Gradualia

Most of my favorite pieces by William Byrd are taken from his two collections entitled “Gradualia" - music written for private performance in a devotional setting rather than for large audiences in a concert hall. Seems rather fitting to explore these pieces again now, when live concerts for large audiences are almost unthinkable. Read more below about this incredible collection of music and the circumstances in which it was composed!

Singing in secret: how William Byrd created his best work in isolation

Music of Medical Horrors

This pandemic may have us recalling the rampant disease and political strife of centuries past, but at least medicine has advanced *somewhat* since then!

This Early Music Monday we explore a 3-minute programmatic piece by Marais about a horrifying surgical procedure (which he experienced).

How a painful operation inspired the 18th-century equivalent of a horror movie soundtrack

New Early Music Monday Index!

After 2.5 years, we finally have a searchable index! I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and the cancellations because of Coronavirus finally provided me with enough time (and in-house tech support) to make it happen!

On the right side of the Writing/Research page, you’ll find a link to the Early Music Monday Index, which keeps a tally of how many posts in each major category as well as a listing of tags by category to make it easier to find topics or people or whatever your heart desires (that it can find here).

It also revealed some conspicuous absences, which I will be working to remedy going forward!

A new (old) St. John Passion

From Bach-Archiv Leipzig, here’s a performance of Bach’s St. John Passion. but in a way you've never heard it before (appropriate for a time we've never experienced before). Intimate, solitary, haunting, and beautiful.

Watch the incredible performance here!

A Mozart Celebration

How about a dose of Mozart to help in this time of quarantine? 99.5 WCRB is rebroadcasting Handel + Haydn Society’s “A Mozart Celebration” from last October - have a listen here!

Guerrero and the Plague

Here’s another post from 2019: Guerrero is known as one of the giants of renaissance polyphony, but he also was a plague victim. Before that he was held for ransom by pirates, spent time in prison, and wrote a book about his adventures, among other things.

Read more here!

Music in Times of Pandemic

Following up on last week’s “Black Death Music Parties”, this isn’t the first time the musical community (or the world in general) has been impacted by a pandemic. Early Music America had a great article exploring this issue!

A Historically Informed Approach to Music in Times of Pandemic

The Plague and Music

Here’s a repeat of an Early Music Monday post from May 2019 that seems timely:
The History of Black Death Music Parties

What is our life?

Political upheaval? Rampant disease?
Late Renaissance or just yesterday’s news?
Here’s a setting of Sir Walter Raleigh’s sonnet “What is our life?”, written while he was in the Tower of London awaiting execution.

Musikalishe Exequien

Next up: Monteverdi, Gabrieli, Schein, and Schütz with Back Bay Chorale, including my perennial favorite, Schütz’ Musikalische Exequien! Read more below and then come hear the concert on Saturday night!

Musikalische Exequien (Funeral music), Op. 7, SWV 279–281 is a sacred composition by Heinrich Schütz, dating from c. 1635/36. Written for the funeral services of Count Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera, who had died on 3 December 1635, it is Schütz's most famous work of funeral music.^[1] It comprises the following sections:

Henry II had planned the service himself and chosen the texts, some of which are scriptural and others of which are from 16th-century Lutheran writers, including Martin Luther himself. He also commissioned Schütz to compose the music on the occasion of his death.

Part I, by far the longest part of the work, is scored for SSATTB (2 sopranos, alto, 2 tenors, bass) chorus alternating with small ensembles of soloists. Part II is scored for double choir SATB SATB, and part III for SATTB choir and a trio of soloists. All movements are accompanied by basso continuo.

Musikalische Exequien (Funeral music), Op. 7, SWV 279-281 is a sacred composition by Heinrich Schütz, dating from c. 1635/36. Written for the funeral services of Count Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera, who had died on 3 December 1635, it is Schütz's most famous work of funeral music.

… read more on Wikipedia