Goldberg-Variationen, BWV 988

Baroque is a period and style of Western art music spanning roughly 1600–1750. It is characterized by the birth of functional tonality, the widespread use of basso continuo (figured bass), and a love of contrast—between soloist and ensemble, loud and soft, and different timbres. Hallmark genres and forms of the era include opera, cantata, oratorio, concerto (especially the concerto grosso), dance suite, sonata, and fugue. Textures range from expressive monody to intricate counterpoint, and melodies are richly ornamented with trills, mordents, and appoggiaturas. Baroque music flourished in churches, courts, and theaters across Europe, with regional styles (Italian, French, German, English) shaping distinctive approaches to rhythm, dance, harmony, and ornamentation.

Harpsichord refers to a repertoire and performance tradition centered on the plucked‑string keyboard instruments of the Renaissance and Baroque eras. Its sound is produced by quills (or plectra) that pluck the strings, giving a clear attack, rapid decay, and a bright, silvery timbre distinct from the later piano. As a genre tag it encompasses solo keyboard works (suites, ordres, toccatas, preludes and fugues, character pieces), concertos, chamber sonatas with continuo, and continuo playing in vocal and instrumental music. Stylistically it spans Italian brilliance, English virginalist craft, French elegance with agréments and notes inégales, German contrapuntal rigor, and Iberian color and rhythm. Modern harpsichord performance is closely tied to historically informed practice: period instruments or replicas, historical temperaments, A=415 (or period-appropriate) pitch, and articulation and ornamentation derived from primary sources.

Classical music is the notated art-music tradition of Europe and its global descendants, characterized by durable forms, carefully codified harmony and counterpoint, and a literate score-based practice. The term “classical” can refer broadly to the entire Western art-music lineage from the Medieval era to today, not just the Classical period (c. 1750s–1820s). It privileges long-form structures (such as symphonies, sonatas, concertos, masses, and operas), functional or modal harmony, thematic development, and timbral nuance across ensembles ranging from solo instruments to full orchestras and choirs. Across centuries, the style evolved from chant and modal polyphony to tonal harmony, and later to post-tonal idioms, while maintaining a shared emphasis on written notation, performance practice, and craft.