Austrian hills – and homes, courts, and cathedrals – were alive with music in the 16th century!

Piffaro, the Renaissance Band's program, performed on recorders, shawms, dulcians, sackbuts, and other Renaissance wind instruments, captures the range of this rich musical life: 4-part tenorlied composed in Salzburg; important works composed by Alexander Utendal for the Imperial family in Innsbruck; selections from the Stomius Partbooks which shed light on early Lutheran worship in a time of religious turmoil; and the Italian dances that swept the nation.

Listen to musical examples: https://www.piffaro.org/austria/

Any portrayal of musical life in Austria during this period would be incomplete without Paul Hofhaimer, “First Organist to the Emperor” and famed keyboard improvisor. “One would wonder,” wrote a contemporary, “not so much how the ocean gets all the water with which to feed the rivers, but how this man gets the ideas for all his melodies." Philadelphia organist Matthew Glandorf, a noted improvisor himself, will showcase his skills on the Brombaugh Opus 32 organ at historic Christ Church Christiana Hundred.

Watch Matt discuss the history of the organ: https://youtu.be/El3qaHaXS64