# Top 5 Baroque Concertos (or Concerti) CD's



## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Concertos of any kind. What are your top 5 (or the most you can add) Concertos of the Baroque Era. You can just name the Composer if you don't have an exact favorite. 
Vivaldi - Four Seasons 
Bach - Brandenburg Concertos and Violin Concertos 
Handel - Water Music 
Corelli - Concerti Grossi
Bach - Harpsichord Concertos


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

The peak of Baroque concerto music without a doubt would be Bach's six _Brandenburg Concertos_ and Handel's twelve _Concerti Grossi_, opus 6. The range of moods and expression are often considered unsurpassed in these works at least as far as Baroque concerto music is concerned. They may not necessarily be the most popular, for example Vivaldi's _Spring_ concerto from his _Four Seasons_ appear more popular today, or indeed Handel's _Water Music_ suites appear more popular than his own opus 6. But it is probably one of those few rare instances in music where you can objectively state "top concertos" from the Baroque would be amongst these.

Bach likely wrote his six over a period of time and collected them as a set of six for presentation as a job CV, while Handel wrote his twelve in a concentrated burst of inspiration over about 4 weeks averaging two to three days per concerto during September/October of 1739.

Your mention of the other works are of note, in particular Corelli's opus 6 (no coincidence from a publishing exercise that Handel himself also named his as opus 6 to reach classic status, which Corelli's set already did by 1739).


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

neoshredder said:


> Concertos of any kind. What are your top 5 (or the most you can add) Concertos of the Baroque Era. You can just name the Composer if you don't have an exact favorite.
> Vivaldi - Four Seasons
> Bach - Brandenburg Concertos and Violin Concertos
> Handel - Water Music
> ...


That's about 50-60 concertos lol


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

This is kind of a side curiosity, but I've always kind of considered Vivaldi to be the heir to Corelli's throne so to speak as far as concerti grossi go. Would I be accurate in saying this?


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

violadude said:


> That's about 50-60 concertos lol


Too hard for me to narrow it down. That's why I mentioned cd's rather than just concertos.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

violadude said:


> This is kind of a side curiosity, but I've always kind of considered Vivaldi to be the heir to Corelli's throne so to speak as far as concerti grossi go. Would I be accurate in saying this?


Not really. They wrote different formats of the Baroque concerto. Vivaldian model = three movement fast-slow-fast that we all know, and Bach preferred. Corellian model = multi-movement, usually slow-fast-slow-fast, that many also followed, and Handel preferred.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> Not really. They wrote different formats of the Baroque concerto. Vivaldian model = three movement fast-slow-fast that we all know, and Bach preferred. Corellian model = multi-movement, usually slow-fast-slow-fast, that many also followed, and Handel preferred.


Oh...My mistake then!!


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> The peak of Baroque concerto music without a doubt would be Bach's six _Brandenburg Concertos_ and Handel's twelve _Concerti Grossi_, opus 6. The range of moods and expression are often considered unsurpassed in these works at least as far as Baroque concerto music is concerned. They may not necessarily be the most popular, for example Vivaldi's _Spring_ concerto from his _Four Seasons_ appear more popular today, or indeed Handel's _Water Music_ suites appear more popular than his own opus 6. But it is probably one of those few rare instances in music where you can objectively state "top concertos" from the Baroque would be amongst these.
> 
> Bach likely wrote his six over a period of time and collected them as a set of six for presentation as a job CV, while Handel wrote his twelve in a concentrated burst of inspiration over about 4 weeks averaging two to three days per concerto during September/October of 1739.
> 
> Your mention of the other works are of note, in particular Corelli's opus 6 (no coincidence from a publishing exercise that Handel himself also named his as opus 6 to reach classic status, which Corelli's set already did by 1739).


Good info to know. But I'm more interested in personal favorites. Not necessarily the most complex or complete concertos. Sometimes they go together like my choice of Brandenburg's Concertos.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

At the moment maybe:

1. Bach: Double Violin Concerto
2. Bach: Harpsichord Concerto BWV 1056
3. Bach: Harpsichord Concerto BWV 1053
4. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto 3
5. Vivaldi: Four Seasons


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