We often think of disguise as a deception of the eye, but this hour, we’re exploring ways that music can deceive the ear. For centuries, musicians have experimented with sonic trickery: to tell a story, to emphasize meaning, or just for fun. We’ll hear voices pretending to be instruments, instruments pretending to be each other, and ensembles of all kinds transforming extramusical sounds into art. Test your musical detective skills as singers become trumpeters and guitarists, lutes become bagpipes, bagpipes become birds, and more.
For our featured recording, violinist Rachel Podger takes a deep dive into the works of a seventeenth-century master of musical trickery with “Just Biber” (Heinrich, that is).
PLAYLIST
The DaVinci Collection
The Toronto Consort
Marquis Classics | MAR-357 (2007)
Antonio Caprioli
Tr. 20 Quella bella e biancha mano (4:45)
Segment A:
Sacred and Secular Music from Six Centuries
The Hilliard Ensemble
Hyperion | 00602458138962 (1990)
Guillaume Dufay
Tr. 5 Gloria ad modem tubae (1:57)
Dufay: Musique sacrée & ballades
Capella Antiqua München, Konrad Ruhland
Telefunken SAWT 9439-B / LP 1960s?/1970?
Guillaume Dufay
Side 1, Tr 2 Gloria ad modum tubae (2:04)
Piffarissimo
Capella de la Torre, Katharina Bauml
Challenge Classics | CC72631 (2014)
Guillaume Dufay
Tr. 9 Gloria ad modum tubae (2:27)
Les cris de Paris
Ensemble Clément Janequin
Harmonia Mundi | HMA1951072 (2005)
Clément Janequin
Tr. La Guerre: La bataille de Marignan (6:42)
Adriano Banchieri: Pazzia senile, Saviezza giovanile
Delitiæ Musicæ, Marco Longhini
Adriano Banchieri
Stradivarius | STR33518SD (2014)
13. Trinc, tin, tronc: Doralice mia bella (2:00)
16. Trinc, tin, tronc: Rostiva i corni e le castagne in forno (3:10)
Midpoint Break Music Bed:
Piffarissimo
Capella de la Torre, Katharina Bauml
Challenge Classics | CC72631 (2014)
Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro
Tr. 1 Piva amoroso (:59)
Segment B:
Alla Venetiana
Paul O’Dette
Harmonia Mundi | HMU907215DI (1999)
Joan Ambrosio Dalza
Tr. 3 Intabolatura de lauto, Book 4: Piva (1:47)
Di corte in corte
Anonima Frottolisti
Tactus | TC400007 (2020)
Joan Ambrosio Dalza
Tr. 15 Piva (2:45)
The DaVinci Collection
The Toronto Consort
Marquis Classics | MAR-357 (2007)
Rossino Mantovano
Tr. 3 Lirum bilirum lirum lirum (3:50)
Le concert des oiseaux
La Rêveuse
Harmonia Mundi | HMM902709DI (2023)
Michel Corrette
Tr. 8 Pieces pour la Musette, Op. 5: Suite No. 1: VIII. Le Coucou (2:18)
Les fables de La Fontaine
La Chapelle Harmonique, Valentin Tournet
B Records | LBM046 (2022)
François Couperin
Tr. 16 Le rossignol-en-amour (2:53)
Le Chant des Oyseaux
Ensemble Clément Janequin, Dominique Visse
Harmonia Mundi | HMG501099DI (2013)
Clément Janequin
Tr. 20 Le chant du Rossignol (1:55)
Featured release:
Just Biber
Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque
Channel Classics | CCS48525 (2025)
Heinrich Biber
Tr. 16 "Representative Sonata": II. Die Nachtigall (The Nightingale) (1:53)
Tr. 19 "Representative Sonata": IV. Der Frosch (The Frog) (1:22)
Tr. 34 Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140 [Wiener Minoritenkonvent, Manuscript XIV 726: No. 9]: V. Variatio (4:50)
Theme Music Bed: Ensemble Alcatraz, Danse Royale, Elektra Nonesuch 79240-2 [ASIN: B000005J0B], T.12: La Prime Estampie Royal