Baroque music recommendations?

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Fantazia in B Flat for viols, by Henry Purcell. This is one of the very last pieces in the English Baroque viol consort tradition. The instruments were going out fashion, which I think is a shame- they're a lot easier to play in tune than a violin, for a start.

I did some digging into the lineage of composers leading up to Bach and found some very good keyboard music in certain early baroque composers. Specifically, Bach was quite influenced by the "stylus fantasticus", a improvisational and virtuostic style that almost has resemblance to jazz in its freedom. Here's a few composers that practiced this style-









These are early examples of what would become the german keyboard schools, which would provide massive influence to JS Bach and henceforth are worthy of listening in their own right.

^I recently bought a book of Baroque keyboard music. I'm trying to learn this piece by Frescobaldi, right at the beginning of the tradition you describe. It's a bit advanced for me, but it'll be interesting to try.

Instead of one continuous mass of counterpoint like a Bach fugue, there are several different sections of counterpoint with pauses in between. I like this approach. Late Baroque fugues are more technically impressive, but they can be a bit exhausting to listen to (and play!) because they so rarely pause for breath.

Anybody aware of studies (often anecdotal) which have found that some types of Baroque music may augment focusing and concentration skills?

I've heard that about Bach, but it doesn't work for me - I find the non-stop counterpoint rather relentless in its demands on my attention, so overdoing the Bach leaves me a bit burnt-out!