The year is 1564 and Europe is still reeling from the effects of the Reformation. The sacred music of the two churches – Catholic and Protestant – was developing in completely different ways. Instrumental music was also rapidly gaining in importance – as was ballet, championed by Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France. From the violin, which dominated her dance bands, the orchestra would emerge.

The key aims of this programme are to:

• introduce the viewer to the political and social, and in particular religious contexts of the middle and late Renaissance
• explore how music could support religious devotion both in the new Protestant church in northern Europe as well as the Catholic church
• consider the importance of the use of polyphony in church music and the changes to Catholic Church music throughout the Renaissance and the early Baroque
• listen to works by key composers of the period such as Palestrina, J.S. Bach and George Handel
• discover secular works by the above composers written for pleasure such as the madrigal as well as the orchestral works
• explore the changes to instruments and the rise of the violin, particularly in Italy and France
• consider the importance of the patronage of Catherine de' Medici to the rise of ballet, the introduction of the violin and the arts in general in France