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1672, London. At a tavern near Fleet Street, John Banister hosts a radical new event: a concert open to anyone who can pay. It marks the birth of public concert life.

30 December 1672, London. In a modest room above a tavern, a crowd gathers for something entirely new. For the price of a shilling, anyone can hear professional musicians perform. With John Banister’s concert, music escapes the court and church, and the age of the paying public begins.

This programme traces the rise of public concert life in Restoration London, as political upheaval, entrepreneurial musicians and a growing middle class reshape the way music is made and heard. From Puritan restrictions to the theatrical explosion under Charles II, and from taverns to coffee houses, a new musical culture emerges one driven not by patrons, but by audiences.

Gillian Moore is joined by a roster of distinguished historians for this major new Âé¶¹Éç Radio 3 series, charting a course through 1000 years of classical music history. For Episodes 9 to 16, Gillian welcomes Suzannah Lipscomb to help her explore the fascinating stories and rich sound worlds of the Late Renaissance and Baroque.

Producer: Chris Taylor
Academic Consultant: Professor Laura Tunbridge, University of Oxford
Story Consultant: Kate Leys
Series Editor for Âé¶¹Éç Audio: Emma Harding
Key Changes theme tune composed by Joseph Howard and performed by the Âé¶¹Éç National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Kerem Hasan.

MUSIC DETAILS
John Banister: The Musick att the Bath
The Parley of Instruments
Peter Holman, director

John Playford (ed. Edmund Taylor): Daphne or The Shepherds
Bellot Ensemble

Alehouse Sessions Medley arr. Playford
Barokksolistene
Bjarte Eike

Henry Purcell: Welcome Song – Fly, bold rebellion (Z324)
Jeremy Budd, tenor
The Sixteen
Harry Christophers, conductor

Henry Purcell: Suite from Abdelazer
Bellot Ensemble

Anonymous: Diddle, diddle (Bawdy Ballad)

Matthew Locke: Suite No. 3 in D minor – Pavan
Bellot Ensemble

Benjamin Britten: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Âé¶¹Éç Symphony Orchestra
Dalia Stasevska, conductor

23 days left to listen

56 minutes

Music Played

  • John Banister

    The Musick att the Bath

    Ensemble: Parley of Instruments. Director: Peter Holman.
    • HYPERION.
  • Bjarte Eike

    Alehouse Sessions Medley

    Composer: Barokksolistene. Performer: Bjarte Eike. Ensemble: Barokksolistene.
  • Henry Purcell

    Welcome Song - Fly, bold rebellion, Z324

    Singer: Jeremy Budd. Choir: The Sixteen. Orchestra: The Sixteen Orchestra. Director: Harry Christophers.
    • CORO.
  • Henry Purcell

    Suite from Abdelazer

    Ensemble: Bellot Ensemble.
  • Anonymous

    'Diddle Diddle' from Bawdy Ballads

    Ensemble: City Waites.
    • ALTO.
  • Matthew Locke

    Suite No. 3 in D minor (Pavan)

    Ensemble: Bellot Ensemble.
  • Benjamin Britten

    Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (excerpt)

    Orchestra: Âé¶¹Éç Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Dalia Stasevska.

Broadcast

  • Last Saturday 13:00