Hilliard Ensemble

Hilliard Ensemble

Hilliard Ensemble

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Hilliard Ensemble is a British male vocal quartet originally devoted to the performance of early music. Founded in 1974,[1] the group is named after the Elizabethan miniaturist painter Nicholas Hilliard.

Although most of its work focuses on music of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, the Hilliard Ensemble also performs contemporary music, working frequently with the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and including in its concerts works by John Cage, Gavin Bryars, Giya Kancheli, and Heinz Holliger.

History and performances

The group was originally founded by Paul Hillier, Errol Girdlestone, Paul Elliott, and David James, although the membership was flexible until Hillier left in the late 1980s. Since 1990 the core members have been David James, Rogers Covey-Crump, John Potter, and Gordon Jones, with one change: in 1998 John Potter was replaced by Steven Harrold.

The Hilliard Ensemble has recorded extensively for the ECM label. In 1994, when popular interest in Gregorian chant was at its height, the ensemble released the CD Officium, an unprecedented collaboration with the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. The disc became one of ECM's biggest-selling releases, reaching the pop charts in several European countries and receiving five gold discs in sales. Officium's sequel, the 2-CD set Mnemosyne, followed in 1999. The third album, Officium Novum, was released in 2010.[2][3]

Their recordings have also been included in Craig Wright's Listening to Music textbook for music students and music appreciation.

In 2005 the ensemble took part in the Rheingau Musik Festival's composer's portrait of Arvo Pärt, together with the Rostock Motet Choir.[4]

In 2008, The Hilliard Ensemble premiered Heiner Goebbels' avant-garde staged concert I went to the house but did not enter at the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival, repeated at the Berliner Festspiele.[5]

In 2009 the ensemble premiered five new works: Guido Morini's Una Iliade, Fabio Vacchi's Memoria Italiana, Steffen Schleiermacher's Die Beschwörung der Trunkenen Oase, Simon Bainbridge's Tenebrae and Wolfgang Rihm's Et Lux.

In September 2010, The Hilliard Ensemble joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir for the world premiere of Matteo D'Amico's Flight from Byzantium at the Royal Festival Hall, London. They also performed three pieces by Guillaume Dufay: Moribus et genere, Vergene bella and Lamentatio sanctae matris ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae.[6]

On 15 November 2010 the group appeared at Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York to perform Kjartan Sveinsson's Cage a Swallow Cant You but You Cant Swallow a Cage.[7]

The Hilliard Ensemble's final concert will be on 20 December 2014 in London, after which they will retire.[8]

Selected discography

  • 1986: Thomas Tallis: The Lamentations of Jeremiah (ECM 1341)
  • 1986: Perotin (ECM 1385) performing works of Perotin
  • 1987: Arbos (ECM 1325) with the Staatsorchester Stuttgart Brass Ensemble under Dennis Russell Davies performing works of Arvo Pärt
  • 1988: Passio (ECM 1370) performing works of Pärt
  • 1991: Tenebrae (ECM 1422-23)) performing works of Carlo Gesualdo
  • 1991: Miserere (ECM 1430) performing works of Pärt
  • 1993: The Hilliard Ensemble Sings Walter Frye (ECM 1476)
  • 1994: Officium (ECM 1525) with Jan Garbarek (Part 1 of the Officium-trilogy)
  • 1995: Codex Speciálník (ECM 1505)
  • 1996: A Hilliard Songbook - New Music for Voices (ECM 1614-15)
  • 1998: Lassus (ECM 1658) performing works of Orlande de Lassus
  • 1999: Mnemosyne (ECM 1700-01) with Jan Garbarek (Part 2 of the Officium-trilogy)
  • 2001: Morimur (ECM 1765) with Christoph Poppen
  • 2003: Ricercar (ECM 1774) with Christoph Poppen and Münchener Kammerorchester performing works of Bach and Weber
  • 2003: Tituli - Cathedral in the Thrashing Rain (ECM 1861) performing works of Stephen Hartke
  • 2004: Motets (ECM 2324) performing works of Guillaume de Machaut
  • 2005: Lamentate (ECM 1930) with Alexei Lubimov performing works of Pärt
  • 2007: Motetten (ECM 1875) performing works of Bach
  • 2008: Audivi Vocem (ECM 1936) performing works of Thomas Tallis, Christopher Tye and John Sheppard
  • 2010: Officium Novum (ECM 2125) with Jan Garbarek (Part 3 of the Officium-trilogy)
  • 2011: Song of Songs (ECM 2174) with the Rosamunde Quartett performing works of Boris Yoffe
  • 2012: Quinto Libro di Madrigali (ECM 2175) performing works of Gesualdo
  • 2013: Terje Rypdal: Melodic Warrior (ECM 2006)
  • 2013: Il Cor Tristo (ECM) performing works of Roger Marsh, Bernardo Pisano and Jacques Arcadelt

References

  1. [Hilliard Ensemble at All Music Guide Allmusic]
  2. Jan Garbarek / The Hilliard Ensemble / Officium Novum ECM
  3. John Eyles: Will please both jazz aficionados and followers of choral music BBC 28 September 2010
  4. Rostocker Motettenchor (German)
  5. Heiner Goebbels mit dem Hilliard Ensemble Die Welt 19 November 2008 (German)
  6. London Philharmonic Orchestra / Jurowski / Haydn, D'Amico and Bartok wmnr.com
  7. Steve Smith: To Boldly Go Beyond the Limits of Sacred Music New York Times 16 November 2010
  8. [1] Gramophone 19 September 2013

External links

  • The Hilliard Ensemble official website
  • The Hilliard Ensemble ECM
  • The Hilliard Ensemble agent Hazard Chase Ltd
  • The Hilliard Ensemble bach-cantatas.com
  • The Hilliard Ensemble discography, medieval.org
  • The Hilliard Ensemble Unofficial FanSite
This page was last modified 22.04.2014 22:49:09

This article uses material from the article Hilliard Ensemble from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.