Suzanne Bona

Elisabetta de Gambarini was born in 1731, so she came of age right around the end of the baroque era. The Englishwoman was not only a gifted musician who mastered several musical instruments, she was also a composer. Harpsichordist Paule van Parys plays some of Elisabetta de Gambarini’s Beautiful Music — her Sonata #5. And if […]

This offering of Beautiful Music is a jig by Occramar Mareycoo. That was the given name of the enslaved man, Newport Gardner, who was born in 1746 in Africa, right near the end of the baroque era. This cheery jig — CROOKED SHANKS — was published in 1803. In addition to listening to his composition,

There is so much to love about this Beautiful Music! Soprano Julie Roset, violinist Emilie Clément-Planche, cellist Dorine Lepeltier-Kovacs, and harpsichordist Xiaomo Zhang give a (clavecin) technically and artistically lovely performance of the Christmas song O CHE NUOVO STUPOR.  The setting is by Francesca Caccini (1587-1641), an early baroque era musician, singer and poet whose

Merry Christmas! My gift of Beautiful Music today is something sweet and fun — it’s a collection of favorite holiday music performed in baroque-style arrangements. Some of the music is truly from the baroque era or before, while other selections are clever arrangements of beloved modern holiday tunes. These two volumes feature Peter Breiner leading

To make this Christmas Eve special, we are traveling to Venice for a program of music by Giovanni Gabrieli and others, performed by the Gabrieli Consort & Players. They crafted this program as, “… an impression of the First Mass of Christmas in St Mark’s as it might have been celebrated in Venice around the

A COLONIAL CHRISTMAS is Early Music New York’s holiday collection of Beautiful Music for the Christmas season. It includes familiar holiday melodies such as Lo How a Rose E’re Blooming, the Coventry Carol and Greensleeves, along with lovely but less well known music. I hope you enjoy the unique holiday playlist of ancient music. Portuguese

Today the Agricola Consort offers Beautiful Music for Advent by Georg Philipp Telemann. His cantata ‘Machet die Tore weit’ was composed for Advent in 1719 G.P. Telemann – Machet die Tore Weit (TWV 1:1074) – Agricola Consort – YouTube    

What a pleasure to share Beautiful Music for advent by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by Pacific Musicworks in Seattle. This concert performance from December 2017 features two of Bach’s Advent Cantas: NUN KOMM, DER HEIDEN HEILAND BWV 62 from Leipzig in 1724 and BEIREITET DIE WEGE, BEIREITET DIE WAHN BWV 132 for the 4th Sunday

Today I’m offering Beautiful Music for the Christmas and Advent season from ancient times. This collection of Medieval music is performed by The Primavera Singers Of The New York Pro Music Antiqua. Medieval Christmas Carols & Advent Choral – YouTube    

This Beautiful Music has such joyful spirit and optimism — no, it’s not “baroque” in the strict definition. But like baroque music, it’s elaborately embellished and ornamented. The Drakensberg Boys Choir in South Africa performs, and I especially love seeing their energy and the smiles on their young faces. Drakensberg Boys Choir – An African