A Baroque orchestra is an ensemble for mixed instruments that existed during the Baroque era of Western Classical music, commonly identified as 1600–1750. Baroque orchestras are typically much smaller, in terms of the number of performers, than their

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

-era counterparts. Baroque orchestras originated in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

where

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas ...

added the newly re-designed

hautbois The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

(oboe) and transverse flutes to his orchestra,

Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi (in original orthography ''Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roy'' and in English ''The King's 24 Violin-Family Instruments'') was a five–part string ensemble at the French royal court, existing from 1626 to 1761. The fiv ...

("The Twenty-Four Violins of the King"). As well as violins and woodwinds, baroque orchestras often contained basso continuo instruments such as the theorbo, the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...

, the

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a ...

and the

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''rank ...

. In the Baroque period, the size of an orchestra was not standardised. There were large differences in size, instrumentation and playing styles—and therefore in orchestral soundscapes and palettes—between the various European regions. The 'Baroque orchestra' ranged from smaller orchestras (or ensembles) with one player per part, to larger scale orchestras with many players per part. Examples of the smaller variety were Bach's orchestras, for example in Koethen where he had access to an ensemble of up to 18 players. Examples of large scale Baroque orchestras would include Corelli's orchestra in Rome which ranged between 35 and 80 players for day-to-day performances, being enlarged to 150 players for special occasions.

Early-music ensembles today

The term Baroque orchestra is commonly used today to refer to chamber orchestras giving historically informed performances of baroque or classical music on period

Baroque instruments Musical instruments used in Baroque music were partly used already before, partly are still in use today, but with no technology. The movement to perform music in a historically informed way, trying to recreate the sound of the period, led to the ...

or replica instruments. The period-instrument revival of the 1970s inspired the development of the first period-instrument baroque orchestras, led by

Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt or historically Johann Nikolaus Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt; () (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music ...

, Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Bruggen and Terrence Holford. Since the 1970s many baroque orchestras have been formed across Europe, as well as some in North America. Baroque orchestras active in the 2010s include: * Academy of Ancient Music *

American Bach Soloists The American Bach Soloists (ABS) is an American baroque orchestra based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The orchestra was founded in Belvedere, California in 1989. Performers share music from Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries during the C ...

* Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra * Apollo’s Fire: The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra *

Arcadia Players The Arcadia Players is an American chamber orchestra using historically informed performance to explore repertoire from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras. Based in Northampton, Massachusetts, the ensemble performs throughout New England. ...

* Arion Baroque Orchestra * Les Arts Florissants *

Atlanta Baroque Orchestra The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra (ABO), founded in 1997 in Atlanta, Georgia, is the first and oldest professional orchestra in the Southeastern United States of America dedicated to historically informed performance, (also called "authentic performa ...

Barocco sempre giovane Barocco sempre giovane is a professional Czech chamber orchestra. Barocco sempre giovane (Baroque forever young) was founded in 2004 by a violoncellist Josef Krečmer. It is a chamber ensemble consisting of young musicians, standing organist a ...

* Boston Baroque * Bourbon Baroque: Louisville's Period Instrument Ensemble *

La Chapelle Rhénane La Chapelle Rhénane is a French Baroque music, baroque musical ensemble conducted by Benoît Haller, also a soloist in the ensemble. History Founded in 2001 by tenor Benoît Haller, La Chapelle Rhénane is a musical ensemble of lyrical and inst ...

Collegium 1704 Collegium 1704 is a Czech early music orchestra and choir founded in 2005 by the Czech conductor, harpsichordist, and horn player Václav Luks. The Collegium Vocale 1704 is the affiliated vocal ensemble. Since 2007, the ensemble has been making r ...

Collegium Marianum Collegium Marianum is a Prague-based Czech early music orchestra founded in 1997 by the flautist Jana Semerádová. She graduated from the Prague Conservatory and the Philosophical faculty of Charles University, where she studied theory and perform ...

* Concerto Italiano * Concerto Köln * The English Baroque Soloists *

The English Concert The English Concert is a baroque orchestra playing on period instruments based in London. Founded in 1972 and directed from the harpsichord by Trevor Pinnock for 30 years, it is now directed by harpsichordist Harry Bicket. Nadja Zwiener has ...

Europa Galante Europa Galante is an Italian period-instrument Baroque orchestra founded by violinist Fabio Biondi in 1990 and directed by him. The ensemble has been invited to play at festivals and in concert halls such as La Scala in Milan, the Accademia di ...

* Florilegium * La Folia Barockorchester * Freiburger Barockorchester *

Göteborg Baroque Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a ...

Il Giardino Armonico Il Giardino Armonico ("The Garden of Harmony") is an Italian ensemble well noted for its practice of Historically Informed Performance and founded in Milan in 1985 by Luca Pianca and Giovanni Antonini, primarily to play 17th- and 18th-century mu ...

The Hanover Band The Hanover Band is a British orchestra specialised in historically informed performance, founded by its artistic director, Caroline Brown. The group's website explains the name thus: '' 'Hanover' signifies the Hanoverian period 1714-1830 and 'B ...

* Hespèrion XX and Hespèrion XXI *

Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra The Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra is a Baroque orchestra dedicated to performing music of the 17th and 18th centuries using period instruments and historically informed performance practices to enrich, educate, and inspire the Indiana community a ...

* Modo Antiquo * Musica Antiqua Köln *

Musicians of the King's Road Musicians of the King's Road (Finnish: ''Kuninkaantien muusikot'', Swedish: ''Kungsvägens musiker'') is a Finnish professional baroque orchestra and choir. The orchestra plays on period instruments. Orchestra and choir Musicians of the King' ...

(Finnish: Kuninkaantien muusikot) * Netherlands Bach Society (Dutch: Nederlandse Bachvereniging) *

New Dutch Academy The New Dutch Academy (NDA) is an international Dutch Baroque orchestra based in The Hague, the Netherlands. It is composed of 40 international, early music, specialist musicians, who gather in The Hague to explore 18th-century music in all of its f ...

New Trinity Baroque New Trinity Baroque is an ensemble and orchestra with an associated chamber choir, specialised in baroque music played on period instruments. It was founded in 1998 in London but is now based in Atlanta, United States. It is led by harpsichordist an ...

* Newport Baroque Orchestra * Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment * Les Paladins * Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra * Portland Baroque Orchestra * Taverner Consort and Players * Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra * Tempesta di Mare: The Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra * Venice Baroque Orchestra * Wrocław Baroque Orchestra

Instrumentation

Baroque orchestra

; Woodwinds: :2 Flutes :2

Oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

s :2 Bassoons ;

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

: :2

Natural horn The natural horn is a musical instrument that is the predecessor to the modern-day (French) horn (differentiated by its lack of valves). Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth century the natural horn evolved as a separation from the trump ...

s :2

Natural trumpet A natural trumpet is a valveless brass instrument that is able to play the notes of the harmonic series. History The natural trumpet was used as a military instrument to facilitate communication (e.g. break camp, retreat, etc.). Even before t ...

s ;Percussion: :

Timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditiona ...

(e.g., Handel's ''Messiah'') ; Keyboards and other chord-playing instruments selected by the ensemble leader :

Harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a ...

Pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''rank ...

Lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...

: Theorbo ; Strings: :

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

I :

II :

Viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

: Violoncello :

Double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

(and/or bass violones or other low-pitched bowed strings)

Recordings of baroque music

*Corelli Concerti Grossi *Antonio Vivaldi, Pietro Locatelli

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Orchestras

Early-music ensembles today

Instrumentation

Baroque orchestra

Recordings of baroque music

See also

References