With this first solo recording, harpsichordist Dmytro Kokoshynskyy offers far more than a journey through the golden age of the English virginalists. Centred on Tallis, Byrd, Bull, Gibbons and Dowland, among others, he builds an intimate meditation on music as refuge, remedy and mirror of troubled times, extended into our own day by KHORA by the composer Maxim Shalygin.
From the palaces of Stockholm to the abbeys of Slovenia, from the Baltic shores to the royal theatres of Scandinavia, early music traces a summer route through Northern and Eastern Europe. Baroque operas, Renaissance polyphony, intimate festivals, and major international gatherings bring heritage, spirituality, and creativity into dialogue, at the heart of landscapes long absent from the major musical maps of Europe.
With this new album, the ensemble Les Lunaisiens, led by Arnaud Marzorati, reaffirms its mission: to bring the ancestral heritage of French chanson back into the spotlight. By presenting a history of France through its songs, the ensemble brings to light contrasting tales from different eras—sometimes dramatic, sometimes satirical—which bear witness to the richness and complexity of the popular vocal heritage.
From Seville to Barcelona, from Granada to Alcobaça or Marvão, every summer the Iberian Peninsula brings together early music and living heritage. Gardens, palaces, cloisters, monasteries, and fortified towns serve as the setting for medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque repertoires, blending sacred fervour, polyphonic tradition, and open-air musical evenings.
From Buxton to Brecon, from Oxford’s medieval colleges to the churches of Kent and Sussex, Britain’s early music festivals form a sonic postcard of green countryside, historic houses, chapels and charming villages. In one of the great cradles of the early music revival, summer unfolds to the sounds of Handel, Dowland, Monteverdi, Purcell and Bach.
Building on the legacy of the Franco-Flemish polyphonists of the Renaissance and the Baroque traditions of Northern Europe, festivals in Belgium and the Netherlands foster a dialogue between musical heritage and musicological research. From Utrecht to Namur, from Bruges to Liège, by way of Antwerp, a true route of the musical Low Countries emerges, where the greatest international ensembles meet the new generation of the European Baroque scene.
From Leipzig to Innsbruck, from Bayreuth and Potsdam to the Romanesque churches of the Rhineland, the German-speaking world remains one of the great historical laboratories of European early music. Here, Bach, Handel, Schütz, and the masters of the early Baroque continue to inspire a vibrant musical scene where philological research, grand Baroque operas, and the transmission of musical tradition are in constant dialogue. Between festivals in heritage sites and more intimate gatherings, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland thus form a vast musical geography where architectural heritage and historically informed performance continually respond to one another.
From Parma to Florence, from Cremona to Urbino, Italy remains one of the great historical stages of European early music. Between palaces and baroque basilicas, medieval and Renaissance cities, festivals bring the legacy of Monteverdi, Cavalli, Stradella, and Legrenzi back to life while cultivating remarkable artistic vitality.
With more than twenty festivals taking place between June and October, France remains one of Europe’s great territories for early music. From the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel to the Alpine valleys, from great Romanesque abbeys to the gardens of the Vendée, and through remarkable sites in Auvergne and the west of the country, these festivals today bring together historically informed performance, exceptional heritage settings and new generations of artists.
