The scope of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio ISRAEL IN EGYPT is the Passover story. Handel premiered it in three sections: The Lamentation of the Israelites for the Death of Joseph, Exodus and Moses’ Song. When it premiered in 1739, it was criticized for being “too solemn for common ears.” But over time, it has come to be regarded as one of Handel’s triumphs. You’ll hear selections from Israel in Egypt on Sunday Baroque this week.
Playlist 2025-04-13 Read More »
April is National Humor Month, and Sunday Baroque will celebrate the occasion with music reflecting a Baroque era musical sense of humor. You’ll hear a comic concerto, a wacky French opera about a hideous swamp beast, and musical folly to amuse and entertain you on your all-important day of rest. It’s all on Sunday Baroque this week.
Playlist 2025-04-06 Read More »
Johann Sebastian Bach was so important to the baroque era, and so prolific as a composer, that Sunday Baroque devoted TWO Sundays to celebrating his March 1685 birthday! This weekend is part 2 of the Bach Birthday Bash … and highlights include a vibrant performance of one of his keyboard concertos adapted for recorder, and played by a rising young virtuoso. It’s on Sunday Baroque this week.
Playlist 2025-03-30 Read More »
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in March of 1685, and every year at this time we throw a little birthday celebration for the composer. And since Bach was SO prolific, the Bach Birthday Bash spans two programs. You’ll hear a selection from his St. Matthew Passion, one of the keyboard partitas, and selections from the ART OF FUGUE. It’s on the first installment of our two-part annual Bach Birthday Bash on Sunday Baroque this week.
Playlist 2025-03-23 Read More »
Saint Patrick’s Day is coming up on March 17, and Sunday Baroque highlights this weekend will include a recording by the Irish Baroque Orchestra Chamber Soloists and some lilting traditional Irish lute solos. You’ll also hear Belfast-born flutist James Galway with the New Irish Chamber Orchestra playing a Concerto by Antonio Vivaldi on Sunday Baroque.
Playlist 2025-03-16 Read More »
March 8th is International Women’s Day, and Sunday Baroque will celebrate the accomplishments of some women in music, such as harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell. She founded her group Apollo’s Fire in 1992, partly as a response of a disastrous job interview. Jeannette Sorrell is one of the trailblazing musical leaders you’ll hear on Sunday Baroque this week.
Playlist 2025-03-09 Read More »
National Procrastination Week is celebrated annually at the beginning of March – or whenever we get around to celebrating! Sunday Baroque will mark the occasion with music that was delayed or left unfinished, such as Henry Purcell’s semi-opera, The Indian Queen.
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Chicago native Demarre McGill has been Principal Flute of the Seattle Symphony since 2012. When he started playing flute at the age of 7, he says it immediately “felt so good.” You’ll hear his beautiful artistry playing the 5th Brandenburg Concerto by Johann Sebastian Bach on Sunday Baroque this weekend.
Playlist 2025-02-23 Read More »
William Shakespeare wrote that, “Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.” Shakespeare didn’t mention that the so-called god of love sometimes used the kind of bow that’s used to play a string instrument. Cupid is the protagonist of an 18th century Italian Violin Sonata. You’ll hear the mythological love story about Cupid and Psyche is one of the musical love stories you’ll hear this week on Sunday Baroque.
Playlist 2025-02-16 Read More »
The only known surviving full-length opera by French violinist and composer Jean-Marie Leclair is mythological love story, and a cautionary tale about a mortal fisherman who fell in love with the a nymph and tried to get a love potion from a witch. You’ll hear a suite from the opera played by a musical ensemble founded by a married couple who met at a gig decades ago! It’s on Sunday Baroque this week.
Playlist 2025-02-09 Read More »
