Tag: Baroque

Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian composer in the Baroque Period. Vivaldi wrote more than 400 concertos for various instruments, especially for the violin. The scores of 21 operas, including his first and last, are still intact. His most popular work is the group of four violin concertos called “The Four Seasons”. Each concerto describes a season: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. We watched a recent recording by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum Theatre (Spring 🌼 0:20, Summer 🌞10:14, Autumn 🍃 19:55, Winter ❄️ 31:10). We didn’t have time to listen to more, but here are other famous works Vivaldi composed: Trio in C Major, Gloria in D

George Handel

Our musician of the week is George Frederick Handel from the Baroque Period. His most famous work is the Hallelujah chorus from Messiah, which Christians today still sing around Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We also watched a Baroque dance to Water Music, which Handel wrote to be played for King George I of Great Britain as he and other aristocrats were enjoying a “cruise” down the Thames River and other peasants watched from the shore. Lastly, we watched musicians play Music for the Royal Fireworks, using Baroque instruments like the shawm (ancestor of the oboe), Baroque trumpet (no valves), and Baroque horn (ancestor of the French Horn).