At first sight the notes in a piece of baroque music look very plain, almost as if the composer didn't know what sort of expression was needed in its performance or even as if expression was simply not part of the style. This couldn't be further from the truth. Post-baroque notation included ever increasing amounts of attempts to guide the performer, whether by phrasing marks, articulation marks, tempo change words, dynamic indications or words indicating the mood. Very little of this is there for baroque players - we have to discover the light and shade for ourselves as well as all the other aspects needed to express the music. This gives us a delightful freedom to experiment, to find what works, to make discoveries. Lucky us! It can seem daunting at first but it becomes easier with experience.
A recent release on Youtube explores just one example of how a baroque composer and performer (the great Quantz) himself suggested one set of possibilities for putting light and shade into a brief passage. (Warning: the presenters can be a bit arty-farty - they are French so that's not a surprise - but in this video, one of a series worth following, they are not too bad. The actual content, the use of original source material and the performance are excellent and there are good English subtitles.) Do give the video a look:
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