Christoph Graupner (January 13, 1683 in Kirchberg – May 10, 1760 in Darmstadt) was a German harpsichordist and composer of high Baroque music who lived and worked at the same time as Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel.

Born in Hartmannsdorf near Kirchberg in Saxony, Graupner received his first musical instruction from his uncle, an organist named Nicolaus Kuester. Graupner went to the University of Leipzig where he studied law (as did many composers of the time) and then completed his musical studies with Johann Kuhnau, the cantor of the Thomaskirche (St Thomas' Church).

In 1705 Graupner left Leipzig to play the harpsichord in the orchestra of the Hamburg Opera under the direction of Reinhard Keiser, alongside a young violinist named Handel. In addition to playing the harpsichord, Graupner composed six operas in Hamburg, some of them in collaboration with Keiser, a popular composer of operas in Germany.

In 1709 Graupner accepted a post at the court of Hesse-Darmstadt and in 1711 became the court orchestra’s Hofkapellmeister (court chapel master). Graupner spent the rest of his career at the court in Hesse-Darmstadt, where his primary responsibilities were to provide music for the court chapel. He wrote music for nearly half a century, from 1709 to 1754, when he became blind. He died six years later.

Girolamo Frescobaldi (Italian pronunciation: [dʒiˌɾɔːlamo fɾeskoˈbaldi]; September, 1583 – March 1, 1643) was a musician from Ferrara, one of the most important composers of keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. A child prodigy, Frescobaldi studied under Luzzasco Luzzaschi in Ferrara, but was influenced by a large number of composers, including Ascanio Mayone, Giovanni Maria Trabaci, and Claudio Merulo. Girolamo Frescobaldi was appointed “organist” of St. Peter's Basilica, a focal point of power for the Capella Giulia (a musical organisation) from July 21, 1608 until 1628 and again from 1634 until his death.

Frescobaldi's printed collections contain some of the most influential music of the 17th century. His work influenced Johann Jakob Froberger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Henry Purcell, and countless other major composers. Pieces from his celebrated collection of liturgical organ music, Fiori musicali (1635), were used as models of strict counterpoint as late as the 19th century.

Antonio Francisco Javier José Soler Ramos, usually known as Padre Antonio Soler, known in Catalan as Antoni Soler i Ramos (baptized 3 December 1729, died 20 December 1783) was a Spanish composer whose works span the late Baroque and early Classical music eras. He is best known for his keyboard sonatas, an important contribution to the harpsichord, fortepiano and organ repertoire.

Soler was born in Olot (Catalonia, Spain) in the historical County of Besalú. In 1736, when he was six, he entered the Escolania of the Monastery of Montserrat where he studied music with the resident maestro Benito Esteve and organist Benito Valls. In 1744 he was appointed organist at the Cathedral of La Seu d'Urgell and appointed as a subdeacon at the same time. Later in life, he held posts as chapel master in Lleida and at the Royal Court in El Escorial.

Soler took Holy Orders at the age of 23 and his routine as a Hieronymite in El Escorial, Madrid was extremely busy. His 20 hour days were filled, yet Soler managed to produce more than 500 musical works. Amongst these were around 150 keyboard sonatas, many believed to have been written as sheet music for his pupil, the Infante Don Gabriel, a son of King Carlos III. Other pieces include Christmas villancicos and Latin church music including masses. He died at the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. No portraits of him are known to exist..

Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (26 October 1685 – 23 July 1757) was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style. Like his renowned father Alessandro Scarlatti he composed in a variety of musical forms, although today he is known mainly for his 555 keyboard sonatas.

Domenico Scarlatti was born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples, in 1685, the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. He was the sixth of ten children and a younger brother to Pietro Filippo Scarlatti, also a musician. He probably first studied under his father, the composer and teacher Alessandro Scarlatti; other composers who may have been his early teachers include Gaetano Greco, Francesco Gasparini, and Bernardo Pasquini, all of whom may have influenced his musical style.

He became a composer and organist at the royal chapel in Naples in 1701. In 1704, he revised Carlo Francesco Pollarolo's opera Irene for performance at Naples. Soon afterwards, his father sent him to Venice. After this, nothing is known of Scarlatti's life until 1709, when he went to Rome in the service of the exiled Polish queen Marie Casimire. He met Thomas Roseingrave there. Scarlatti was already an eminent harpsichordist: there is a story of a trial of skill with George Frideric Handel at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome where he was judged possibly superior to Handel on that instrument, although inferior on the organ. Later in life, he was known to cross himself in veneration when speaking of Handel's skill. In Rome, Scarlatti composed several operas for Queen Casimira's private theatre. He was Maestro Di Cappella at St. Peter's from 1715 to 1719. In 1719 he travelled to London to direct his opera Narciso at the King's Theatre.

Bernardo Pasquini (7 December 1637 – 22 November 1710) was an Italian composer of opera and church music. A renowned virtuoso keyboard player in his day, he was probably one of the most important Italian composers for harpsichord between Girolamo Frescobaldi and Domenico Scarlatti, having also made substantial contributions to the Roman opera. One of his harpsichord pieces was transcribed for orchestra by Ottorino Respighi for his suite Gli uccelli.

He was born at Massa in Val di Nievole (Tuscany). (There is no evidence that he was related to Ercole Pasquini, the early 17th-century Roman organist.) He was a pupil of Antonio Cesti and Loreto Vittori in 1650. Later he moved to Rome and entered the service of Prince Borghese; subsequently he became organist of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. He enjoyed the protection of Queen Christina of Sweden, in whose honour an opera of his, Dov'è amore è pieta to a libretto by Cristoforo Ivanovich, was produced in 1679.

During Alessandro Scarlatti's second stay in Rome (1703–1708), Pasquini and Arcangelo Corelli were frequently associated with Scarlatti in musical performances, especially in connection with the Academy of Arcadia, of which all three were members. Pasquini died at Rome, and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina.