Mark Herz: This is Morning Edition. The legendary conductor Martin Pearlman is in his final season leading the storied music ensemble Boston Baroque. Known to many as simply Marty, he’s been bringing period interpretations of the great works of the Baroque to the city for over half a century. I talked to him at his Medford home. And I began by asking him how it all started.

Martin Pearlman: I was drawn to Baroque music kind of by accident. I discovered a little harpsichord off in the corner, I was at Cornell at the time, and convinced the university organist to teach me. And I went through a lot of repertoire. And then I went off to Holland on a Fulbright afterwards to study harpsichord. So that was the beginning of that. When I came back, I was at Yale saying harpsichord, but I was doing a composition major. And then once I moved to Boston, I was curious what it would be like to get a bunch of people together who could play on period instruments, because I had seen a little bit of it in Europe at the time. And I got together all the people I knew who could play reasonably well, which was eight people, and we started playing concertos and other things. And it was so popular. People were so curious about it. There were big audiences right from the beginning. And I decided, OK, I’ll do another season. And so it just went gradually in that way. And it grew over time. I added other instruments as they became available. I decided to add a chorus so I could expand the repertoire. And years later, I started doing operas as well so we could do the entire repertoire of the Baroque and classical.

Herz: That first ensemble you established, it was 1970—

Pearlman: Three.

Herz: 1973. And one thing that struck me was, well, five years before that was Wendy (then Walter) Carlos had "Switched-On Bach" with Bach on the Moog synthesizer. So it seemed like the zeitgeist in some ways was going in a completely opposite direction than the direction you were going.

Pearlman: I’m not so sure. In a way, you know, every generation or every few generations, it’s important to kind of just rethink or refresh our repertoire, or any repertoire. And to me, well, I’ve always thought of period instruments as something that was established not by antiquarians, but by people who wanted something really fresh and new and very much of a modern age. Whereas a symphony orchestra is older instruments, that’s generally repertoire that’s over 100 years old, instruments that are over 100 years old. I mean, we call them modern instruments, but in fact, to me, the period instruments are really modern, as are the electronic instruments. And so there’s that similarity, that searching for new ways to express. And in this case, it’s a matter of going back to what they used to do and re-rediscovering the kinds of sounds that these composers like Bach and Handel and Mozart knew.

Herz: When I think of all these performances you’ve done — 52 years. Have you done 52 "Messiah"s now?

Pearlman: Oh, more.

Herz: More, I’m sure. Right. Well, yes, because you do more than one. Yes. Yes. That and your New Year’s concert are fantastic Boston traditions that I’m sure now are generationally being carried on through families. I mean, what is there left for you to discover in these pieces? How do you keep these pieces fresh? Because I’ve seen a few of your "Messiah"s and they’re not the same.

Pearlman: Well, with "Messiah" in particular, because I’ve done it every year for many years, I don’t try to do anything different — or the same. I don’t plan it. I’ve, you know, I’ve come to know the piece and I go into rehearsals and just react to what I hear and what I want to hear. And, you know, over time, you get to know the piece more deeply. But also you yourself have developed. And so things happen. And I hear, I just hear from the audience later whether something’s been different from last year or not. It’s not something that I plan out. I just want to respond to the music.

Pearlman: It’s a wonderful piece. I mean, there are other pieces that if people were if people wanted them, every year would be wonderful to do: the Bach Mass in B minor we’ve done. And the Monteverdi "Vespers" people have asked for again and again. And we’ve recorded those, as we have "Messiah." But no, I don’t get tired of it.

Herz: And I mean, is that a tribute to Handel or to what?

Pearlman: I think it’s the Handel. Handel, he’s the master. He’s, you know, and we we serve what he’s what he is writing. And the tradition of performing "Messiah" has changed a great deal in the years that I’ve been doing it. I mean, it was really radical what we were doing back in the '80s when we started doing "Messiah." And now you hear all kinds of performances that are have been influenced by period instruments. The tempos are a little more lively, the piece is more theatrical, which is the way Handel thought of it. He didn’t perform it in a church, and I think it’s influenced even what symphony orchestras do to some extent.

Herz: Martin Pearlman, music director of Boston Baroque in his final season now. Thank you for having us. And thank you for 52 years of beautiful music.

Pearlman: Thank you for for this talk. It’s been great.

Herz: This story was edited by Karen Marshall. This is GBH.

The legendary conductor Martin Pearlman is in his final season leading the storied music ensemble Boston Baroque.

Known to many as simply Marty, he’s been bringing period interpretations of the great works of the Baroque to the city for over half a century.

“I was drawn to Baroque music kind of by accident,” he told GBH’s Morning Edition in his Medford home. “I discovered a little harpsichord off in the corner, I was at Cornell at the time, and convinced the university organist to teach me.”

He later went to Holland on a Fullbright Grant to continue his harpsichord studies, then returned to the United States to study composition and continue playing at Yale. He moved to Boston in the 1970s.

“Once I moved to Boston, I was curious what it would be like to get a bunch of people together who could play on period instruments, because I had seen a little bit of it in Europe at the time,” he said. “And I got together all the people I knew who could play reasonably well, which was eight people, and we started playing concertos and other things.”

Those concerts drew a fair amount of interest, he said.

“People were so curious about it. There were big audiences right from the beginning. And I decided, OK, I’ll do another season,” Pearlman said.

The period instrument orchestra, originally called Banchetto Musicale, officially launched in 1973. Pearlman said their instruments allow both the musicians and the audience to rediscover “the kinds of sounds that these composers like Bach and Handel and Mozart knew.”

“I’ve always thought of period instruments as something that was established not by antiquarians, but by people who wanted something really fresh and new and very much of a modern age,” Pearlman said. “Whereas a symphony orchestra ... we call them 'modern instruments,' but in fact, to me, the period instruments are really modern.”

One of Pearlman’s most commonly conducted pieces, Handel’s “Messiah,” is one that changes from performance to performance. Pearlman said he doesn’t necessarily plan for that.

“I don’t try to do anything different — or the same,” he said. “I go into rehearsals and just react to what I hear and what I want to hear. Over time, you get to know the piece more deeply. But also you yourself have developed. And so things happen.”

He’s been conducting the piece for 52 years, he said, and still hasn’t tired of it.

“Handel, he’s the master. And we serve what he’s writing,” Pearlman said. “It was really radical what we were doing back in the '80s when we started doing 'Messiah.’ And now you hear all kinds of performances that are have been influenced by period instruments. The tempos are a little more lively, the piece is more theatrical, which is the way Handel thought of it. He didn’t perform it in a church, and I think it’s influenced even what symphony orchestras do to some extent.”