Massachusetts is full of lovingly preserved homes from the 17th century. But what did life in these homes sound like? The latest essay in ‘Early Music: the Americas’ explores the world of a Puritan reverend who left us tantalizing clues.
In Germany, a minstrel was expected “to acquit himself well as a swordsman.” Surviving illustrations tend to emphasize the bulky, formidable aspect of these street performers. But why?
Author, critic, teacher and public intellectual, he was an unabashed flamethrower who challenged conventional thinking about classical music.
The turbulent life of John Antes, an American of pluck and imagination, is part of global histories on colonialism, revolution, nationalism and religion, and international trade. It reads like an early-music adventure novel.
Performer-scholar Charles Metz’s 2021 valuable recording includes English virginal music by William Tisdale, plus 16 works by other late 16th-century English composers. The lovely instrument, mostly preserved, dates to c. 1590.
Sallynee Amawat, raised in two distinct cultures, is eager to take artistic risks and hungry to link continents and ideas. Her latest projects with Infusion Baroque cover topics as varied as gender, courtly dance, and ‘exoticized’ repertoire.
A champion of under-performed 18-century treasures for cello, Elinor Frey’s latest recording is high in virtuosity and appeal. As the cover suggests, she has two instruments at her disposal: one a standard Strad-model cello, the other a 3/4 size cello that allows several of the works to really sing.
The EMA board of directors, meeting last week in Berkeley, California, voted to release the following statement against sexual harassment and assault in our field and across society.
A BLM placard in New York encouraged a conductor in London to discover more about this 16th-century pioneer of European classical music.
Two damaged fragments of parchment, circa 1300, have an amazing story to tell. The Dorset rotulus, a scroll of music, helps flesh out a 400-year gap in our knowledge, adding new insights into the development of the medieval English motet. And for anyone looking for new early English material available for performance, the book will be an excellent resource.