Baroque composers Biber, Bach and Schmelzer The distinction between early music and, well, not-so-early music is, in my view, absurd, artificial and detrimental to the musical and cultural development of tomorrow’s musicians. In a world where so many remarkable ‘modern’ musicians are discovering the beauty of their instruments’ Baroque ancestors, conservatoires can no longer justify marginalising the study of 17th-century music. My first forays into the extraordinary world of Baroque music were made on my ‘modern’ violin using a gamba bow! I knew nothing about the music, but was c...