Arcangelo Corelli's admirers invented a family tree tracing him back to Noah, yet the real man was so grounded and disciplined that he died wealthy, amassed a priceless art collection, and was buried in the Pantheon beside Raphael. This episode strips away the folklore to reveal the 17th-century Italian violinist and composer who effectively wrote the operating system of modern Western music.

We follow Corelli from his rigorous training in Bologna, where he entered the Accademia Filarmonica at 17, into the freelance patronage economy of Rome under Queen Christina of Sweden and Cardinal Ottoboni. There he transformed chaotic ensembles into disciplined orchestras of up to 150 players, half of them violinists bowing in unison. We explore his restrained playing style, his refusal to perform Handel's flashy high passages, his 30-year perfectioni ...