Wednesdays at 10:00 pm
A fresh feast of early music every week.
Join host Candice Agree for WFMT’s exciting weekly program of early music. Baroque&Before explores works written before 1750, featuring live concert recordings from some of the world’s most prestigious early music festivals, as well as commercially released recordings from WFMT’s vast library. From Russia to the Americas, from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean and Middle East, Candice presents internationally known artists on the early music scene, crafting a delightful mix of musicianship, music, and history.
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Music in Paradise: From Chant to Chanson
May 16, 2018
Music from the 9th through 14th centuries, from Gregorian chant to songs of Guillaume de Machaut, recorded live in concert and presented at the 12th annual Music In Paradise Festival, held during the last two weeks of August in Seminary Church, a former Cistercian monastery in the Polish town historically known as Paradyż.
Jordi Savall: El Llibre Vermell de Montserrat
May 9, 2018
The Shrine of the Virgin of Montserrat was a major pilgrimage site in the 14th century. El Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, or the Red Book of Montserrat, is a 14th-century collection of devotional texts and music for the pilgrims to the Catalonian Montserrat Monastery. Tonight we hear selections from the 6 music folios contained in El Llibre Vermell, presented by ...
Monteverdi Madrigals with Les Arts Florissants
May 2, 2018
Claudio Monteverdi, the master of the madrigal, was baptized May 15, 1567. This week, Baroque&Before presents a recital of Claudio Monteverdi’s voluminous seventh book of madrigals, published in 1619. Les Arts Florissants instrumental and vocal ensemble is under the direction of Paul Agnew. Founded in 1979 by William Christie, Les Arts Florissants is known internationally for its historically-informed interpretation of ...
Marais & Couperin with the Nevermind Ensemble
April 25, 2018
This week, we feature another recording made live in concert at the Music in Paradise Baroque Festival, held in Paradyż, Poland. Tonight’s recital of French baroque works by Marin Marais and François Couperin presented by the Nevermind Ensemble was recorded live in concert August 20, 2017, in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Paradyż. Paradyż ...
15th century Music of Germany & Poland
April 18, 2018
On this week’s edition of Baroque&Before, Corina Marti and Roger Hélou present arrangements for recorders, clavisymbalum, and organetto of works from three fifteenth-century collections of original compositions and arrangements: The Buxheimer Orgelbuch, the Glogauer Liederbuch, and the Lochhamer Liederbuch. Recorded live in concert August 18, 2017 in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Paradyż, Poland ...
Telemann in Paradise
April 11, 2018
At the age of 24, Telemann received an invitation to become Kapellmeister for the court of Count Erdmann II of Promnitz at Sorau — now Żary — in Poland. The young composer was inspired by the melodies and the skills in improvisation of the Polish folk musicians. The music he sought out and absorbed during his brief stay in Poland ...
Les chemins hébraïques du baroque
April 4, 2018
Passionate about Hebraic spiritual traditions, Benedetto Marcello was inspired by the extraordinary faith he encountered in the synagogues of early 18th-century Venice. Selections from Marcello’s settings of poetic paraphrases of the Psalms of David with Hebraic intonations are presented by Ensemble XVIII-21 Le Baroque Nomade, founded in 1995 by Jean-Christope Frisch as XVIII-21 Musique de Lumières. A world premiere, recorded ...
Easter Gregorian Chant: Songs of the Passion & Resurrection
March 28, 2018
Founded in 1970, Scola Gregoriana of Bruges dedicates itself to the revival and renewed appreciation of Gregorian chant as one of the great masterpieces of the Church and the basis of West European musical culture. Its program was recorded live in concert at the Hermitage of San Pedro in Cicera (Cantabria) Spain.
Caldara: Morte e sepoltura di Christo
March 21, 2018
To celebrate Holy Week and Easter, a special 2-hour edition of Baroque&Before presents a work that premiered in 1724. Antonio Caldara’s oratorio Morte e sepoltura di Christo (Christ’s Death and Burial) shows the Baroque master’s remarkable ability to allow music to be inspired by text, thus creating a level of drama and empathy nearing that to be found in the ...
Ensemble Hispania: Early Baroque Motets and Cantatas
March 14, 2018
Ensemble Hispania, under the direction of Raúl Mallvibarrena, presents a recital of motets and cantatas by Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Rosenmúller, and Franz Tunder. Recorded live in concert in Madrid’s Teatro Monumental.
Hamelin, Year 1284: The Real Pied Piper?
March 7, 2018
Norbert Rodenkirchen presents a solo recital in which he attempts to reconstruct the route of the late thirteenth-century traveling flutist of legend. The Route of the Rattenfänger von Hameln is based on intensive musicological research focused on the mediaeval monodies in the minnesinger tradition of the thirteenth century and ancient Slavic music from the Baltic region. Recorded live in concert ...
Heinrich Schütz: German Music & The Reformation
February 28, 2018
Regarded not only as the Father of German Protestant music, Heinrich Schütz was the first German composer to be known throughout Europe. His choral works reveal a musical theologian of depth and sensuality. Beginning with the Italian madrigals of 1611 all the way to his spiritual choral music of 1648, Heinrich Schütz’s creation and refinement of a musical interpretation worthy of ...
Jean Rondeau: Bach vs Scarlatti
February 21, 2018
Although almost exact contemporaries, the lives of Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti couldn’t have been more different. Tonight, young French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau presents a program of works by Bach and Scarlatti, as well as encores by François Couperin, on the 1737 Christian Zell harpischord, only one of three Zell harpsichords remaining, held in Barcelona’s Museu de la Música. ...
A Naughty, Bawdy Valentine’s Day
February 14, 2018
Taking its name from the French Renaissance composer of chansons, The French early music Ensemble Clément Janequin presents a program of 15th- and 16th-century chansons. Lutenist Eric Bellocq joins the male a capella ensemble for this recital recorded live in concert in the Knight’s Hall of the Moravský Krumlov Castle, as part of the Concentus Moraviae Festival.
Huelgas Ensemble: Flanders — A World of Polyphony
February 7, 2018
This evening’s program paints a colorful portrait of the great age of polyphony, dominated by Franco-Flemish composers between 1450 and 1600. From generation to generation, the style, which they developed, became the musical language of Europe. The Huelgas Ensemble’s diverse program of secular and sacred music provides a fine primer to the astonishing cultural sphere. Recorded live in concert June ...
Soli Deo Gloria Festival: Cantatas of the Reformation
January 31, 2018
Founded in 1968 by conductor Frieder Bernius, The Stuttgart Chamber Choir (Kammerchor Stuttgart) is devoted to historically informed performances. Tonight we hear three choral masterworks by Bach. Recorded live in concert June 6, 2017, in St. Martin’s Church, Braunschweig (Brunswick) Germany, as part of the 2017 Soli Deo Gloria Festival. PROGRAM Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Missa brevis in G minor, ...
Bless’d Isle
January 24, 2018
“Where words leave off, music begins,” A celebration of the mastery of English composers from Dowland to Arne and settings of words to music. Soprano Carolyn Sampson is joined by the Academy of Ancient Music, under the direction of Richard Egarr, who also performs on harpsichord and organ. This special 90-minute edition of Baroque&Before was recorded live in concert November ...
Ave Maris Stella / Mary Star of the Sea
January 17, 2018
Gothic Voices presents works from the 12-15th century honoring the Biblical matriarch Mary in her various guises: caring mother, virgin lover, guiding light. Ancient ritualistic texts explore her mythical and human aspects and are set to music by masters of mediaeval England. Recorded live in concert in London’s Cadogan Hall. PROGRAM Anonymous, 13th century Ave Maria; Super te Ierusalem – ...
A Feast of A Capella Music from the Renaissance
January 10, 2018
The Croatian Radio-Television Chorus under the direction of Saša Britvić presents a program of 15th- and 16th-century polyphony, focusing on works by Croatian Renaissance master of motet and madrigal Julije Skjavetić. Recorded live in concert in Zagreb’s Mimara Museum. PROGRAM Philippe Verdelot (1480-1552) Madonna, non so dir Julije Skjavetić (fl. 1530-1565) Appariran per me Era il bel viso suo Io ...
In Paradiso: Spanish & Italian Canzonette
January 3, 2018
Duo La Galanía — Soprano Raquel Andueza and theorbist Jesús Fernández Baena — present a program of devotional and secular songs from 17th-century Spain and Italy. Recorded live in concert at the Church of the College of St. Michael, as part of the International Sacred Music Festival in Friburg, Switzerland. PROGRAM Anonymous Omnia vanitas praeter amare Deum, vana bergamasca Lamento ...