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| The Early Music Consort of London | |
|---|---|
| Name | The Early Music Consort of London |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genre | Early music, Medieval music, Renaissance music, Baroque music |
| Years active | 1960s–1976 |
| Associated acts | David Munrow, Christopher Hogwood, John Eliot Gardiner |
The Early Music Consort of London The Early Music Consort of London was a British ensemble renowned for historically informed performances of Medieval, Renaissance, and early Baroque repertoire. Founded in the late 1960s, it gained prominence through recordings, radio broadcasts, and concerts that linked period instruments and scholarly practice with public audiences in London and internationally. The group played a central role in the revival of interest in pre-Classical repertoire alongside institutions and performers across Europe and North America.
The ensemble emerged amid a network of performers and institutions active in postwar Britain, including Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, BBC, Oxford University, Cambridge University, British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and British Library. Its formation intersected with festivals and venues such as Glastonbury Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Wigmore Hall, and Royal Albert Hall. Influences and contemporaries included ensembles associated with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, Jordi Savall, Andreas Scholl, William Christie, Les Arts Florissants, Paul Hillier, and The Tallis Scholars. The Consort’s activity dovetailed with research from scholars at King's College London, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Institute of Musical Research, and archives like Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana and Bibliothèque nationale de France. Tours placed the group in venues across Europe, North America, and Japan and led to collaborations with broadcasters including BBC Radio 3, Radio France, NPR, and Deutsche Grammophon affiliates.
The ensemble was led by a central artistic director and included a rotating roster of specialists linked to conservatoires and early music workshops. Key figures included instrumentalists and vocalists trained under teachers at Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and Conservatoire de Paris. Colleagues and collaborators came from networks associated with David Munrow, Christopher Hogwood, John Eliot Gardiner, Trevor Pinnock, Emma Kirkby, Nigel Rogers, James Bowman, Alison Crum, Derek Attridge, Philippe Herreweghe, Robert Hollingworth, Michael Nyman, and Peter Holman. Conductors and directors who interacted with the group included figures linked to ensembles like Academy of Ancient Music, English Baroque Soloists, Florilegium, Ex Cathedra, Oxford Camerata, The Sixteen, and The Hilliard Ensemble.
The Consort specialized in repertories spanning Medieval motets, Renaissance madrigals, chansons, and early Baroque sacred music informed by sources from archives such as Cancioneiro da Vaticana, Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Old Hall Manuscript, Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, Cancionero de Palacio, and Tractatus de musica practica. Programming often juxtaposed works by composers and poets associated with courts and chapels including Guillaume de Machaut, Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Heinrich Isaac, Orlando di Lasso, Claudio Monteverdi, Tomás Luis de Victoria, John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, John Taverner, Jacobus Gallus, Hans Leo Hassler, and Girolamo Frescobaldi. Performance practice integrated period instruments linked to makers and traditions of Renaissance recorder, viol consort, lute, vihuela, harpsichord, portative organ, sackbut, cornetto, and pochette construction. Interpretative approaches drew on treatises and sources connected to Giovanni Maria Artusi, Marin Mersenne, Johann Joachim Quantz, Michael Praetorius, Girolamo Diruta, Alfonso X of Castile, and Francesco da Milano.
The ensemble produced commercially released recordings and radio broadcasts with labels and platforms associated with Argo Records, Decca Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics, Harmonia Mundi, Philips Classics, Sony Classical, BBC Records, Nonesuch Records, and Deutsche Grammophon. Their discography included studio albums, live concert recordings, and programme cycles presented on BBC Radio 3, Radio France, WDR, and international stations like NHK. Releases featured repertoire from anthologies tied to collections such as Cancionero de Palacio and thematic programmes exploring liturgical rites linked to Sarum Use, Roman Rite, Mozarabic Rite, and repertories for courts like Burgundy and Aragon. Broadcast appearances brought collaborations with presenters and musicologists connected to David Attenborough-era cultural programming, documentary producers at BBC Television Centre, and festival broadcasts at BBC Proms.
The Consort’s influence is visible in subsequent waves of early music ensembles, pedagogy at conservatoires such as Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and scholarship at institutions like University of Oxford and Cambridge University. Its practical and discographic models informed later groups including The Tallis Scholars, The Sixteen, The Academy of Ancient Music, The English Concert, Les Arts Florissants, Jordi Savall's ensembles, The Monteverdi Choir, Ex Cathedra, and Florilegium. The ensemble’s aesthetic contributed to performance editions and editorial projects associated with publishers like Faber Music, Oxford University Press, Breitkopf & Härtel, Baerenreiter, and Schott Music. Alumni and collaborators went on to lead ensembles, teach at conservatoires, and edit critical editions for series connected to Renaissance Imprint and musicological journals affiliated with Royal Musical Association and Early Music magazine. The group’s legacy persists in recordings, pedagogical lineages, and institutional collections held by archives including British Library and National Sound Archive.
Category:Early music groups Category:British musical groups