Famous female Baroque composers are so rare that this post is of particular importance. Élisabeth Jacquet, French musical prodigy who sang, played harpsichord, organ, and composed beautiful pieces of Baroque, was born on the 17th of March, 1665, in Paris, France, to a musical family. You probably haven’t heard about Élisabeth, but she was such an extraordinary individual,… Read on
Georg Philipp Telemann, German Baroque composer, was born on the 14th of March, 1681. He was a godfather to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of fellow German Baroque composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. Musique de table: Tafelmusik in d-minor for flutes and continuo: Whilst his work flourished, his personal life was painful. His first wife died only a short time… Read on
Today marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of French Baroque landscape architect, André Le Nôtre! He was born on the 12th of March, 1613, in Paris. Le Nôtre’s garden designs can be seen at the Baroque Chateau de Versailles and Vaux-le-Vicomte. What is so special about le Notre? Well, he worked for King Louis XIV, the Sun King, and French Baroque… Read on
Anne Hyde, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon and Frances Aylesbury, was born on this day 12 March, 1637. Some people think that our current Duchess of Cambridge, the lovely Catherine, is the first commoner to have married an heir to the throne. Au contraire, one of the first ones was this lady, Anne… We must go back… Read on
Born in the beautiful city of Rome around 1550, Emilio de’ Cavalieri became a relatively popular composer of the Late Renaissance/Early Baroque genre. Cavalieri died on the 11th of March, 1602. I don’t have much more information about him, so…on to the music! Music Recommendations: I have the following album, which I enjoy listening to regularly: [amazon asin=B00005J7UX&template=image&chan=default][amazon asin=B0006FNF3I&template=image&chan=default]
I really enjoy Sir Walter Ralegh’s poetry. I don’t like that he made tobacco and potatoes popular, but that’s just me. I would like to share this one poem by him, entitled “The Excuse.” I picked up a copy of his poems from the National Portrait Gallery when I went to see the Lost Prince exhibition, and I… Read on
[THIS IS AVAILABLE AS A FREE PODCAST ON ITUNES] “William III died in a riding accident.” How many times have I heard this? According to the evidence, this was almost certainly not the case. William III had a constant battle with his lungs and it was a problem with his lungs that lead to his death – not… Read on
The Scottish hero popularly known as Rob Roy, was baptised on the 7th of March, 1678, by Loch Katrine. A teenaged Rob Roy has a little cameo in my book due to his involvement in Bonny Dundee’s Jacobite uprising against William & Mary. Many clans, though Presbyterian or Protestant, supported Catholic King James II on principle for he was… Read on