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Vincenzo Galilei

Hannah French and Zak Ozmo explore the life and work of the extraordinary 16th-century lutenist, music theorist and composer Vincenzo Galilei, who was born around 500 years ago.

Hannah French and Zak Ozmo explore the life and work of the extraordinary 16th-century Italian lutenist, music theorist and composer Vincenzo Galilei, who was born around 500 years ago.

Galilei was a hugely important figure in the musical life of the late Renaissance - a polymath, who studied the science of music as well as performing it, and was clearly an enormous inspiration for his son - the astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei. Some scholars credit him with directing the activity of his son away from pure, abstract mathematics and towards experimentation using mathematical quantitative description of the results. And Zak Ozmo says there is a case for regarding him as the father of Baroque music, pre-empting the work of Monteverdi and possibly influencing JS Bach to compose the Well-Tempered Clavier over a century later.

We also hear from Acoustic Engineer, Professor Trevor Cox, who looks at the practical experiments Galilei carried out to see if Pythagoras's theories about string lengths in musical instruments were correct.

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31 minutes

Last on

Sun 4 Jun 2023 14:00
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Vincenzo Galilei

    Fantasia for two lutes

    Performer: Anthony Rooley. Performer: James Tyler.
    • ³’’O±υ³§·‘΄‘±«-³’³ΫΈι·‘.

  • Vincenzo Galilei

    Contrapunto Secondo

    Performer: Anthony Rooley. Performer: James Tyler.
    • ³’’O±υ³§·‘΄‘±«-³’³ΫΈι·‘.

  • Michelagnolo Galilei

    Sonate in F minor; mvts I - III

    Performer: Anthony Bailes.
    • RAMEE.

  • Vincenzo Galilei

    Contrapuncto primo

    Ensemble: Ensemble Doulce Memoire.
    • DORIAN.

  • Vincenzo Galilei

    Duo tutti di fantasia

    Performer: Jakob Lindberg.
    • BIS.

  • Vincenzo Galilei

    Ricercare for lute

    Performer: Jakob Lindberg.
    • BIS.

  • Vincenzo Galilei

    Fantasia ottava

    Performer: Erling MΓΈldrup. Performer: JΓΌrgen Rost.
    • CAPRICCIO.

  • Vincenzo Galilei

    Cosi Nel Mio Cantar

    Ensemble: Daedalus Ensemble. Director: Roberto Festa.
    • ACCENT.

  • Vincenzo Galilei

    Dura Mia Petra Viva

    Ensemble: Ensemble Daedalus. Director: Roberto Festa.
    • ACCENT.

  • Giulio Caccini

    Amarilli Mia Bella

    Performer: Anthony Rooley. Singer: Emma Kirkby.
    • ALTO.

  • Claudio Monteverdi

    Duo Seraphim (Vespers of 1610)

    Orchestra: Monteverdi Orchestra. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Singer: Robert Tear. Singer: Philip Langridge. Singer: John Shirley‐Quirk. Choir: Monteverdi Choir.

  • Claudio Monteverdi

    Concerto: Duo seraphim [Vespers 1610]

    Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists. Ensemble: His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.

  • Vincenzo Galilei

    Saltarello [The Well-Tempered Lute]

    Performer: Ε½ak Ozmo.
    • Hyperion.

  • Vincenzo Galilei

    Romanesca Antica [The Well-Tempered Lute]

    Performer: Ε½ak Ozmo.
    • Hyperion.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Fugue No.1 in C major, BWV.846 [The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1]

    Performer: Trevor Pinnock.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.

  • Vincenzo Galilei

    Passamezzo Antico [The Well-Tempered Lute]

    Performer: Ε½ak Ozmo.
    • Hyperion.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 15 Nov 2020 14:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • Sun 4 Jun 2023 14:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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