Overture
Cellini’s early years are spent training as a musician. Renaissance music was all about harmony, but Cellini was ruled by other passions.
Jerry Brotton is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and wants us to take a fresh look at a period in European history usually associated with beauty, harmony and art. His approach contains a health warning: the Renaissance was a lot darker and violent than many of us have imagined. Retracing the life of Benvenuto Cellini through his shocking autobiography, Jerry reveals how this was a time of conflict as well as beauty, creativity as well as tyranny.
Music is at the heart of the Renaissance, and Cellini’s early years are spent training as a musician. Renaissance music was all about harmony, but Cellini was ruled by other passions. Jerry looks at his early years and the conflicts that soon arise in a volatile youth.
With specially commissioned music to recreate the sound of Renaissance Florence.
Reader Marco Gambino
Producer Mark Rickards
A Whistledown Scotland Production
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- Tue 23 Mar 2021 22:45BBC Radio 3
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