Not all of the great composers were accomplished performers, but there were some who were regarded as the virtuosos of their day. They wrote music for themselves to perform, of course, and once in a while they wrote passages so difficult that few -- if any -- other performers could play them.
We'll look at some demanding works by Bach, Beethoven, and Scarlatti this week.
Then it's wind-ensemble music by one of Bach's sons and a concerto in the Mannheim style -- both of which signaled a break from the Baroque practices as the new classical forms were taking over
