EXPERIENCE EARLY MUSIC WITH US.

What Is Early Music & Historical Performance?

“Early music” is a blanket term that generally refers to music written before 1750, especially the Renaissance (c. 1450–1600) and Baroque (c. 1600–1750) eras.

Historical performance is an approach to playing older (especially early) music using the tools, techniques, and stylistic habits that composers and musicians of the time would have known. You can think of it as the musical equivalent of a living museum!

Below are three of the main components of historical performance which separate it from much of the rest of the classical music world:

  • INSTRUMENTS

    The instruments our musicians play are antique, or faithful replicas of, instruments from the Baroque era. Playing on these instruments gives us a clearer sense of the sounds composers may have imagined - and that audiences may have heard - long ago. These historical instruments often produce a warmer, softer, and more intimate sound than today’s instruments.

  • PITCH

    Pitch was not the same everywhere in the past, so early music ensembles frequently tune to different “As” depending on what a certain composer or geographical location would have expected. However, for the sake of standardization, today’s early music ensembles often use A=415Hz, a historical pitch which is one semitone lower than the A=440Hz used by most musicians and orchestras today.

  • STYLE

    Using meticulous research, historical records and treatises, and informed imagination, performers work carefully to harness the styles, sounds, rhythms, and embellishments of earlier, often forgotten soundscapes from past eras.

Where Bama Baroque Fits In

Bama Baroque uses the historically informed approaches to instruments, pitch, and style described above. Our goal is not only historical reconstruction and preservation, but storytelling, especially in a region as musically and culturally diverse as Alabama. Some of the same dance rhythms, melodic expressiveness, and harmonic gestures that shaped Baroque music also live on in early folk traditions, including those found in America and even in Appalachia. By placing Baroque and folk music side by side, we highlight shared roots and invite Alabama listeners to hear both familiar and unfamiliar music in a fresh way.

Whether you’re simply curious about early music or already love it, there’s a place for you with us. All are welcome. Come listen, ask questions, or simply enjoy the music.

There’s always a seat open and a tune to share. We hope you’ll join us!