Harmonia
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Royal Conservatoire of Brussels
Convents, were among Early Modern Europe’s most musical spaces, and one of the few in which women could pursue higher education in a variety of fields. This week on Harmonia, we’re celebrating these under-sung cultural powerhouses with music written by and for nuns and other religious repertory performed by women over the centuries, featuring the latest by Musica Secreta.
About
Today’s performers bring to life the music of the distant past. Host Angela Mariani explores the world of historical performance, presenting music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and beyond. Thursdays at 8 PM on WFIU and Sundays at noon on WFIU2. Harmonia is a co-production of WFIU and Early Music America.
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Since 2018, Early Music America has hosted its Emerging Artists Showcase, a series presenting the rising stars of early music and historical performance. This hour on Harmonia, we’ll hear from 2025 laureate Charlotte Tang, whose program transports us to a fashionable drawing room in nineteenth-century England. -
We're exploring medieval and Renaissance songs and dances collected by 18th-century “early music” aficionados in Britain. Plus, our featured recording by The Curious Bards explores Irish and Scottish identities through traditional music.
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We’re celebrating the Internet’s fascination with amusing manuscript illuminations with a “Listening to Art” episode devoted to weird medieval animals. From cats with uncomfortably human faces to jousting snails, we’ll explore music from the times, places, and pages of their creation. On our featured release, violinist Cristina Prats Costa shares delights of the seventeenth-century Mediterranean. -
While incarcerated at Fleet Prison, English composer William Cornysh wrote a long poem, "A Treatise between Information and Truth," which drew upon many musical metaphors to explain how and why he was falsely imprisoned. This week on Harmonia, we’ll explore the life and music of William Cornysh II, 500 years after his death. -
Sometimes we need a good cry. Music can provide a space for mourning and lament for both personal sadness and religious observation. This week on Harmonia, we’ll be exploring musical settings of the Book of Lamentations. We’ll hear uses of this text in traditions from Tisha b’Av to Tenebrae. -
This hour, we’re continuing our exploration of ways that landscape has been reflected in the music of earlier centuries, from topography and weather conditions to wildlife and human interventions. We’ll float down rivers, stroll through peaceful forests, and admire hgfdqpowerful storms in music by Clément Janequin, Claudio Monteverdi, Matthew Locke, and more. -
We’re exploring music in and about the Americas during the first centuries of European colonization. We begin our journey in New France with the musical legacies of Jesuit missions, fur trading outposts, and occupied indigenous nations. -
Join us on a bohemian escapade of sorts, as we explore baroque music composed by violinist Philipp Jakob Rittler and trumpet virtuoso Pavel Josef Vejvanovský. Plus, festive Baroque music for trumpets and strings on our featured recording by Ars Antiqua Austria. -
We’re exploring ways that landscape has been reflected in the music of earlier centuries, from topography and weather conditions to wildlife and human interventions. We’ll gaze at distant mountains, wander through meadows, hop fences, and rest in shady glens in music by Cipriano de Rore, Thomas Weelkes, Robert Johnson, and more. -
When Christian IV of Denmark visited his brother-in-law James Stuart in England, they threw some raucous, wild parties . . . so, it’s no surprise that King Christian’s fondness for the British Isles informed his musical patronage. This week on Harmonia: renaissance music from the court at Copenhagen. -
Double reed instruments — both sweet and spectacular — have been a part of music across classes and genres for centuries. This week, from shawms to bombards to the Baroque hautboy, we’re exploring music for early oboes. Our featured release is Denis Delair: The Violin Sonatas, by The Levée. -
Lots of music has come down through the centuries with no listed author, requiring varying levels of historical forensics by scholars and performers wishing to sleuth out its origin. This hour on Harmonia, we’re exploring music with notorious and notoriously incorrect composer attributions.
