Capella de la Torre

Capella de la Torre, a German ensemble devoted to early wind repertoire, takes its title from two sources. One honors the Spanish composer Francisco de la Torre, active around 1500 and creator of the celebrated Renaissance wind work Danza Alta; the other refers to the historic practice of performing music “de la torre,” or “from the tower.” That dual meaning reflects the group’s core aim of pairing scholarly inquiry with programs that reach listeners outside specialist circles, thereby illustrating how certain Renaissance wind genres once functioned in outdoor civic settings.

Since its establishment in 2005 by Munich-born Katharina Bäuml—who trained on both the modern oboe and its earlier counterparts, the Baroque oboe and the shawm—the ensemble has emerged as one of the foremost ensembles worldwide dedicated to early wind music. It has presented more than 1,000 concerts and developed educational initiatives for young audiences to encourage lasting interest in Renaissance repertoire.

More than twenty recordings have appeared on Coviello Classics, Challenge Classics, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, and additional labels. These projects have examined both the festive roles of Renaissance instrumental music and its links to political authority, as heard on the 2007 album Music for Charles V. The 2014 release Luther’s Wedding Day reconstructed pieces possibly performed at the marriage of theologian Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora. In 2016 the ensemble received the ECHO Klassik award as Ensemble of the Year, and the following year it issued Echo der Reformation with Berlin’s RIAS Chamber Choir alongside Una Serata Venexiana, a collection of songs and dances from Renaissance Venice.