Ask Robert 11

Question No. 11. Are the instruments that are played today in a Baroque orchestra essentially the same as those used when the compositions were first written and performed?

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Strings:

Bows compared in profile.
1) French dance bow, ca.1700.
2) baroque “sonata” bow with duck-bill tip.
3) baroque “sonata” bow with pike’s head tip.
4) transitional bow.
​5) Tourte bow.

​Baroque violin by Jacob Stainer (1668) in original condition (top) and modern violin by Vuillaume (1867) compared in profile.

Winds:

​Modern versus baroque(1650) oboe

Todd Williams, Baroque horn