Between the Barlines

Between the Barlines

by Maeve Berry
Performing Arts
Season 3

The Beginnings of Opera

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! Today, we are going back over 400 years to explore the birth of opera—how it came to be, what it meant in its early days, and how it evolved from a humanist experiment in Florence to one of the most enduring and powerful forms of storytelling in the Western world. If you aren’t familiar with the genre, you might be asking, what exactly is opera?
S3 · E3
May 26, 2025
6:31

From stile antico to stile moderno

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry, and for the second episode of season 3, we are going to talk about stile antico and stile moderno—the “old style” and the “modern style”—and the dramatic shift between them during one of the most transformative periods in music history. Music in this Episode: Monteverdi Cruda Amarilli: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKTQQ28sSNo&feature=youtu.be
S3 · E2
May 23, 2025
8:07

Traits of Baroque Era Music

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry, and I am thrilled that you are joining me for the first episode of season 3! If you haven’t listened to either seasons 1 or 2, please go back and give those a listen! The goal of this podcast is to provide learners and music-curious people with aural resources to study, learn, and review topics chronologically from music history! In this episode, we’ll explore all of the defining traits of Baroque music—from its dramatic expression and rhythmic drive to the elegance of counterpoint and ornamentation. The Baroque period spans roughly from 1600 to 1750—beginning around the emergence of opera in Italy and concluding with the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. It was a time of transformation, with music moving from the modal, sacred chants of the Renaissance toward a more expressive, harmonically rich, and instrumentally varied style. The term Baroque comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning a misshapen pearl. Initially, it was used pejoratively, suggesting something overly ornate or convoluted. But today, we celebrate this music for those very qualities.
S3 · E1
May 21, 2025
7:42
Season 2

Welcome to the 17th Century: new styles and a transitional period

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I’m your host, Dr. Maeve Berry, and today is our final episode of season 2! The 17th century was a time of dramatic change and innovation in music. It was a bridge between the Renaissance and the Baroque, a century of experimentation, emotion, and new forms that would shape the sound of Western music for centuries to come.
S2 · E17
May 2, 2025
5:02

Tying up loose ends in the Renaissance

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry! Today, we are going to tie up some loose ends that we still have in the Renaissance! We are going to address composers like Thomas Tallis and Tomás Luis de Victoria, as well as the instrument called the virginal. Pieces mentioned/played in episode: Tallis Spem in alium a 40: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3LnkG2P2wM Tallis Te lucis ante terminum (Festal Tone): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y75c3aIg3nI Victoria O magnum mysterium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzVNkvXh6Qk John Bull Galliarda FWV 17, vol. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWJRvzmzZ6c
S2 · E16
Apr 30, 2025
8:11

Instrumental Music in the 16th century

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I’m your host, Dr. Maeve Berry, and today we’re diving into an often overlooked but deeply fascinating era in Western music history: the 16th century — a time when instrumental music began to step into its own spotlight. While vocal music still dominated, and composers like Palestrina and Josquin des Prez were household names in their time, the 16th century was a turning point for purely instrumental composition and performance. So today, we’ll explore the instruments, forms, social contexts, and innovations that shaped this transitional time — and paved the way for the Baroque explosion to come. Suggested Music Listening: Luys de Narváez Guárdame las vacas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYQpHXiko0s Luis de Milán Pavana del I y II tono (played on vihuela by Eduardo Egüez!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIGIaxGpdBE Andrea and Giovanni Gabrielli 2 Canzonas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEjj3Ud-ckk William Byrd The Hunt's Up FVB 59 (Fitzwilliam Virginal Book Vol. 1 No. 59): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZRx-u94_5Q
S2 · E15
Apr 25, 2025
8:12

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: the mediator

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry, and I am thrilled that you are joining me for another episode in season 2! Today we are going to talk all about Palestrina, an extremely influential composer of choral music in the mid to late 16th century. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was born around 1525, in a small hill town just outside of Rome. Snippet of Music played in episode: Palestrina Missa Papae Marcelli (full): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRfF7W4El60
S2 · E14
Apr 23, 2025
7:25

The Council of Trent

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I’m your host, Dr. Maeve Berry! Today, we’re talking about one of the most consequential religious gatherings in world history: The Council of Trent. It’s a response to the firestorm of the Protestant Reformation and a defining moment for the Catholic Church that still echoes through its walls today. A lot of today’s episode will focus on the changes that were occurring, and I will also rope music back into the picture later in the episode.
S2 · E13
Apr 21, 2025
7:47

Later Madrigalists

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! Today we are going to continue our talk about the Italian Madrigal, and I wanted to share a few composers and their music that are considered “later madrigalists” by historians. We learned a few episodes ago that the madrigal began in Italy in the early 16th century as a secular vocal form — a poetic, polyphonic setting of Italian verse, usually about love, loss, or pastoral life. But by the late 1500s and early 1600s, the madrigal had evolved into something far more experimental and expressive. Today, we’re going to look at three key figures of the later madrigal tradition: Luca Marenzio, Carlo Gesualdo, and Claudio Monteverdi — each of whom took the form in radically different directions. Pieces mentioned in the episode: Marenzio Solo e pensoso: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmGzve9E9t4 Gesualdo Moro, lasso, al mio duolo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dVPu71D8VI Gesualdo O vos omnes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiIKbUI6Dio
S2 · E12
Apr 18, 2025
7:56

England and the Madrigal

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry. To continue our conversation from last episode, today, we are going to talk about the madrigal in England and some of its important composers. We’ve already learned so much about the madrigal, but this innovation in vocal music brought much change to England, as we will see. We already know that the madrigal was born in Italy in the early 16th century, with masters like Luca Marenzio and Carlo Gesualdo pushing the form into emotionally expressive and harmonically adventurous territory. However, in the 1580s, Italian madrigals were being translated and printed in London. English composers and poets then became fascinated with the form. Snippets of Music within Podcast: Morley Now is the Month of Maying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NPFUz-kIu4 Weelkes As Vesta was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95DJ7oqTWK8 Gibbons The Silver Swan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYvZvAihBP0
S2 · E11
Apr 16, 2025
6:01
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