Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber was an eminent violin virtuoso as well as an accomplished courtier. He was not content to live out his days classed among the valets de chambre, porters and stokers of fires at court as did most instrumentalists in that time, so became very proficient at currying the favour of important figures. Biber dedicated music to the archbishops in power and impressed them with his violinistic virtuosity and certainly flattered them a lot. He achieved a good salary and the coveted aristocratic 'von' in his name by the time he died.

While Bach acquired an almost legendary fame in his lifetime as a keyboard virtuoso, it is as a composer that by the 19th century he had earned a unique place among the most revered composers of all time.

Bach came from a great line of musicians going back several generations. In fact, the name Bach was almost synonymous with the word 'musician' in the area they lived (in what is now the eastern part of Germany). Bach was orphaned by the age of 9, but was brought up by an older brother (also a musician), and avidly studied all the musical scores he could lay his hands on, as well as studying the technique and construction of the organ, his favorite instrument, as well as harpsichord and violin.

Bach had a strong desire to produce an almost encyclopedic series of musical compositions exploring all musical forms and styles that had been developed during the Baroque period which he sensed was now coming to a close. By the time he died, he was considered old fashioned by many who were looking more for the simplicity and melodiousness of the new 'gallant' style. Bach is therefore considered to be the summation of the Baroque style. His depth of knowledge and breadth of imagination is staggering because he seems to infuse new energy and light into old forms such as the fugue, which was never matched before or since. /p

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was the most prolific composer of his time, and was widely regarded by his contemporaries as Germany’s leading composer. He was far more famous than J.S. Bach in his day, though after his death his popularity waned and from the 19th century onwards Bach became the most widely acclaimed composer of the whole baroque period.

Telemann's style is much simpler and more melodic than Bach or Biber's, and that is what appealed to the new generations – this new 'gallant' style was to lead to the classical simplicity of Mozart and Haydn.

Telemann helped to redefine the role of the professional musician. Through his public concerts he gave music lovers the opportunity to hear all kinds of music, including works that were originally composed to mark ceremonies attended by a select few. Here, as in his long struggle to secure his right to print and sell his own compositions, he set an important precedent for regarding music as the intellectual property of its creator.

Telemann typically avoided extremes of technical difficulty in his music so as to encourage the widest possible dissemination, and in fact many of his publications found favour both in private homes and at Germany’s courts, where they were performed by some of the leading musicians of the day.