Audio for this episode will be available Friday.

This hour, we’re exploring the connection between music and myth. Myths served as the basis for many secular works of the Renaissance and Baroque, from the earliest Italian operatic tragedies featuring legendary heroes, to playful cantatas and madrigals. Plus, our featured release is the world-premiere recording of the opera Venus y Adonis by the Spanish Baroque composer José de Nebra performed by the ensemble Los Elamentos.

PLAYLIST

Euridice
Les Arts Baroques
Maguelone Music | MAG358.415 (2017)
Jacopo Peri
Tr. 1 Prologue: Io, che d’alti sospir vaga e di pianti [4:48]

Segment A:

L’Orfeo
Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy
Dynamic | CDS477 (2005)
Claudio Monteverdi
Tr. 8 Ahi, caso acerbo! [6:13]
Tr. 9 Tu se’ morta, mia vita, ed io respiro [2:36]

Marenzio, Madrigals
Quinta Essençia
La Ma de Guido | LMG2157 (2019)
Tr. 3 Madonna sua merce per una sera [2:31] from Eclogue VII, first book of madrigals in 4 voices (2:42)
Tr. 12 Vedi le valle e I campi [2:02] from Eclogue VIII, first book of madrigals in 4 voices (2:12)

:59 Midpoint Break Music Bed:

The Fairy Queen
Scholars Baroque Ensemble
Naxos | 8.550660-61 (1994)
Henry Purcell
Tr. Act II: Dance for the Followers of Night [excerpt of 1:13]

Segment B:

The Fairy Queen
Scholars Baroque Ensemble
Naxos | 8.550660-61 (1994)
Henry Purcell
Tr. Act II: Sleep and Chorus [5:09]
Tr. Act II: Dance for the Followers of Night [1:13]

Secular Cantatas, Vol. 9
Bach Collegium Japan
BIS | BIS-2311 (2017)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Tr. 7 Aria: Zu Tanze, zu Sprunge (Pan) [5:22]
Tr. 8 Recitative: Nunmehro Richter her (Mercurius, Tmolus) [0:44]
Tr. 9 Aria: Phoebus, deine Melodei (Tmolus) [5:47]

Featured Release:

Nebra: Venus y Adonis
Los Elamentos, Alberto Milquélez Ruoco
Aparte 2025 / AP373
José de Nebra
Tr. 24 Aria: Bate a la navecilla (Adonis) [5:27]
Tr. 25 Recitativo: Con efecto Clarín me galantea (Celfa) [1:37]
Tr. 26 Aria: Cualquiera mozuela (Celfa) [4:58]