Part of: Early Music in Weill Recital Hall
Get together with people who love music after this Weill Recital Hall concert for a free drink and discussion with the evening's musicians.
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The 18th century was a time of far-reaching changes in the musical world. Even as the harpsichord was gradually eclipsed by the more powerful and expressive fortepiano, so too did the crystalline harmonies and contrapuntal complexity of Baroque music give way to the elegant simplicity of the galant style and the more sophisticated tonal language of Classicism. Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, both born in 1685 and both renowned keyboard virtuosos, responded to this transition in different ways: Bach’s keyboard music epitomized the styles and procedures of the Baroque era, while Scarlatti’s looked ahead to the music of Haydn and Mozart.
As a composer, Bach was strongly influenced by the brilliant Italian style of instrumental music represented by Vivaldi, Marcello, and others. As a performer, he studied and admired the works of the French clavecinistes, whose harpsichord music demanded exceptional lightness and evenness of touch to achieve its characteristic blend of delicacy and brilliance. Scarlatti, one of the greatest harpsichordists in history, is best known for the short, single-movement sonatas whose apparent simplicity masks a highly original approach to the keyboard.