The instruments that Baroque composers had at their disposal sounded radically different from their modern counterparts. In general, the sound that prevailed in the seventeenth and eighteenth century seems almost rustic to an ear used to the gloss of a modern symphonic sound.

Hardly surprising when you consider that stringed instruments used strings that were really made of animal gut, woodwind instruments had minimal keywork and brass instruments were little more than a piece of metal tubing.

However, the composers of the day were well aware of the idiosyncracies of these instruments and not only worked around them, but actively employed them. For example, many woodwind instruments conveyed a very different impression depending upon which key their music was written in. Due to the combination of fingerings used and the mechanics of the instrument, a baroque oboe playing in D major sounds bright and open, but in F major sounds veiled and more melancholy. Composers would deliberately select a key that would allow the particular tonal qualities of an instrument to convey the desired effect.

To compare the sound of baroque and modern instruments, click on the links on the right side: trumpet, horn, oboe.