming more mainstream. Even though it was… Read on

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Identify the causes and consequences of the seventeenth century social and political changes

My assignment for my online course, in case you were interested! The Seventeenth Century was a remarkable time in the history of the world. It was a time of growth in terms of economy and global trade, colonial expansionism, and at the same time, the roots of the modern world took hold. Both conquerors and conquered peoples had… Read on

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English Baroque Music: A Guest Post by London Baroque

Today’s Guest Post comes from one of my absolute favourite Baroque groups: London Baroque. I was thrilled when they agreed to participate in our month of guest posts! So, please welcome London Baroque to The Seventeenth Century Lady! London Baroque is a professional chamber group consisting of three or four musicians and keyboard, to which we very often… Read on

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The Painted Hall, Old Royal Naval College

I finally was able to visit the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich, and egads! it was an amazing experience. First you see the towering architectural buildings designed by the great Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor in 1698: I looked up to see the intertwined initials of Queen Anne and George, and William… Read on

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“Beauty & A Beat” – A Baroque Version

Justin Bieber is phenomenally popular at the moment, with teenaged girls like my niece going bananas for him. Now, I do not listen to mainstream pop music, as it’s just not right for me (because, let’s face it, people are mostly singing about clubbing, and I’ve never gone to a nightclub, or other things I don’t do). During… Read on

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Vivaldi: The Red Priest of Baroque

Antonio Vivaldi is one of the main composers one automatically thinks of when the word “Baroque” is used. He was extremely talented and prolific, yet most people only know of his Four Seasons, and I would like to take the time to correct this. For whilst The Four Seasons concertos have memorable melodies full of the extravagant beauty of… Read on

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Arcangelo Corelli

One of the giants of Italian Baroque, Arcangelo Corelli’s music is a masterful example of this musical style. Born a posthumous son on the 17th of February, 1653, in Fusignano, he is therefore today’s Baroque Birthday Boy! Corelli worked hard and was accepted into Bologna’s much-esteemed Accademica Filarmonica (Source: Tafelmusik) which had been founded in 1666. With his great dedication to… Read on

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Alessandro Melani

Alessandro Melani was born on this day, the fourth of February, 1639, in Pistoia.  He was born into a family of musicians and one of his brothers was a castrato singer. Castratos were increasingly popular as the Seventeenth Century went on, and they reached their zenith of popularity in the Eighteenth century. I quite like Melani’s music, as… Read on

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Johann Georg Pisendel

Johann Georg Pisendel, German Baroque composer/musician, was born on this day 26 December, 1687, and so that makes him today’s Baroque Birthday Boy! Born close to Nuremburg, Germany, Pisendel was born into an already musical family (which always helps) and he grew to become an exceptionally accomplished violinist and composer. He met and worked with some of the… Read on

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Michel-Richard Delalande

Today’s Baroque Birthday Boy is Michel-Richard Delalande. Delalande has, over the years, become rather forgotten amongst his more popular contemporaries, which included the flamboyant Jean-Baptiste Lully and  François Couperin. Delalande was famous in his day for writing exquisite grands motets (sacred music), popular with the Sun King, Louis XIV. Read more about him here. Here is Delalande’s “Confitebor tibi… Read on

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Anthony Van Dyck – Painter to King Charles I

Anthony van Dyck, Flemish painter of the Baroque style, died on this day the 9th November, 1641. van Dyck is undoubtedly best known for being a painter for the ill-fated King Charles I of England and for this painting of the king: For a lovely selection of van Dyck’s works, please visit The National Gallery.

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Giuseppe de Majo

Today’s Baroque Birthday Boy is Giuseppe de Majo. De Majo was born on this day the 5th of December, 1697. Giuseppe was born in Napoli, Italia. Let’s hear some of his music, shall we? This piece is called, “Four Arias of Stuppolo / Cappella della Pietà de’ Turchini:” The next two piece are entitled, “Concerto for flute, strings &… Read on

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André Campra

André Campra, French Baroque composer of Franco-Italian parentage, was baptised on this day 4 December, 1660. In the midst of Seventeenth Century French Baroque goliaths such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Marin Marais, and others, André Campra seems to have been lost in the mix, especially when Jean-Philippe Rameau appeared on the scene. Campra shocked people when he introduced violins into… Read on

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The Suicide of Jeremiah Clarke

Today is a tragic day for lovers of the Baroque. Jeremiah Clarke, Baroque composer & organist at the Chapel Royal, committed suicide on this day 1 December, 1707, by shooting himself in the head. Born around 1674 and having been tutored under great Baroque composer John Blow and having obtained the distinguished role of being the first organist at… Read on

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The Fabulous Peter Lely

Famous for the sensual portraits known as “The Windsor Beauties,” Lely was the leading portrait painter of the Restoration. He died on this day 30th November, 1680. Lely, whose birth name was Pieter van der Faes, was born to Dutch parents in Germany, and he trained in art in Haarlem, back in the Dutch Republic. He made portraits… Read on

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Claudio Monteverdi

Amazing Late Renaissance/Early Baroque composer, Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi, died on this day the 29th of November, 1643. Below is Monteverdi’s Magnificat: Born in 1567, Monteverdi was one of the major transitional composers to span the Renaissance to the Baroque, and in doing so, composed some of the most beautiful music of his time. Here is Monteverdi’s “Lamento… Read on

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Johannes Bach

Today’s Baroque Birthday Boy is none other than a Bach! Johannes Bach, German Baroque composer & member of the musically talented Bach family, was born on this day 26 November, 1604. Johannes was brother to Christoph Bach and Heinrich Bach – both musicians and composers themselves.  Christoph was the father of Johann Christoph Bach and grandfather of the brilliant Bach: Johann Sebastian Bach. Let… Read on

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Claude Lorrain – Baroque artist

Claude Lorrain – French Baroque artist, engraver, & draughtsman, died on this day the 23rd of November, 1682, in the Papal States, Roma. As we do not have an exact year of birth, it is thought that Lorrain was in his late seventies/early eighties when he died. Throughout his career, Lorrain made many works of art depicting mythological,… Read on

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Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell, arguably the greatest English composer of Baroque music, died on this day the 21st of November, 1695. Henry Purcell had been born in late 1659, so that means he was around thirty-six years old at the time of his death. I always find this quite sad, for him – and for us – that he did… Read on

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The Birth of François Couperin

François Couperin, also known as Couperin le Grand, French Baroque composer, was born on this day the 10th of November, 1668 (New Style), in Paris, France.     I was first exposed to Couperin’s music when I was a little girl, listening to the radio programme, Sunday Baroque. Later, when I had moved out of America, I listened to Baroque… Read on

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Tous Les Matins du Monde

Tous Les Matins du Monde is a beautiful, captivating, heart-rending film about real-life 17th century French Baroque composer Marin Marais. This film, from 1991, which stars Gérard Depardieu as Marais, and Depardieu’s own son, Guillaume as the young Marais is stunning. Marin Marais was born in 1656 and died in 1728, and he was a viol player and a composer of Baroque… Read on

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