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1501, a canal‑side workshop in Venice. Ottaviano Petrucci prints the first book of music in multiple parts - and reshapes the entire musical ecosystem for ever.

Venice, 1501. In a canal-side workshop, Ottaviano Petrucci and his assistant are working at a bulky wooden machine: a printing press. They cover a set of small metal objects with a thin layer of ink before sliding a sheet of freshly lined paper into the machine. They pull hard on the press: paper meets ink, and history is made.

Petrucci’s first printed collection of multi-voiced works marks a huge turning point in music. It dramatically changes who can access music, who can make money from it, how it can travel - even what a piece of music actually is.

Gillian Moore is joined by a roster of distinguished historians for this major new Â鶹Éç Radio 3 series, charting a course through 1000 years of classical music history. For the first eight programmes, historian Michael Wood is in the chair, as together they explore the bold new sound worlds of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Producer: David Fay
Academic Consultant: Professor Laura Tunbridge, University of Oxford
Story Consultant: Kate Leys
Series Editor for Â鶹Éç Audio: Emma Harding

Key Changes theme tune composed by Joseph Howard and performed by the Â鶹Éç National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Kerem Hasan.

MUSIC DETAILS
Josquin des Prez: Adieu, mes amours
Fretwork

Johannes Ockeghem: Ma bouche rit
Â鶹Éç Singers
Owain Park (conductor)

Guillaume Dufay: Nuper Rosarum Flores
Pomerium
Alexander Blachly (conductor)

Josquin des Prez: Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae (Kyrie)
The Tallis Scholars
Peter Phillips (conductor)

Jacob Obrecht: Tandernaken
Les Flamboyants

Jean Japart: Je cuide se ce temps
Les Flamboyants

Josquin des Prez: La Bernadina
La Pifarescha

Josquin des Prez: Bergerette Savoisienne
°Õ³óé±ôè³¾±ð
Ludovic Van Hellemont (Ondes Martenot)

Josquin des Prez: Ave Maria … Virgo Serena
Â鶹Éç Singers
Owain Park (conductor)

Marchetto Cara: Oimè il cor, oimè la testa
Barbara Zanichelli (soprano)
Luca Pianca (lute)

Scott Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag
Dick Hyman (piano)

28 days left to listen

56 minutes

Last on

Saturday 13:00
Â鶹Éç Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

1492: The Fall of Granada

Next

1521: Why should the devil have all the best tunes?

See all episodes from Key Changes: Radio 3's Essential History of Classical Music

Music Played

  • Josquin des Prez

    Adieu, mes amours

    Ensemble: Fretwork.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.

  • Johannes Ockeghem

    Ma bouche rit

    Choir: Â鶹Éç Singers. Conductor: Owain Park.

  • Guillaume Dufay

    Nuper Rosarum Flores

    Ensemble: Pomerium. Conductor: Alexander Blachly.
    • DEUTCHE GRAMMOPHON.

  • Josquin des Prez

    Missa Hercules Du Ferraie (Kyrie)

    Ensemble: Tallis Scholars. Conductor: Peter Phillips.
    • GIMELL.

  • Jacob Obrecht

    Tendernaken

    Ensemble: Les Flamboyants.
    • RAUMKLANG.

  • Jean Japart

    Je cuide se ce temps

    Ensemble: Les Flamboyants. Conductor: Michael Form.
    • CHRISTOPHORUS.

  • Josquin des Prez

    La Bernadina

    Ensemble: La Pifarescha.
    • ARCANA.

  • Josquin des Prez

    Bergerette Savoisienne

    Ensemble: thélème.
    • APARTE.

  • Josquin des Prez

    El Grillo

    Choir: amarcord.
    • RAUMKLANG.

  • Josquin des Prez

    Ave Maria, Virgo Serena

    Choir: Â鶹Éç Singers. Conductor: Owain Park.

  • Marchetto Cara

    Oimè il cor aime la testa

    Performer: Luca Pianca. Singer: Barbara Zanichelli.
    • STRADIVARIUS.

  • Scott Joplin

    Maple Leaf Rag

    Performer: Dick Hyman.
    • RCA.

Broadcast

  • Saturday 13:00
    Â鶹Éç Radio 3