16th Century music on carving

Markings on a 16th Century carving from Stirling Castle could be the oldest surviving piece of written Scottish instrumental music, historians believe. A sequence of 0s, Is and IIs have been found on one of the Stirling Heads - wooden medallions which would have decorated the castle's royal palace. It is believed the music could have been played on instruments such as harps, viols, fiddles and lutes. An experienced harpist has been trying to play the tune. The markings would not have been an exact musical score, but would have given guidance to players who then improvised. There are earlier examples of written music in Scotland, but they were composed for choirs rather than an instrumental band.

Barnaby Brown, a lecturer at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) who specializes in early Scottish music, said the find could be very enlightening. "This discovery is potentially of great significance to our understanding of medieval and Renaissance instrumental music - the normally 'unwritten' practice of the elite court professional," he said.

Death of Mozart

The mysterious death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the tender age of 35 has long fascinated scholars, but researchers now have a new theory. The composer - who died in Vienna in 1791 - may have succumbed to complications from a sore throat, caused by a bacterial infection. The University of Amsterdam team thinks the streptococcal infection triggered a fatal swelling of his kidneys. Previous theories include poisoning, rheumatic fever and eating bad pork. Some say the Austrian maestro simply overworked himself into an early grave. The latest study is published in this week's issue of the US medical magazine, Annals of Internal Medicine.

Lost Music Instrument Recreated

New software has enabled researchers to recreate a long forgotten musical instrument called the Lituus. The 2.4m (8ft) long trumpet-like instrument was played in Ancient Rome but fell out of use some 300 years ago. Bach's motet (a choral musical composition) "O Jesu Christ, meins lebens licht" was one of the last pieces of music written for the Lituus. Now, for the first time, this 18th Century composition has been played as it should have been heard. Researchers from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the University of Edinburgh collaborated on the study.