The Baroque Spirit expressed in music is: Order, Pattern, and Form. Here there is to be no disorder, no atonal meandering, no shapeless movements. In the baroque musical repertoire we find Fugues, in which a given theme is repeated in different clefs, and the stricter Canon which is a 'round', each entry following or overlapping the previous one. There is also a whole group of Variations: variations on a chorale melody, variations on a single, repeating bass-line - Passacaglia - and variations on a popular theme - the Chaconne.

Music which is melodious yet so constructed as to reflect the "perfect order" of the universe: that is the essence of the baroque. In the words of baroque composer and theorist Johann Joseph Fux: “A composition meets the demands of good taste if it is well constructed, avoids trivialities as well as willful eccentricities, aims at the sublime, but moves in a natural ordered way, combining brilliant ideas with perfect workmanship."

While the faster movements in baroque concertos are lively and tuneful, the adagios, the slower movements, would often provide a complete contrast, being thoughtful and introspective - and especially melodious. In cases where the concerto features a louder instrument like the oboe or trumpet, the soloist is often given a rest while the strings alone play the slow movement. Thus the typical baroque adagio provides rich material for meditation, for moments of peace and quiet, or to "still the mind" after a troublesome day!