Suzanne Bona

Some serene and uplifting choral music is my offering of Beautiful Music today. The British vocal group Stile Antico sings  John Sheppard’s (c.1515-1558) VERBUM CARO. Close your eyes and let these transcendent voices wash over you.  

Today I’m offering you Beautiful Music played on an unusual instrument: the cornetto! It looks a little like a recorder, and sounds a little like a trumpet. Listen to this music by Venetian composer and violinist Dario Castello (1602-1631) for cornetto and organ, then check out the video giving some in-depth info on the instrument.

I love the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet — each of the musicians individually is so talented and multi-faceted, and together they convey such brilliance and joy. Today’s Beautiful Music offering is something fun from LAGQ: a live performance of their clever “Pachelbel’s Loose Canon.”  

Today’s Beautiful Music is fit for a King! Sit back, relax, close your eyes and be transported back in time to they royal luxury of Versailles.  

The intricate and complex sound of the lute is today’s Beautiful Music selection. Lutenist Paul O’Dette is one of today’s most gifted performers on the instrument, and he brings to life his Renaissance era counterpart, English musician John Dowland.    

Harp is such a lovely instrument — its sound is so soothing and uniquely exquisite. Today you can enjoy a variety of Beautiful Music from the baroque era played on the harp.  

Today’s offering of Beautiful Music in Difficult Times commemorates an especially difficult loss of a beautiful musician, Karen Marie Marmer. The violinist died earlier this week at age 63 of cancer. She and her husband, violinist Jorg-Michael Schwarz, co-founded the early music group Rebel, which is often featured on Sunday Baroque. Here are a few

As a musician, there is something so deliciously satisfying about playing in a big, resonant space in which the notes sail out and seem to carry into eternity. Today’s Beautiful Music offering is one of those magnificent experiences — saxophone player Branford Marsalis plays live at Grace Cathedral. It’s the first movement of a solo

You may have heard the shocking news last week that Nantes Cathedral in France suffered a devastating fire, believed to be the result of arson. The destruction included the 400 year old organ. Today’s offering is a performance of music by Johann Sebastian Bach on that organ: Beautiful Music on a beautiful instrument, so cruelly

Beautiful Music today by a composer whose name may be unfamiliar: Johann Sigismund Kusser. He was born in Hungary in 1660, and worked in various places such as Germany, Ireland, and France. These are Kusser’s Orchestral Suites.