THE PRE-BAROQUE AND BAROQUE ERAS

(see also: CLASSIC ERA)-FIXLINK
The three most significant Baroque keyboard composers are J.S. Bach, Handel and Domenico Scarlatti. However, daring souls who wish to pursue pre-Baroque keyboard repertory are urged to consult Chapter Two of Stewart Gordon's excellent book, "A History of Keyboard Literature: Music for the Piano and its Forerunners," 1996, ISBN 0-02-870965-9. Check your local library; if they don't have it, ask them to get it via interlibrary loan. You can also check your favorite local bookstore or order online:
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http://www.amazon.com/ or http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/

EXAMPLES OF IMPORTANT PRE-BAROQUE/EARLY BAROQUE COMPOSERS ARE:

John Bull (1562-1628)

William Byrd (1543-1623)

Antonio de Cabezòn (1510-66)

Manuel Rodrigues Coelho (ca. 1583- ca. 1625 or later)

Benjamin Cosyn (ca. 1570-1652)

Giles Farnaby (ca. 1560- ca. 1620?)

Andrea Gabrieli (ca. 1510-86)
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)

Claudio Merulo (1533-1604)

Thomas Morley (1557- ca. 1603)

John Munday (ca. 1555? -1630)

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)

Thomas Tomkins (ca. 1572-1656)
To find specific keyboard repertory by these & other composers, consult:

Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire by Maurice Hinson: 1st edition, 1973, Indiana U. Press, ISBN 0-253-32700-8; 2nd edition, Indiana U. Press, call # ML 128 P3 H5 1987; 3rd edition due out in February, 2001.

Ask your librarian, order from your favorite local bookstore, or order online.-BROKENLINK
For more information see also: Keyboard Music Before 1700, Alexander Silbert, editor, 1995, Schirmer Books, ISBN 0-02-872391-0.

For an excellent discussion of Bach interpretation, see:
"Interpreting Bach's Preludes & Fugues" by Andras Schiff, Clavier magazine, March 1987, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 15-18. (Consult your local librarian; if they do not have it, ask to get a copy by interlibrary loan.)

We encourage contestants to embellish and/or improvise when appropriate. In the words of Andras Schiff (from the article cited above): "One thing is certain: in movements written in binary form, such as dances that require repeats, the last thing the composer intended was for the second time to sound like an exact copy of the first."

See also the discussion under Best Demonstrations of EMBELLISHING AND/OR IMPROVISING IN A Classical Work (an appropriate Baroque, Classic or Romantic period work).

KEYBOARDISTS WHO PLAY BAROQUE MUSIC WITH IMAGINATION AND TASTEFUL EMBELLISHMENTS INCLUDE:

Sergey Schepkin (click here for recordings)
(See the November/December 2000 issue of Piano & Keyboard, p. 64, for Arthur Houle's favorable review of Schepkin's CD's of Bach)

Andras Schiff (click here for recordings):
http://www.amazon.com/-BROKENLINK

Igor Kipnis (click here for recordings):
http://www.amazon.com/-BROKENLINK