Essential Baroque – 2-CD Set, 39 Tracks – Decca

Great Baroque melodies for everyday moments

From Pachelbel’s Canon to Bach’s Air, let familiar melodies give your day a different colour. Essential Baroque accompanies a quiet evening, time with a book or attentive listening with music you will want to return to.

A rich and varied musical journey

Selected movements from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons meet the splendour of Handel’s Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Marcello, Corelli, Telemann, Albinoni and Daquin complete the selection, with 20 tracks on disc 1 and 19 on disc 2.

Moving voices and sacred favourites

Enjoy the beauty of Stabat Mater, Allegri’s Miserere and excerpts from Handel’s Messiah, including the celebrated Hallelujah Chorus. These pages bring reflective moments to a programme that also celebrates instrumental music and opera arias.

A musical gift to enjoy again and again

Choose this generous two-disc collection for a classical music lover or someone beginning to explore Baroque music. Familiar melodies and contrasting moods invite listeners to revisit favourite tracks and discover more of the programme.

Two discs to extend the pleasure

Released by Decca, this compilation offers a total running time of 2 hours 33 minutes. Place either disc in a compatible audio CD player, choose a track and make time for a rewarding musical pause.

Frequently asked questions

How many tracks are included?

39 tracks across two CDs: 20 on disc 1 and 19 on disc 2.

What is the total running time?

The stated total running time is 2 hours 33 minutes.

Is all the music sacred?

The programme combines sacred music, instrumental works and opera arias, presented as selected pieces or movements.

Complete track listing

Disc 1

1. Handel : The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Solomon)
2. Pachelbel : Canon
3. Bach : Sheep may safely graze
4. Bach : Italian concerto, Allegro
5. Purcell : Rondeau (Abdelazer)
6. Bach : Toccata in D minor
7. Vivaldi : Gloria in excelsis
8. Bach : Oboe concerto in D minor, siciliano
9. Vivaldi : Stabat mater
10. Handel : Music for the Royal Fireworks, La Réjouissance
11. Bach : Jesu, joy of man’s desiring
12. Corelli : Concerto grosso in G minor, Adagio
13. Telemann : Violin concerto No. 4, Affettuoso
14. Bach : Prelude in C major
15. Bach : Violin concerto No. 1, Allegro moderato
16. Vivaldi : Guitar concerto in D, Largo
17. Bach : Concerto for 2 violins, Largo ma non tanto
18. Handel : Lascia ch’io pianga, Rinaldo
19. Vivaldi : Spring, I Allegro
20. Vivaldi : Summer, III Presto

Disc 2

1. Marcello : Oboe concerto in D minor, Adagio
2. Bach : Air on a G string
3. Clarke : Trumpet voluntary
4. Handel : I know that my Redeemer liveth, Messiah
5. Pergolesi : Stabat Mater, Stabat Mater
6. Handel : Water music suite in D major, Hornpipe
7. Albinoni : Adagio
8. Bach : Suite No. 2, Badinerie
9. Vivaldi : Winter, II Largo
10. Allegri : Miserere (excerpt)
11. Handel : Hallelujah Chorus, Messiah
12. Daquin : Le coucou
13. Bach : Brandenburg concerto No. 5, III Allegro
14. Bach : Goldberg variation, Aria
15. Purcell : Dido’s lament, Dido and Aeneas
16. Handel : Ombra mai fu, Xerxes
17. Handel : Water music suite in F major, Air
18. Vivaldi : Nulla in mundo pax sincera (excerpt)
19. Handel : Zadok the priest