Bach and the Baroque

Bach and the Baroque

Apple Music Classical

Updated 2 weeks 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.

Air on the G String (Arr. Ólafsson for Piano from Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068)

Víkingur Ólafsson

3:39

I. Adagio

4:05

IV. Gavotte

Francesco Tristano

0:51

II. Air (Arr. Siloti for Solo Piano)

5:04

III. Allegro

La Folia Barockorchester, Sophie Dervaux

2:50

I. Allegro

Britten Sinfonia, Mahan Esfahani, Peter Facer

5:44

III. Cantabile ma un poco adagio

Francesco Corti, Ilya Gringolts

6:23

II. Largo

Ágnes Kertész, Patricia Gagnon, Nicolas Mazzoleni, Gianluca Capuano, Enrico Casazza, Anaïs Soucaille, Les Musiciens du Prince-Monaco

2:28

II. Largo

Giuliano Carmignola, I Solisti Aquilani

1:51

IV. Sarabande

Anastasia Kobekina

4:08

III. Allegro ma non tanto

Mahan Esfahani, Britten Sinfonia

4:20

I. Allegro

Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante

2:08

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

3:05

Aria malinconica. Adagio

Cristina Prats Costa, Lucas Harris

3:07

Allein Gott in der Höh sei Her, BWV 676

5:19

IV. Gavotta

Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque

1:37

Coro "Gloria in excelsis Deo"

Paul Agnew, Les Arts Florissants

2:14

III. Presto

Les Musiciens du Prince-Monaco, Sabrina Frey, Benny Aghassi, Gianluca Capuano, Pier Luigi Fabretti

1:53

I. Prélude

Anastasia Kobekina

2:58

Var. 25. a 2 Clav. Adagio (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025)

8:34

II. Largo ma non tanto

Amandine Beyer, Gli Incogniti

5:42

IV. Presto

Adrian Chandler, Tabea Debus, La Serenissima, Katy Bircher

2:55

Diverse bizarrie sopra la vecchia sarabanda ò pur ciaccona

Joseph Phillips, Esmeralda Enrique, Cristina Prats Costa, Lucas Harris, Naghmeh Farahmand

4:43

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

2:56

Largo. Ombra mai fu (Serse)

Jakub Józef Orliński, Michał Biel

3:14

Sonata IV: IV. Menuet 1711

Daniel Rosin, Johannes Keller, Eva Saladin

3:40

No. 39, Chorus. Ruht wohl, ihr heiligen Gebeine

Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon

7:32

Sinfonia (Arr. Diluka for Piano)

1:32

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

Eldbjørg Hemsing, Norwegian String Quintet

1:33

Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, Kk. 9

4:03

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

Mathias Ferré, Salomé Gasselin

3:47

II. [Sonata II]

Bojan Čičić, The Illyria Consort

1:46

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

4:04

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

Martin Fröst, Anastasia Kobekina, Sébastien Dubé

1:53

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

2:02

II. Allegro

Evgeny Sviridov, Concerto Köln

2:40

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

Insula Orchestra, Laurence Equilbey

2:29

III. Allegro

Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi

2:41

Autre Fantaisie

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

1:35

No. 13, L'amante modesto (Arr. for String Quartet by Alex Fortes)

Brompton Quartet

4:16

II. Adagio

Gli Incogniti, Amandine Beyer

3:31

No. 1, Chorus. Herr, unser Herrscher

Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon

7:48

III. Allegro assai

Olivier Fortin, Sophie Gent, Kathleen Kajioka, Ensemble Masques

2:51

I. [Allegro] [Live]

Gottfried von der Goltz, Freiburger Barockorchester, Marie Deller

2:46

IV. Menuet

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason

3:56

II. Gloria in excelsis Deo

Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens

5:35

I. Preludio

Renaud Capuçon

3:29

III. Presto

Isabelle Faust, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck

1:36

III. Largo

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Mayumi Hirasaki

3:00

I. Affettuoso

Camerata Øresund, Peter Spissky

2:14

III. Allegro

Alessandro Tampieri, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Marcello Gatti

5:31

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

2:36

IV. Sarabande

Anastasia Kobekina

4:17

I. [...]

Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque

1:28

V. Gavotte I

Francesco Tristano

1:40

Aria. Where'er You Walk (Jupiter)

Jakub Józef Orliński, Michał Biel

4:48

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

Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon

3:20

IV. Allegro

Evgeny Sviridov, Concerto Köln

2:59

I. Le Coucou

1:49

I. Sinfonia

Lionel Meunier, Vox Luminis

1:42

I. Allegro

Martin James Bartlett, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Howard Griffiths

7:09

Toccata seconda arpeggiata

2:34

I. Adagio

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck, Isabelle Faust

3:02

Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, Kk. 1

2:14

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

Alessandro Simonetto

1:59

III. Adagio

Alessandro Tampieri, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone

3:06

IV. Presto

Renaud Capuçon

3:32

III. Sarabande

Víkingur Ólafsson

2:38

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

Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon, Beth Taylor, Julie Roset

4:32

I. Sonata. Grave - Allegro

Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen

2:58

IV. Aria

Bojan Čičić, The Illyria Consort

1:04

II. Largo

Beatrice Rana, Amsterdam Sinfonietta

2:39

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

1:26

IV. Menuet I - V. Menuet II

4:48

VII. Sarabande, G. 51

3:54

III. Adagio

Adrian Chandler, La Serenissima

2:38

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

Francesco Tristano

2:43

Keyboard Sonata in B Minor, Kk. 27

4:12

Variation XXI. Canone alla settima

Thibaut Garcia, Antoine Morinière

2:39

III. Allegro

Adrian Chandler, La Serenissima

3:53

I. Canon (From "Ordinary People")

Insula Orchestra, Laurence Equilbey

4:19

VII. Danse du grand calumet de la paix en rondeau pour les sauvages

L'Orfeo Barockorchester, Michi Gaigg

2:01

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

Janne Saksala, Wu Wei, Martin Stegner

3:20

II. Largo

Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi

3:12

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

Martin Fröst, Jonas Nordberg

2:25

II. Air

Simone Dinnerstein, Baroklyn

4:51

No. 9, Prelude and Fugue in E Major, BWV 854: No. 1, Prelude

Víkingur Ólafsson

1:44

I. [Allegro]

Simone Dinnerstein, Baroklyn

7:59

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

5:39

No. 1, Symphony

3:03

III. Allegro

Manchester Camerata, Daniel Pioro

3:28

I.

Isabelle Faust, Kristin von der Goltz, Kristian Bezuidenhout

1:30

Var. VIII. a 2 claviere

1:53

Corrente con le sue spezzate

2:02

I. Prelude in E Minor BWV 855

1:48

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

2:44

I. —

Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya

2:10

III. Allegro

Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Beatrice Rana

5:46

II. Largo e pianissimo sempre

Daniel Pioro, Manchester Camerata

2:53

II. Adagio

Georg Kallweit, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

2:15