Music, much of it performed by military bands, is inextricably linked to the mythology of the American Revolution. Yet one of early America’s most popular musical ensembles, the regimental band, has been obscured from the late 18th-c. soundscape.

A scholar of American musical history reflects on ‘Niagara,’ an obscure symphony that connects centuries of our nation’s cultural life, proving once again that the only thing fixed about American musical identity is that it remains in a constant state of flux.

A new recording of golden-age viola da gamba music, highlighted by Marin Marais and Antoine Fourqueray, makes for a rewarding debut album. Pairing the viol with just a single theorbo, intriguingly, allows for easy, conversational flow between the two musicians.

Anyone curious about the phenomenal growth of early music in the last decades of the 20th century is bound to run across the name David Munrow. In his short but ebullient career, just nine years, the English musician, scholar, and entrepreneur arguably did more than anyone to create the early-music scene we know today.