I’m usually a morning person, but some days it’s just hard. A little music can usually turn the day around – Johann Sebastian Bach‘s Harpsichord Concerti always do the trick.

What’s the secret to this piece’s ‘get-up-and-go’ attitude? Constant 16th-note motion. Throughout the piece, there is nearly always a voice in the ensemble which has moving 16th-notes, which gives the piece a constant rhythmic drive. The negative effect of this has earned this style of baroque music the nickname ‘typewriter music.’

Italy held a monopoly on opera until the 19th century, when Germany and France entered the arena. Mozart got the ball rolling, Weber made it big, and Wagner perfected it. In between Weber and Wagner was Heinrich Marschner. His opera, Der Vampyr, was cool way before the likes of Buffy or Twilight, and still remains cooler than Tom Cruise.

Long before things like Castlevania made us associate a certain musical style with Vampires (specifically, baroque harpsichord concerti in minor keys) Marschner was starting from scratch, and became known for his ability to write operatic horror.

No BBQ here. Just a really stupid joke.

All the Bach children were musical, and probably not by choice. Most musicians agree that Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was the best composer among them. After all, when Mozart said “Bach is the father, and we are his children,” he was not referring to J.S., but C.P.E.

C.P.E.’s music is a perfect midpoint between the Baroque and Classical musical eras, combining the ornateness and richness of the baroque with the transparency and grace of the classic. This isn’t the heavy, confusing sound of his father’s late compositions, nor is it the mindless, simple noodling of Scarlatti.