I’m currently finishing off a work for the wonderful Pacific Baroque Orchestra and thought I’d share some insight and answer some questions about writing for a Baroque orchestra.
First off, what is a Baroque Orchestra anyway? Well, a modern “Baroque” orchestra consists of copies of instruments, or actual instruments that would have been used during the Baroque period of music (1600-1760). For example a Baroque oboe has only three keys (a modern oboe has 45 pieces of key work), the Violone is the predecessor to the Contrabass, and of course recorders are rarely used in modern music. String instruments generally had shorter bows and everything was tuned lower since the strings were made of cat gut 🙁 and couldn’t be stretched as tightly.
What is it like to write for a Baroque orchestra and how is it different than writing for a modern orchestra? The principles of music don’t change depending on the instruments I write for. I am more familiar with writing for a modern orchestra, but I have written for enough different and unusual ensembles to be comfortable approaching instruments I am less familiar with. I have also listened to recordings and seen Baroque orchestras in concert so I knew what I was getting into. For my “Partita” I listened to recordings of Pacific Baroque and other Baroque orchestras to see how I would be inspired by the sound. Every piece is a different bricolage because I am different, and the instrumental possibilities are different with every piece. For Pacific Baroque I was inspired to write music that is a blend of popular rhythms and melodies, Baroque counterpoint and form, and my own personal style. I didn’t know that the harpsichord could sound so funky!
It’s been such fun to write this piece I can’t wait to hear the PBO dig into it. If you are in Vancouver you can check out Pacific Baroque Orchestra playing my “Partita” along with Bach and sons music on Saturday March 24, St. Mark’s Church ~ 7:30pm and Sunday March 25, West Van United Church ~ 2:30pm.