Germany at the time of the Baroque was filled with the music of thousands of court orchestras, church organs and choirs, whether to entertain the nobility, accompany every church service or at the village celebrations of ordinary people – there was always fiddling, flute playing and drumming. And there was composition – of music that continues to impress and move people around the world today. Bruno Preisendörfer takes us back with him to the lives of people in the Baroque, to the age of the great composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Händel and Georg Philipp Telemann.
We dive into these people’s everyday lives, learn about their joys and vices. Almost every great theme of life is included in this book: How were marriages initiated, who was allowed to get married in the first place and what was the approach to childrearing? And the latest trends and inventions of the time don’t get short shrift either: Roasted songbirds for dinner, flower bulbs as objects of speculation, tobacco for the men, coffee for the women, dancing, beer and snuff for everyone. With music always playing a central part.
