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| Deller Consort | |
|---|---|
| Name | Deller Consort |
| Origin | London |
| Genre | Classical music |
| Years active | 1958–1999 |
| Labels | Harmonia Mundi, Archiv Produktion, Decca Records |
| Past members | see Members |
Deller Consort
The Deller Consort was a British vocal ensemble founded in 1958 by the countertenor Alfred Deller, noted for pioneering historically informed performances of early music across Europe and North America. The group reshaped repertoire presentation for ensembles working with Renaissance, Baroque and medieval repertoires and collaborated with institutions, festivals and recording houses including Royal Opera House, BBC Proms, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Carnegie Hall, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and Wigmore Hall.
The Consort grew from Alfred Deller's solo career and connections with Benjamin Britten, John Betjeman, Benjamin Britten School, St Paul's Cathedral, King's College, Cambridge, Royal College of Music and Victoria and Albert Museum institutions, and benefitted from early broadcasts on British Broadcasting Corporation services and recordings for His Master's Voice and later Decca Records. During the 1960s and 1970s the ensemble participated in the revival of plainchant, Gregorian chant, Renaissance music and Baroque music alongside contemporaries such as Consort of Musicke, The Sixteen, The Tallis Scholars and performers like David Munrow and Julius Drake. Collaborations and joint concerts connected the Consort to period-instrument pioneers including Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, Trevor Pinnock and Christopher Hogwood. The group's trajectory intersected with early music festivals such as Aix-en-Provence Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Amsterdam Early Music Festival and with academic research at Oxford University, Cambridge University, King's College London and University of York.
The ensemble's personnel included countertenors, tenors and basses drawn from the British choral tradition and early-music specialists; notable members and collaborators encompassed Alfred Deller (founder, countertenor), Pierrette Alarie, Paul Esswood, James Bowman, Ian Partridge, Peter Pears, John Shirley-Quirk, Geraint Jones (musician), John Elwes (singer), Michael Chance, Paul Agnew, Nigel Rogers, John Mark Ainsley, John Potter (singer), Graham Pushee, Peter Giles (bass), Christopher Hogwood (conductor collaborator), Jeremy Summerly, Philip Ledger, Philip Pickett, Anthony Rooley, William Christie, Christopher Hogwood, Simon Preston, Edward Higginbottom and James Bowman. Instrumental accompanists and continuo partners included Lynn Hawley, Eduardo Paniagua, David Munrow, Julian Bream, Robert Spencer, Andrew Manze, Christopher Hogwood and lutenists associated with the Society of Antiquaries and collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum and British Museum.
The Consort's repertoire covered medieval conductus, Guillaume de Machaut chansons, works by Josquin des Prez, Orlando di Lasso, William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, John Dowland, Heinrich Schütz, Claudio Monteverdi, and liturgical repertory from the Sarum Rite and Roman Rite, plus late Renaissance opera fragments and Baroque cantatas. Recording projects for Harmonia Mundi, Archiv Produktion, Decca Records and EMI Classics included themed albums of English madrigals, Anglo-Saxon chant reconstructions, psalm settings by Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel works in small-ensemble versions, and early Latin motet cycles. Their discography influenced reissues and scholarship appearing in catalogues of British Library, Discogs archives and catalogues of Gramophone (magazine), and the Consort contributed to soundtrack projects for period dramas broadcast by the BBC and produced concert recordings for BBC Radio 3 and Radio France.
The Consort was praised for transparent textures, tuned temperaments informed by historically informed performance practices advocated by Gustav Leonhardt and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and for the expressive use of the countertenor voice modelled by Alfred Deller. Critics in The Times, The Guardian, The New York Times and Le Monde highlighted their clarity, attention to period pronunciation influenced by Early Music scholarship at Royal Holloway, and interpretive restraint compared with larger choirs like Choir of King's College, Cambridge or ensembles such as Monteverdi Choir. Some reviewers debated Deller's approach against contemporaries James Bowman and Paul Esswood on issues of ornamentation and pitch standard (A=415 Hz vs A=440 Hz) championed by Conductor's Institute discourse. The ensemble's stage presentations linked to early music movement aesthetics promoted at Barbican Centre and Southbank Centre programming.
The Consort toured extensively, appearing at venues and festivals including Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Arena (special events), Aix-en-Provence Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Salzburg Festival, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Apollo Theatre (Oxford), Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Teatro La Fenice, Konzerthaus Berlin, Musikverein, Sydney Opera House and at cultural institutions like Bibliothèque nationale de France and Smithsonian Institution. Residencies and workshop activity linked them to academic programs at Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Juilliard School, University of Oxford and summer schools run by Early Music Summer School (Twyford) and Alfred Deller Trust initiatives, and they contributed to masterclasses alongside figures such as Emma Kirkby and Nigel North.
The Consort received acclaim and awards from recording and cultural bodies including Gramophone Awards, Diapason d'Or, honors from Royal Philharmonic Society, and recognition from municipal arts councils such as Arts Council England and cultural orders like Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Individual members were lauded with appointments and honors at institutions including Order of the British Empire listings, fellowships at Royal Academy of Music, and honorary degrees from University of Cambridge and University of Oxford.
Category:Early music choirs Category:British musical groups