The Early Music Show

Catherine Bott visits Lincoln to explore what it would have been like to be in a cathedral choir in the days of the "Father of English Music" William Byrd. Was the life of a 16th-century chorister so different to that of a 21st-century one?

Lucie Skeaping talks to musicologist Berta Joncus about the one of the 18th Century's colourful characters, the soprano Kitty Clive. Clive was born in London in the early 18th century, and rose to become London's top singer and comic actress, and a celebrity in her day. Berta Joncus is currently writing a book about Kitty Clive, and how she fascinated audiences for decades. The programme includes...

A keen flautist himself, Frederich II of Prussia also patronised and employed some of the finest composers of the age. In the week of the 300th anniversary of his birth, Lucie Skeaping explores the musicians of Frederick the Great's court, including music by Agricola, Quantz, CPE Bach, Fasch, Graun and Frederick himself.

Lucie Skeaping presents a programme of music by members of the Ferrabosco family, Alfonso I and II - father and son. They were a family of Italian musicians who worked in England for many years at the Elizabethan court. Repertoire in the programme includes fantasias for viols performed by Phantasm, a setting of the Lamentations, and song settings of poems by John Donne and Ben Johnson.

Upon his death, the great English composer William Byrd was acclaimed as the "father of Musick". But what was his musical legacy? Catherine Bott explores the lives and music of some of the great composer's students, featuring music from Thomas Tomkins, Peter Philips, Thomas Morley and John Bull.

Lucie Skeaping looks at the life and works of the composer and teacher Nicola Porpora, whose early career was overshadowed by the successes of Alessandro Scarlatti in his native Naples.

Lucie Skeaping's thoughts turn to Marc Antoine Charpentier who wrote some of the most engaging Christmas music of the French Baroque including the celebrated Messe de Minuit - a midnight mass for Christmas Eve based on popular French carols. A remarkably gifted composer from the reign of Louis XIV, Charpentier spent much of his life pushed into the shadows by the all-powerful and controlling Jean-...

Lucie Skeaping explores the history of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, founded in 1500. Lucie talks to two Past Masters, Paul Campion and Richard Crewdson. Richard has written a book, "Apollo's Swan and Lyre", which charts the history of the Musicians' Company. The programme looks back to the roots of the organisation, which provided protection for professional musicians in the City of London...

Guillaume de Machaut was one of the greatest composers and poets of the Middle Ages and Le Voir Dit is one of his most extraordinary works. Containing 9,094 lines of verse and 8 musical settings, it tells the tale of a blossoming love between the elderly Machaut and a young admirer: Péronne d' Armentières. Catherine Bott explores Machaut's "The True Story".

A profile of Maria Bárbara, the Portuguese Infanta and Spanish Queen, and the muse of Domenico Scarlatti, on the 300th anniversary of her birth. Catherine Bott looks back on the life of one Europe's most musically talented royal figures, the inspirational Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa (4 December 1711 - 27 August 1758), whose gifts as a keyboard player and great love f...

Lucie Skeaping presents a programme about the 18thC Scottish composer James Oswald, who rose from humble beginnings in Fife to be the official chamber music composer to George III. The programme includes recordings by Concerto Caledonia, soprano Catherine Bott, tenor Iain Paton, the Broadside Band and guitarist Rob MacKillop.

Lucie Skeaping explores the life and extraordinary music of Salamone Rossi, a 17th-century Jewish composer based in Mantua. He wrote a collection of psalms and motets in Hebrew, for the Synagogue, drawing on the Italian polyphonic style of composition employed by the Christian Church. In a period of intense anti-Semitism, when the Jewish community in Italy were required by law to wear on their clo...

As part of Radio 3's month long celebration of Symphony, the Early Music Show traces the early history. Catherine Bott reflects on the trail-blazing work of the pioneering symphonists of the 18th century such as Sammartini, the Stamitz family, Holzbauer, JC Bach, Monn and Wagenseil. The 18th century saw a creative explosion in the development of instrumental music and in particular, one of the gre...

The Early Music discovers the origins of Symphony, as part of Radio 3's month long celebration. We all know what is now called a Symphony, but the term has had many varied uses. Lucie Skeaping tracks down the origins of the Symphonie and encounters medieval hurdy-gurdys, spinets and virginals, a tale that the dulcimer is as old as the Bible and a royal wedding, not to mention a whole host of overt...

Catherine Bott talks to scholar, musicologist and conductor Andrew Parrott about the complex process of reconstructions, including his most recent project: the reconstruction of JS Bach's Trauer-Music (Funeral Music). This work was composed in 1728 when Bach's patron, Prince Leopold of Cöthen, suddenly died at the age of 33, but the score has almost completely disappeared. Andrew talks to Catherin...

Catherine Bott explores the musical legacy of King Dinis I of Portugal. He was a remarkable man, born in the year 1261, and ruled Portugal for 46 years during which time he consolidated both his country's economy and its frontiers, limiting the powers of the aristocracy and resolving conflicts in the church. He was known for his wisdom, prudence and passion for justice, and not only was his court...

Lucie Skeaping explores the life and musical passions of one of the most important and influential women of the Italian Renaissance, Isabella d'Este. Featuring music from, amongst others, Ockeghem, Josquin, Cara and Tromboncino. First broadcast in October 2011.

Catherine Bott takes a look at the Wode Psalter, a hugely significant collection of part books that give a fascinating insight into Scottish music-making in the 16th Century. The collection was initially the work of Thomas Wode, a monk and cleric from St Andrews, who was commissioned to produce a series of harmonisations of psalm tunes for a protestant Scottish Psalter. Wode was more ambitious how...

In 1593 one of the great Tudor composers of keyboard music and vocal polyphony, Peter Philips found himself imprisoned in the Hague under allegations of being involved in a plot to kill Queen Elizabeth. In the composer's 450th anniversary year, Lucie Skeaping explores his life and work, and speculates on the allegations against him.

Lucie Skeaping examines the career and music of Shakespeare's regular musical collaborator, Robert Johnson, who famously created the music for The Tempest in 1611, as well as many other plays by the leading playwrights of his day.

King George III is now often remembered only as "the mad King", but he and his Queen Consort were passionate supporters of the arts and both loved music. In the second of two programmes, Catherine Bott continues her virtual tour of London, tracing the legacy of George's artistic patronage through his reign. Featuring music from Handel, Purcell and Steffani.

King George III is widely remembered as the British monarch who suffered a temporary, debilitating period of "madness" as depicted in the play and film by Alan Bennett, "The Madness of King George", but he was also a highly cultured man; he and his Queen Consort were passionate supporters of the arts and both loved music. In the first of two programmes, Catherine Bott begins a virtual tour of Lond...

On the 300th anniversary of the birth of William Boyce, Lucie Skeaping and Jeremy Barlow explore some of the places in London where he lived and worked. Their journey takes them from a church in central London where he had his first job, to the public gardens in south London where his music was enjoyed by many.

Catherine Bott in conversation with the late Gustav Leonhardt: keyboardist, conductor, musicologist and teacher, who was one of the great pioneers of Early music. With great sadness, we learn of the death of Gustav Leonhardt on 16th January. In a change to the schedule, we repeat an interview that Catherine Bott recorded with him last year about his life in music, his great love of Bach and about...

Catherine Bott explores the history of the Collegium Musicum, the amateur music ensembles whose performances in Germany under such illustrious directors as Telemann and Bach paved the way for public concert series. First broadcast in August 2011.