Instrumental Music 

    Both Bach and Handel wrote concerti grossi similar to those of Corelli (see p. 12 for further details).  They also wrote a number of other orchestral works, such as overtures, suites and concertos for solo instruments, and chamber music for various solo instruments or combinations of them.  The continuo was present in. all of these works, except for a few suites which Bach wrote for violin alone and 'cello alone (see pp. 69-76 for details of form and style).  If we compare these works with the instrumental fantasies of the Elizabethans we can see how much they arc indebted to the innovations of the seventeenth century.  The violin family has completely ousted the viol family, and a large combination of instruments, called an orchestra, has come into being.  Movements are much longer and more highly organized, largely because of the development of tonality and the possibilities of key contrasts.  Instrumental music of this period is quite often heard at concerts today, while Elizabethan instrumental music is a rarity.

    In addition to the use of the harpsichord for continuo purposes in all chamber, orchestral and accompanied choral music, there was a growing literature for it as a solo instrument.  Much of this music could be played on the clavichord as well, though the harpsichord would always be used in a large room (see pp. 6-8 for a description of these instruments).

    Handel wrote quite a large body of harpsichord music, including suites, sonatas and fugues, but it is rather thin and bare.  He added embellishments and improvisations when performing these works in public himself.  On the whole he did not pay a great deal of attention to his harpsichord music, and it does not form part of his best work.  

    But the situation is quite different with Bach.  He loved the keyboard instruments, particularly the intimate little clavichords, and he surrounded himself with them in his home.  Page 8 explains how his 48 preludes and fugues were composed to demonstrate the advantages of equal temperament, and there are many references to them on pp. 64-68: while pp. 70-7i refer to his keyboard suites.  Bach's clavier music is a most important side of his work.  It is usually played on the piano today, and is an indispensable part of every pianist's repertoire.

    One other clavier composer of the period must be mentioned:   Domenico Scarlatti, the son of the opera composer.  He was bom in the same year as Bach and Handel, and died in 1757.  He was a Neapolitan, but he traveled a good deal in Italy, and in Spain where he finally settled.  He was the first composer to make a study of the particular characteristics of the harpsichord, and his pieces have brilliance and a delicacy that delight audiences today.  He was fond of' effects gained by crossing the hands, though eventually he got too fat to play them with ease!  He wrote at least 555 sonatas, but they were all short and in one movement, usually in binary form.  His other works, mainly operas and church music, are now rarely heard.

    The last instrument to be discussed here is the organ.  Handel left a number of organ concertos, but the organ part is sketchy, as he added his own improvisations when giving performances of the works.  They were secular “show" pieces, often played between sections of an oratorio, as a relaxation.  Bach's organ pieces, on the contrary, are a most important side of his work.  He wrote a large number of preludes and fugues, toccatas, sonatas, fantasies and choral preludes, some quite easy, others very difficult.  Bach is considered to be the greatest of all organ composers.