As the first notes rang out for the first piece, “Dance Suite,” the audience was instantly transported back to Italy in the late 16th and 17th centuries, invoking imagery of crowds of people wearing silks and lace as they walked along the streets of Venice.

Pieces representing the whirlwind of emotions and feelings of being in love filled Newman Recital Hall on Friday as the Thornton Baroque Sinfonia performed its program, titled “Musical Revolutions in Italy.”

Applied psychology master’s student Alia Munn said she tries to support university music programs in any way she can because her dad got his master’s degree in piano performance. She said Friday’s performance was the first concert she attended this semester.

“Something I love specifically was that they incorporated so much history and art into the pieces,” Munn said. “I love how much thought and passion that these students have for their pieces, their instruments. You can see it while they’re playing.”

Throughout the night, Vice Dean Rotem Gilbert thoroughly described the story behind each of the pieces the ensemble performed, something Munn said resonated with her.

“I love when they were describing [the pieces]. They were talking about how these were battle pieces in war, talk about love, or just the whole rhetoric around the pieces and why they chose them and why they were practicing them,” Munn said.

While performing “Ardo, avvampo” by Claudio Monteverdi, the hall was filled with the tenor and bass singers roaring “ardo, ardo,” — in English, “I burn, I burn” — accompanied by a harpsichord. The piece told a dramatic story of love and loss.

Applied psychology master’s student Noora Abdollahi Sisan said she enjoyed the passion the faculty members and performers had as they introduced and described each piece.

“It really was a great segue into actually listening to them perform,” Abdollahi Sisan said.

Toward the end of the performance, the recorder players, Marjana Jocif and Fernanda Olmedo Espinoza, began their duet piece, “Sonata #8” by Giovanni Battista Fontana. Originally written for violin and continuo, the duo decided to adapt the piece for their performance with recorder, with accompaniment by Hejun Yang on the harpsichord.

With flickers of passion and eventual quiet acceptance, Jocif and Olmedo Espinoza’s recorder carried the audience into a somber yet powerful place. Almost wistful at times, the melody was a stark contrast to the lively and nearly joyous pieces that were performed prior.

As the mood shifted, the piece led the audience to join in on the sense of longing and contemplation. Olmedo Espinoza said Baroque music requires musicians to know how to interpret music that was written long ago.

“It’s very important to know the way of seeing the music in that time, because many of the things we do here, they are not written,” Olmeda Espinoza said. “The sheet music is only a guide, so we need to know and to study this kind of things that are not in the sheet music that are part of the way of music in that time.”

Olmeda Espinoza said the music required them to study techniques like ornamentation and improvisation. She went on to describe how each piece had its own unique interpretation that they had to learn in order to perform it during the concerts. Jocif said performing in front of an audience is different than simply practicing during the rehearsal.

“It’s better to just let go and follow the music,” Jocif said. “That’s why I also move quite a lot, because I try to practice as still as possible just to get the technical aspect of the music right. And then, when I perform, I really don’t think too much. That’s the key for me.”

As the night came to an end, the audience erupted into applause. Yang, who played the harpsichord and organ, said it takes time for people to appreciate and enjoy Baroque music, but for those who want to become familiar with Baroque music, the best place to start would be Thornton Baroque Sinfonia’s concerts.

“Whatever they like, come to the concert and start to learn,” Yang said.