Answer: FROM PLATO
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The Baroque period saw a number of composers at their musical best. They composed a variety of music, such as cantatas, oratorios, sonatas, operas, and so on. The major regions in Europe where Baroque music flourished were Germany, Austria, England, Italy, and France.
Girolamo Frescobaldi: Girolamo Frescobaldi was born in 1583 and was one of the earliest composers of the Baroque period. He was a renowned keyboardist and a trendsetter in keyboard music. His Franco-Netherlandish-Italian tradition of music provided a mix of creative energy reflected in his instrumental compositions. He artfully treated traditional forms and made innovations in tempo as well as in the art of variation. He composed sets of variations around an original theme and introduced juxtaposition. His most impressive work was Cento Partite Sopra Passacaglia, and he also wrote a large number of motets, arias, canzonas, fantasias, and capriccios. His music had a marked influence on Henry Purcell, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Johann Jakob Froberger, among countless other later composers. This musical genius breathed his last in 1643.
Alessandro Scarlatti: Alessandro Scarlatti was born in 1660 and was an eminent composer of the Baroque period. He founded the Neapolitan school of opera. His use of standardized forms, minimization of recitatives, and embellishments of arias are representations of changes in operatic music during the period. His music exemplified the Napoli school and used various modulations and changing phrase lengths. Some of his works showed deep poetic feeling and melody, which was broad, dignified, and had strong dramatization. His most prominent works include Olimpia Vendicata, Christmas Oratorio, Gli Equivoci nel Sembiante, and La Caduta del Decemviri. He composed more than a hundred operas, cantatas, oratorios, and pieces of sacred music. He was the father of two other well-known Baroque composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti. He passed away in 1725.
François Couperin: Born in 1668, François Couperin was a Baroque composer from France. He was also an excellent harpsichordist and organist, along with being a composer. Exquisite harmonies, discords, and a variety of moods characterize his music. He also developed various keyboard techniques with suggestions for touch, fingering, and ornamentation. Some of his greatest works include Le Parnasse, Ou L’Apothéose de Corelli (Parnassus, or the Apotheosis of Corelli), The Mysterious Barricades, and Offertoire Sur les Grands Jeux. His music greatly influenced composers of later generations. He died in 1733.
Jean-Baptiste Lully: Born as Giovanni Battista Lulli in 1632, he was a French composer of Italian origin. He changed his name to Jean-Baptiste Lully and became an instrumentalist and dancer along with being a key figure in French Baroque music. He was the chief architect of the French Baroque style of music during the middle Baroque period. His music used basso continuo as the driving force, with a pitch of about 392 Hz. The music had power and liveliness with fast movements and slower movements delivering deep emotional characteristics. He introduced the comédie-ballet, using the elements of theater, comedy, and ballet with incidental music. He was also an influential force in bringing changes to dancing styles. Some of his greatest works include operas like Isis and Roland, motets like Dies irae and Bendictus, and so on. He died in 1687.
Heinrich Schütz: Heinrich Schütz, born in 1585, was one of the most important German composers of the Baroque period. He was also an organist par excellence. His music had a marked influence on Monteverdi and other Italian composers, including Gabrieli. Most of his works are religious works, such as Psalmen Davids, Die sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz, and Cantiones Sacrae. He was the first composer to compose a German opera, Dafne. His music had a huge influence on composers such as Anton Webern and Brahms and on the North German organ school. Schütz died in 1672 in Dresden.
