Bach and the Baroque

Bach and the Baroque

Apple Music Classical

Updated 4 days ago

Baroque music tends to be known for its clarity and concision: Think Pachelbel and Purcell, or J.S. Bach. Spanning the 17th century through the beginning of the Classical era around the mid-1700s, the compositions here also chart the emergence of forms like the concerto, sonata and oratorio. This playlist is regularly refreshed by our classical editors. If you like a piece, add it to your library.

III. Allegro

Alessandro Tampieri, Marcello Gatti, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone

5:31

I. Allegro

Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Howard Griffiths, Martin James Bartlett

7:09

I. —

Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya

2:10

I. Preludio

Renaud Capuçon

3:29

I. Prélude

Anastasia Kobekina

2:58

III. Allegro

Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante

2:41

VII. Sarabande, G. 51

3:54

IV. Presto

Katy Bircher, Adrian Chandler, Tabea Debus, La Serenissima

2:55

I. [Allegro]

Simone Dinnerstein, Baroklyn

7:59

IV. Allegro

2:59

Sinfonia (Arr. Diluka for Piano)

1:32

Var. 15. Canone alla Quinta a 1 Clav. Andante (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025)

5:39

II. Air (Arr. Siloti for Solo Piano)

5:04

I. Kyrie, Gloria: No. 7, Gratias agimus tibi

Raphaël Pichon, Ensemble Pygmalion

3:20

II. [Sonata II]

Bojan Čičić, The Illyria Consort

1:46

IV. Sarabande

Anastasia Kobekina

4:08

I. Le Coucou

1:49

I. Allegro

Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante

2:08

III. Adagio

Ottavio Dantone, Alessandro Tampieri, Accademia Bizantina

3:06

I. Adagio

Bernhard Forck, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Isabelle Faust

3:02

Sonata IV: IV. Menuet 1711

Eva Saladin, Daniel Rosin, Johannes Keller

3:40

III. Sarabande (Orch. Equilbey) [Homage to "Barry Lyndon"]

Laurence Equilbey, Insula Orchestra

2:29

Alle Menschen müssen sterben, BWV 262 (Perf. by String Quartet)

2:36

II. Largo ma non tanto

Gli Incogniti, Amandine Beyer

5:42

IV. Presto

Renaud Capuçon

3:32

III. Sarabande

Víkingur Ólafsson

2:38

IV. Gavotta

Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque

1:37

I. Kyrie, Gloria: No. 2, Christe eleison

Ensemble Pygmalion, Julie Roset, Beth Taylor, Raphaël Pichon

4:32

Befiehl du deine Wege Variation (After Matthäuspassion, BWV 244, No. 53: Befiehl du deine Wege) [Arr. for Violin & String Quintet by Tim Allhoff]

Norwegian String Quintet, Eldbjørg Hemsing

1:33

I. Sonata. Grave - Allegro

Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen

2:58

III. Allegro

Adrian Chandler, La Serenissima

4:51

IV. Aria

Bojan Čičić, The Illyria Consort

1:04

II. Largo

Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Beatrice Rana

2:39

II. Adagio

Gli Incogniti, Amandine Beyer

3:31

Prelude and Fugue No. 19 in A Major, BWV 888: I. Prelude

1:26

IV. Menuet I - V. Menuet II

4:48

Toccata seconda arpeggiata

2:34

Var. 3. Canone all'Unisono a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025)

2:02

III. Adagio

La Serenissima, Adrian Chandler

2:38

I. [no tempo indication] - Adagio - Fuga. Allegro - Adagio

Francesco Tristano

2:43

Keyboard Sonata in B Minor, Kk. 27

4:12

Gigue (Transcr. for Piano Left Hand by Paul Wittgenstein)

3:05

Variation XXI. Canone alla settima

Antoine Morinière, Thibaut Garcia

2:39

Aria (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025)

4:04

I. [Allegro] [Live]

Gottfried von der Goltz, Freiburger Barockorchester

2:46

I. Adagio (Arr. for Clarinet, Cello, and Bass by Martin Fröst, Anastasia Kobekina and Sebastien Dubé)

Anastasia Kobekina, Sébastien Dubé, Martin Fröst

1:53

III. Presto

Bernhard Forck, Isabelle Faust, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

1:36

Autre Fantaisie

Anna Lachegyi, Philippe Pierlot, Lucile Boulanger, Myriam Rignol, Thibaut Roussel, Mathias Ferré, Jean Rondeau

1:35

III. Allegro

La Serenissima, Adrian Chandler

3:53

Coro "Gloria in excelsis Deo"

Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew

2:14

I. Canon (From "Ordinary People")

Laurence Equilbey, Insula Orchestra

4:19

Prelude in C Minor, BWV 999 "Pour la lute"

1:13

Allein Gott in der Höh sei Her, BWV 676

5:19

Si dolce è il tormento (Perf. on Sheng, Viola & Double Bass)

Wu Wei, Martin Stegner, Janne Saksala

3:20

II. Largo

Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante

3:12

Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639 (Arr. for Clarinet and Theorbo by Martin Fröst and Jonas Nordberg)

Jonas Nordberg, Martin Fröst

2:25

Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, Kk. 1

2:14

III. Cantabile ma un poco adagio

Ilya Gringolts, Francesco Corti

6:23

III. Largo

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Mayumi Hirasaki

3:00

II. Air

Simone Dinnerstein, Baroklyn

4:51

IV. Sarabande

Anastasia Kobekina

4:17

Prelude No. 9 in E Major, BWV 854

Víkingur Ólafsson

1:44

I. Prélude. Fantasia (Transcr. in A Minor for 2 Viols by Salomé Gasselin and Mathias Ferré)

Salomé Gasselin, Mathias Ferré

3:47

IV. Menuet

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason

3:56

V. Gavotte I

Francesco Tristano

1:40

II. Larghetto. Ah ch'infelice sempre

Philippe Jaroussky, Ensemble Artaserse

5:28

II. Siciliano (Transcr. for Piano Left Hand by Paul Wittgenstein)

2:56

III. Allegro

Daniel Pioro, Manchester Camerata

3:28

I.

Isabelle Faust, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Kristin von der Goltz

1:30

Sonata in D Minor, K. 32, L. 423

Laurianne Corneille

2:56

Var. VIII. a 2 claviere

1:53

Corrente con le sue spezzate

2:02

I. Prelude in E Minor BWV 855

1:48

III. Allegro

Beatrice Rana, Amsterdam Sinfonietta

5:46

II. Largo e pianissimo sempre

Manchester Camerata, Daniel Pioro

2:53

Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, Kk. 9

4:03

I. Affettuoso

Peter Spissky, Camerata Øresund

2:14

No. 3, Minuet in F Major, BWV Anh. 113

Alessandro Simonetto

1:59

II. Adagio

Georg Kallweit, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

2:15

I. [...]

Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque

1:28

VI. Gigue

2:42

III. Allegro assai

Sophie Gent, Ensemble Masques, Kathleen Kajioka, Olivier Fortin

2:51

I. Sinfonia

Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier

1:42

Scene 3, Chorus. O Glorious Prince! Thrice Happy They

Les Arts Florissants, William Christie

4:56

No. 1, Symphony

3:03

I. Adagio

Theo Plath, Armand Djikoloum, Olivier Stankiewicz

3:32

Sarabanda

Sébastien Daucé, Ensemble Correspondances

4:08

I. Affettuoso

Quartetto Vanvitelli

3:41

Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 871: I. Prelude

2:44

IV. Musette

Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, François Lazarevitch

2:42

No. 1, Contrapunctus 1

3:08

II. Aria. Komm, Jesu, komm zu deiner Kirche

Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew

2:31