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"If music be the food of love, play on." —WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, TWELFTH NIGHT

Key Points

  • In the Baroque, instruments were perfected, and new large-scale instrumental forms (sonata, concerto) emerged.
  • The trio sonata was the favorite form of instrumental chamber music in the Baroque. Sonatas were also written for solo instruments.
  • Two types of concertos were popular during the Baroque: the solo concerto, with one instrument set against the orchestra; and the concerto grosso, with a small group of soloists and orchestra.
  • Antonio Vivaldi, a virtuoso violinist, composed The Four Seasons, a well-known set of solo violin concertos representing program music.
  • J. S. Bach's 6 Brandenburg Concertos are excellent examples of the concerto grosso.

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