Erik Bosgraaf

Baroque woodwind refers to the repertoire, instruments, and performance practices for wind instruments during the Baroque era (ca. 1600–1750). Core instruments include the recorder (blockflute), the one-keyed transverse flute (traverso), the Baroque oboe (hautbois), and the bassoon (evolving from the dulcian). These instruments were built with different bores, fingerings, and reeds from modern counterparts, yielding a more vocal, reedy, and delicately colored sound. The style embraces solo sonatas with basso continuo, trio sonatas, orchestral suites, and concerti—often framed by dance-derived forms and ritornello structures. Ornamentation (agréments), rhetorical phrasing, notes inégales (in French contexts), and affect-driven articulation are essential, along with historically typical pitch (often around A=415) and well/meantone temperaments.