Short answers, pulled from the story.
The French word baroque derives from the Portuguese barroco, meaning an irregularly-shaped pearl. The term first appeared in reference to music in a satirical review published in May 1734 regarding Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie.
Curt Sachs became the first historian to apply five characteristics of Heinrich Wölfflin's theory to music in 1919. This systematic application established the period boundaries between Renaissance music and the Classical period.
Jean-Baptiste Lully served as sole composer for the French king while Arcangelo Corelli developed violin technique and the concerto grosso. Dieterich Buxtehude organized Abendmusiken concerts and Antonio Vivaldi composed hundreds of works based on Corelli's principles.
By 1700 the oboe replaced the shawm as the main woodwind instrument due to the need for more elegant sound in opera and ballet. The harpsichord was eventually replaced by the fortepiano perfected by Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 and widely used after 1750.
A dance suite commonly features an Overture followed by four different types of dances including Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, and Gigue. Later suites sometimes interpolate additional dances such as Gavotte, bourrée, minuet, or passepied between the sarabande and gigue.