Virtuosity spread from opera to instrumental music, such as the violin concertos of Vivaldi. Vivaldi wrote many string concertos and operas and he developed the solo concerto and the concerto grosso for violins. Most of his music lied rejected and dormant for 200 years until after his death in 1741.
Other Italian composers include Scarlatti (1660-1725) and Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713). Scarlatti wrote many operas (of which 50 survives today) and over 600 cantatas. He was important in the development of the opera overture. Corelli established the four movement convention for the sonata and also helped to introduce the Concerto Grosso. The concerto was the characteristic orchestral form of the baroque time and soloists or groups of soloists were given a chance to show off their skill.
Composers at this period in time began to distinguish between different instrumental styles such as concertos or sonatas. Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) was one of the great keyboard composers of the day. Much of his music was published and it is known that Bach studied him.
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