Early Music Show

Francisco Guerrero was one of the most renowned composers of the Spanish “Golden Age of Polyphony”, alongside Tomás Luis de Victoria and Cristóbal de Morales. Catherine Bott explores his life and music.

The Hanseatic League and the impact that it had for music from the 13th to the 18th centuries among the towns and ports around the Baltic, as explored by Catherine Bott.

Life in a cathedral choir in the days of the "Father of English Music", William Byrd: was the career of a 16th-century chorister so different to that of a 21st-century one? Catherine Bott visits Lincoln to find out.

Soprano Kitty Clive was born in the early 18th century, and rose to become London's top singer and comic actress, and a celebrity in her day. Lucie Skeaping talks about her with musicologist Berta Joncus, who is currently writing a book about the singer. The programme features music she made famous, including Arne's 'Rule Britannia', and also music written for her by Handel.

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 the King himself.

The music 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. Lucie Skeaping looks back on the music, lives and careers of the members of the dynasty.

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 English composer's students, featuring music from Thomas Tomkins, Peter Philips, Thomas Morley and John Bull.

Nicola Porpora taught Farinelli to sing and Haydn to compose, and was Handel's operatic rival in London. In his home town of Naples he fought for recognition against the successes of his contemporary Alessandro Scarlatti. Lucie Skeaping celebrates the life and music of this intriguing Neopolitan composer and teacher.

Marc-Antoine Charpentier 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-Baptiste Lully. Much of his life was spent in the service of Mlle de Guise and for the Jesuit College in Paris for whom he wrote many of his wonderful Christmas pieces inspired by popular French carols. Lucie Skeaping looks back on Charpentier’s Christmas.

The origins of The Worshipful Company of Musicians, founded in 1500, which provided protection for professional musicians in the City of London. In conversation with two immediate Past Masters, Paul Campion and Richard Crewdson, Lucie Skeaping looks back to the world of London's medieval minstrels, and the guild's relationship between the Royal Household and the City Waits.

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 for music inspired Domenico Scarlatti to devote the best part of his life serving her and prompted him to compose at least 550 sonatas for her to play. Maria Bárbara's name often appears alongside Scarlatti's when talking about his music, but little is usually said about her, her court and her times. Catherine Bott takes the three hundredth anniversary of her birth to review the Scarlatti story from a different perspective.

James Oswald was an 18th Century Scottish composer, who rose from humble beginnings in Fife to become the official chamber music composer to George III. Lucie Skeaping looks at his life and music.

Salamone Rossi was a 17th Century Jewish composer based in Mantua who wrote a ground-breaking set of Hebrew motets 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 clothing a yellow 'badge of shame', Rossi's musical skills were highly regarded by the Mantuan court. Lucie Skeaping explores his life and music.

Profiling the music and background of pioneering composers of the Symphony in the 18th century, such as Sammartini, Stamitz, Holzbauer, JC Bach, Monn and Wagenseil. Presented by Catherine Bott, and broadcast as part of the BBC month long 'Celebration of the Symphony'.