Francesco Barsanti

The music of Francesco Barsanti is an inspiring combination of art music and folk music and the man himself had a fascinating life. Unfortunately there is not much known about Barsanti’s background. His father may have been the opera librettist…

The oboe d’amore

The oboe d’amore is pitched a minor third below the oboe and has a bulb bell or Liebesfuß rather than the flared bell of the oboe.  It is an instrument of the German high baroque. Christoph Graupner seems to have…

The Chalumeaux

Here at Concentus VII we branch out into the more obscure instruments of the Baroque from time to time. One of these is the chalumeau, basically a clarinet without its high register, which Louise plays for example when we do…

The Real Concentus VII

Johann Jacob Fux (1660–1741) stands at the apogee of the Austrian baroque, the musical embodiment of the Hapsburgs’ world; J.S. Bach placed him first among his contemporaries. At some pint during his early career he made a trip to Italy…