Baroque Composers

The Baroque period (ca. 1600-1750) was a time of experimentation with harmony; it also witnessed the emergence of purely instrumental music.

• Antonio Vivaldi (born 1675, died 1741)

  Italian composer.

  • Composed The Four Seasons
• George Frederick Handel (born 1685, died 1759)

  German-born English composer.

  • Composed The Messiah and Water Music
• Johann Sebastian Bach (born 1685, died 1750)

  German composer. Father of composers Johann Christian Bach and Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

  • Prolific composer whose works include The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Brandenburg Concertos
• Dietrich Buxtehude (born 1637, died 1707)

  Danish composer and organist.

  • Bach once walked 200 miles to hear a performance of his work
• Henry Purcell (born 1658, died 1695)

  British composer.

  • Composed Dido and Aeneas
• Alessandro Scarlatti (born 1659, died 1725)

  Italian composer.

  • Composed operas, masses, oratorios and cantatas
• Domenico Scarlatti (born 1685, died 1757)

  Italian composer.

  • Composer of harpsichord works
• Johann Pachelbel (born 1653, died 1706)

  German composer.

  • Composed the Canon
• Girolamo Frescobaldi (born 1583, died 1643)

  Italian composer.

  • Composer of canzone (similar to madrigals) and keyboard works
• Georg Phillipp Telemann (born 1681, died 1767)

  German composer.

  • Composer of sacred music, operas and instrumental works
• Henry Carey (born 1687, died 1743)

  English poet and composer.

  • Believed to have written the English national anthem, ''''God Save the King''''
• Tommaso Albioni (born 1671, died 1750)

  Italian composer and violinist.

  • Wrote operas and instrumental music
• John Blow (died 1708)

  English composer.

  • Wrote Venus and Adonis, the first English opera
• Reinhard Keiser (born 1674, died 1739)

  German composer.

  • Composed operas and sacred music