Baroque academy: Subtle and subtler – Time and rhythm in late-medieval music

• The students will familiarise themselves with the rhythmical complexities of Ars Subtilior, paralleled only by that of 20th-century music according to many notable musicians and musicologists. The students will also learn what makes a Subtilior melody Subtilior, and to which expressive principles the Subtilior characteristics respond. Relating those to their contemporary sensitivity, they will acquire new tools for the expression of their own musicianship.
• The students will be acquainted with the rare and precious artefacts that constitute the surviving sources of Subtilior music, and learn the basic guidelines for the decodification of the mensural notation
• The students will hone a specific sensitivity to a “foreign”, or unusual, tuning system such as the pythagorean, in order to penetrate the expressive potential of Subtilior music also through the mastery of intervallic intonation (pure fifths, perfect fourths, restless thirds, etc.)
• The students will acquire tools to arrange 2- or 3-voice pieces in a fashion that reflects both the stylistic aesthetics and the instruments in use
• The students will receive a substantial wealth of theoretical and practical information that enables them to ground the better-known repertoire of renaissance and early baroque music into its often neglected but fundamental late-medieval ancestry.

TUNING 440Hz Pythagorean
· Enrollments in Peppi 10.–29.4.2026, Open University 31.3.– 21.4.2026
· By enrolling you pledge to participate the entire weekend and the concert.
· The course suits through Open University for professional music students, alumni, teachers of music schools and conservatoires, professional musicians.
· Students through Open University will be chosen according to free motivation letter.
· The course is part of the Baroque Academy entity, where each theme will reappear after some years. You can apply either for an individual weekend course or for the whole study year. On 2026-27 there will be 3 courses via Open University. Paloheimo Foundation is supporting the Baroque Academy.

At least 3 places will be offered to the Open University. Open University participants will be selected for the course based on the background information provided in the application. In the application, the applicant will answer the following questions:

1. Tell briefly why you want to apply for the course/courses and (motivation) and what you expect from the studies.

2. Tell briefly about your background: studies, hobbies or work experience you have related to the course themes (e.g. studies at art institutes).