Composers and theorists of the Renaissance cultivated a strong fascination with the internal mechanisms of music. Counterpoint was conceptualized as a perpetual reflection of the universe’s divine organisation: intervals, time signatures and proportions could be perfect or imperfect. InAlto performs… Read more »

ENG We often tend to think of the past as something lifeless, colourless, and silent. But just as ‘silent’ movies were rarely without sound or without colour, the towns and cities of the past were bristling with life.Moreover, they were… Read more »

ENG Monteverdi vespers have been subject of intense interest among early music performers for many years. The dedication to Pope Paul V, the grand dimensions, the vocal and instrumental virtuosity, the musical colour and extraordinary variety displayed in the collection… Read more »

Schütz/Buxtehude/Bach/Beethoven ENG Primitive instruments with embouchures made from animal horns were traditionally used by hunters and shepherds for summoning and signalling. In cultures and traditions throughout the world, their distinctive sound is often associated with ritual, rites of passage –… Read more »

In Italy prior to the invention of opera, composers conceived of musical interludes mixing song, dance and theatre around large mythological frescos. In France, court ballets also married poetry, vocal and instrumental music, choreography and scenography. From the beginning of… Read more »

ENG We often tend to think of the past as something lifeless, colourless, and silent. But just as ‘silent’ movies were rarely without sound or without colour, the towns and cities of the past were bristling with life.Moreover, they were… Read more »