Baroque orchestra

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The Baroque Orchestra is the earliest example of a true orchestra which came into existence in the mid-late 1600s. Its origins were in France where Jean-Baptiste Lully added the newly re-designed hautboy and transverse flutes to his vingt-quatre violons du Roy. As well as violins and woodwinds, the baroque orchestra would have still contained continuo instruments such as the theorbo and harpsichord. The baroque orchestra was reasonably small with the maximum of thirty people. The new-fangled instrumentation and orchestration soon spread to the rest of Europe and soon became the standard solo instrumental grouping.

The term 'baroque orchestra' is also commonly used to refer to contemporary chamber orchestras giving historically informed performances of baroque, classical, or even romantic music, using original instruments (or copies therof). Many groups can be found that perform early music in the manner it would have been performed at the time, using the same instruments and the same performance practices.

Some of the baroque orchestras that play on period instruments are:

• The Academy of Ancient Music
• Portland Baroque Orchestra
• Tafelmusik
• New Trinity Baroque
• The English Concert
• Taverner Consort and Players
• Newport Baroque Orchestra
• Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado