Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry. I hope you are enjoying season 3 thus far! If this is your first dip into the Between the Barlines podcast, I suggest you go back to the very beginning so that you can continue to expand your historical music learning! Today, we are going to learn about the sacred music that was happening in the early 17th century. We are going to talk about a few composers who were monumental in creating music during this time.

Music metioned in this episode:

Monteverdi Vespro della Beata Vergine, Vespers of 1610: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FXECUmqBxQ

Schütz Psalms of David: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd-eqngmkDY

Gabrieli Sacrae Symphoniae: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBobif_00UA

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I’m your host, Dr. Maeve Berry, and today we’re opening the doors to the intimate world of 17th-century chamber music — a time when music was migrating from grand cathedrals and courts into salons and private homes. We haven’t had a chance to explore this type of music yet, so I’m very excited to dive into this with you! In today's episode we will talk about the rise of the basso continuo, type of instruments are typically involved in these chamber ensembles, the difference between the sonata da chiesa and the sonata da camera, and composers including Arcangelo Corelli, Dario Castello, Giovanni Battista Fontana, François Couperin, and Heinrich Biber.

Music played and mentioned in this episode:

Corelli 12 Trio Sonatas / Sonate da chiesa, Op. 3 No. 1-4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrg3uPORvV8

Corelli Trio Sonata in C major, Op. 2, No. 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTyl7PnL1PU

Couprin Ordre 18ème de clavecin (La Verneville): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EviPBozSOq4&t=51s

Biber Mystery Sonatas (Rosary Sonatas), no. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd2wYGeGsn4

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! Today, we are going back over 400 years to explore the birth of opera—how it came to be, what it meant in its early days, and how it evolved from a humanist experiment in Florence to one of the most enduring and powerful forms of storytelling in the Western world. If you aren’t familiar with the genre, you might be asking, what exactly is opera?

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry, and for the second episode of season 3, we are going to talk about stile antico and stile moderno—the “old style” and the “modern style”—and the dramatic shift between them during one of the most transformative periods in music history.

Music in this Episode:

Monteverdi Cruda Amarilli: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKTQQ28sSNo&feature=youtu.be

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry, and I am thrilled that you are joining me for the first episode of season 3! If you haven’t listened to either seasons 1 or 2, please go back and give those a listen! The goal of this podcast is to provide learners and music-curious people with aural resources to study, learn, and review topics chronologically from music history!

In this episode, we’ll explore all of the defining traits of Baroque music—from its dramatic expression and rhythmic drive to the elegance of counterpoint and ornamentation. The Baroque period spans roughly from 1600 to 1750—beginning around the emergence of opera in Italy and concluding with the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. It was a time of transformation, with music moving from the modal, sacred chants of the Renaissance toward a more expressive, harmonically rich, and instrumentally varied style. The term Baroque comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning a misshapen pearl. Initially, it was used pejoratively, suggesting something overly ornate or convoluted. But today, we celebrate this music for those very qualities.

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I’m your host, Dr. Maeve Berry, and today is our final episode of season 2! The 17th century was a time of dramatic change and innovation in music. It was a bridge between the Renaissance and the Baroque, a century of experimentation, emotion, and new forms that would shape the sound of Western music for centuries to come.

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry! Today, we are going to tie up some loose ends that we still have in the Renaissance! We are going to address composers like Thomas Tallis and Tomás Luis de Victoria, as well as the instrument called the virginal.

Pieces mentioned/played in episode:

Tallis Spem in alium a 40: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3LnkG2P2wM

Tallis Te lucis ante terminum (Festal Tone): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y75c3aIg3nI

Victoria O magnum mysterium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzVNkvXh6Qk

John Bull Galliarda FWV 17, vol. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWJRvzmzZ6c

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I’m your host, Dr. Maeve Berry, and today we’re diving into an often overlooked but deeply fascinating era in Western music history: the 16th century — a time when instrumental music began to step into its own spotlight. While vocal music still dominated, and composers like Palestrina and Josquin des Prez were household names in their time, the 16th century was a turning point for purely instrumental composition and performance. So today, we’ll explore the instruments, forms, social contexts, and innovations that shaped this transitional time — and paved the way for the Baroque explosion to come.

Suggested Music Listening:

Luys de Narváez Guárdame las vacas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYQpHXiko0s

Luis de Milán Pavana del I y II tono (played on vihuela by Eduardo Egüez!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIGIaxGpdBE

Andrea and Giovanni Gabrielli 2 Canzonas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEjj3Ud-ckk

William Byrd The Hunt's Up FVB 59 (Fitzwilliam Virginal Book Vol. 1 No. 59): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZRx-u94_5Q