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Famous Music from the Baroque Period
Part 4 (c. 1600–1750)
Sarabande in D Minor
by G.F. Handel (1685–1759)
George Frideric Handel composed the Sarabande as part of his Keyboard Suite in D minor (HWV 437) between 1703 and 1706. The sarabande was originally a lively dance from Central America that became popular in Europe, though it was once considered scandalous and even banned in Spain for its perceived obscenity. Handel transformed this controversial dance into one of the Baroque period’s most elegant and haunting pieces, adding two variations that give it a slow, expressive depth.
The Sarabande remained largely in obscurity until the 1970s, when director Stanley Kubrick featured it in Barry Lyndon (1975). Its use in film sparked a revival, and it quickly became a favorite for modern audiences, appearing in TV shows, commercials, and films. Handel’s Sarabande stands out among Baroque music for its slow, powerful melody, and its haunting beauty continues to captivate listeners today.
Les Tendres Plaintes
by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764)
Les tendres plaintes (“The Tender Laments”) is one of the most intimate and expressive keyboard pieces by Jean-Philippe Rameau. Composed in the early 18th century and published in his Premier Livre de Pièces de Clavecin (1706), the work reveals a different side of the composer, who is often celebrated for his grand operas.
Rameau was not only a composer but also a groundbreaking music theorist. His harmonic language brought richness and depth to French Baroque music. In this piece, that sophistication appears in subtle harmonic shifts and carefully shaped melodic lines that express quiet longing.
Originally written for the harpsichord, the piece takes on new colors when performed on the modern piano. More than three centuries later, Les tendres plaintes continues to captivate audiences with its simplicity and emotional honesty.
Melody from "Orfeo ed Euridice"
by C. W. Gluck (1714–1787)
Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the ancient myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de’ Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of opera on a mythological subject and includes prominent choruses and dance sequences.
The work was first performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 5 October 1762, in the presence of Maria Theresa. This opera became the first of Gluck’s so-called “reform” operas, in which he sought to move away from the complicated plots and highly ornamental style of opera seria. Instead, he aimed for clarity, emotional truth, and what he described as “noble simplicity” in both music and drama.
Orfeo ed Euridice is the most popular of Gluck’s works and one of the most influential operas in the development of German operatic tradition. Its direct expression, dramatic focus, and integration of music and storytelling marked a turning point in 18th-century opera.
Sonata In D Minor K1
by D. Scarlatti (1685–1757)
Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer whose music also helped shape the early Classical style. He is best known for his extraordinary 555 keyboard sonatas and spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. His time in the Iberian Peninsula left a lasting mark on his music, giving it a distinctive Spanish character.
Sonata K. 1 in D minor was published in 1738 as the opening piece of his collection Essercizi per gravicembalo. This was the only collection of Scarlatti’s keyboard works published during his lifetime, and its first sonata, K. 1, immediately shows his creative, lively, and rhythmically exciting style.
Adagio in G Minor
by Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1751)
This hauntingly beautiful neo-Baroque piece is often attributed to Tomaso Albinoni, though much of it was actually composed by 20th-century musicologist Remo Giazotto, who presented the work as an elaboration on a fragment he claimed to have discovered in a manuscript attributed to Albinoni.
Published in 1958 under the title Adagio in G Minor for Strings and Organ, on Two Thematic Ideas and on a Figured Bass by Tomaso Albinoni, the work quickly gained international recognition. Today, the Adagio is most frequently performed by string ensembles, with or without organ, though it has also been arranged for numerous other instruments.
Despite ongoing questions about its origins, it remains one of the most widely recognized and emotionally moving works associated with Albinoni’s name, admired for its lyrical beauty and dramatic intensity.