The Baroque Era: Bach, Vivaldi & Handel

Chapter 4 of 8 · Baroque, c. 1600-1750

Ornate, energetic music built on repeating patterns and dramatic contrasts — meet the era's three most famous composers.

Explore the story Try the quiz

The pipe organ · One of the keyboards of the Baroque era

Music with a flourish

The word "baroque" originally meant elaborate or ornate — a good description of this era's music, full of decorative flourishes, dramatic contrasts between loud and soft, and intricate, interweaving melodies.

A soloist steps into the spotlight

This was the era when opera was born (in Italy, around 1600), and when the concerto — a piece featuring one soloist playing against a full group of musicians — became popular.

Meet the keyboards of the day

Two keyboard instruments ruled the Baroque era: the harpsichord, which plucks its strings so every note comes out at about the same volume no matter how hard you press, and the pipe organ, found in churches and powered by air pushed through pipes.

Where are we in the story?

Approximate dates · Timeline not to scale. Select an underlined era to explore its chapter.

Meet the composers

Different people, different musical ideas. Who will you remember?

Johann Sebastian Bach

1685-1750

A German composer and church organist who wrote hundreds of works, including intricate pieces called fugues, where the same short melody enters again and again in different voices — like a very organized round.

Antonio Vivaldi

1678-1741

An Italian composer, violinist, and — unusually for the time — a Catholic priest, best known for The Four Seasons, four violin concertos that musically paint spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

George Frideric Handel

1685-1759

Born in Germany the same year as Bach, Handel spent most of his career in England, where he composed Messiah, a large work for singers and orchestra called an oratorio, still performed every December.

Pachelbel's Canon in D — the famous ground bass

This eight-note pattern, repeated over and over under a melody, is one of the most famous basslines in all of classical music — a great example of the Baroque love of repeating patterns.

What did you discover?

Give it a go! Choose an answer, then check it to find out more.

Your discoveries0 of 4 questions checked · 0 correct

1. Which instrument plucks its strings, so every note is about the same volume no matter how hard you press the key?

2. True or false: opera was invented during the Baroque era.

3. Which Baroque composer was also a Catholic priest and wrote The Four Seasons?

4. True or false: a fugue is a piece where the same melody enters again and again in different voices.