His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts

This is an ensemble which I've posted about before, and I played some of their music during my listening presentation.

This is a video I found in which they perform part of a sonata by Dario Castello (c. 1590-1630) in the church where Thomas Tallis was buried.

Academy of Ancient Music

This ensemble, founded and conducted by the aforementioned Christopher Hogwood in 1973, has since become one of the most prestigious and well-regarded early music ensembles.  Their massive discography can be found on their website, although not all of the recordings are available in the United States.

As a group, their mission seems simple: to play early music at as high a level as possible, and while being as historically informed as possible.  It seems that they need not do much in the way of "show" in order to maintain their audience, since the clientele they play to know what they're after in a concert.

So it would seem that in the continuum of Artistry vs. Showmanship, they lean far toward Artistry, without any gimmicks or pranks onstage.  But with a target audience as informed and learned as the group undoubtedly draws, this seems less necessary than if they were trying to appeal to a wider range of listeners.

Their website can be found at http://www.aam.co.uk.

Christopher Hogwood

Christopher Hogwood is possibly the most famous early music conductor and keyboard player of our time.  His discography, while it branches out into the Classical era, covers an amazingly wide range of composers.  He founded the world-renowned early music ensemble The Academy of Ancient Music, and has played with numerous other ensembles of equal fame.

His website gives more detailed information, as well as a full discography, which is quite an impressive list.  Perhaps it is possible to make a career in Early Music!

Les Six

In response to our recent discussion on Poulenc's Sonata for Horn, Trumpet and Trombone, I felt it appropriate to check out some information on Les Six, of which Poulenc was a part.  For those of us who are too lazy to visit the library, here is an interesting web page discussing Les Six:

http://music.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/0003_satie/lessix.shtml

His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts

One of the ensembles that I played during my listening day was His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts.  They appeared on the "made-up" Bach recording... Some of the selections were unrealistic, especially that moving part on the sagbutt, but it still gives musicologists something to dream about!

Their official site can be found here, and some additional information here.

Piffaro Renaissance Band

http://www.piffaro.com

Piffaro is a Renaissance band based in Philadelphia.  With world-class recordings and a very busy performance schedule, Piffaro is one of the most influential early music groups today.

Their website is a wealth of information and sample media, but something you won't find on the website is that my friend Priscilla Smith, an oboist from Temple, has been playing with them.

More information will be forthcoming, as I'm planning on focusing on this group for my final project.  Stay tuned!

Chestnut Brass

The Chestnut Brass Company is a brass quintet based in the Philadelphia area,  part of whose focus is performing on historical and antique brass instruments.  In addition to playing established works, they also commission new works.  This very interesting mixture of historical and modern perspectives has appealed to audiences and educators since the group's formation in 1977.

As a side note, I remember this group coming to my High School, and they had an arsenal of antique instruments at their disposal.  Before playing works from the instruments' era, they took the time to introduce the historical instruments, and gave us some great insight into the way their modern counterparts developed.

You can check out their website at http://www.chestnutbrass.com.