Gothic Voices

Last updated

Gothic Voices is a United Kingdom-based vocal ensemble specialising in repertoire from the 11th to the 15th century but also performing contemporary music, particularly pieces with medieval associations.

The group was originally formed in 1980 by the scholar and musician Christopher Page.

Gothic Voices has gone on to record 23 albums for the Hyperion and Avie record labels, three of which have won the prestigious Gramophone Award given by Gramophone magazine. The group's first disc, A Feather on the Breath of God – Hymns and Sequences by Abbess Hildegard of Bingen remains one of the best-selling recordings of pre-classical music ever made. Gothic Voices most recent recordings are a disc of the complete works of the relatively obscure 14th-century composer Solage coupled with works by Machaut and a disc entitled A Laurel for Landini - 14th Century Italy’s Greatest Composer, with music by Francesco Landini.

As well as performing medieval repertoire, Gothic Voices also commissions contemporary works for its unusual vocal forces, with recent performances of works by Joanne Metcalf and Andrew Smith.

Following the retirement of Leigh Nixon in September 2014, the current singers in Gothic Voices are Catherine King (mezzo-soprano), Steven Harrold (tenor), Julian Podger (tenor) and Stephen Charlesworth (baritone), a line-up which has been consistent since 1995. Other notable singers who have performed and recorded with Gothic Voices include Emma Kirkby, Emily Van Evera, Margaret Philpot, Evelyn Tubb, Howard Milner, Charles Daniels, Rogers Covey-Crump, James Gilchrist, Paul Agnew, John Mark Ainsley and Peter Harvey.

Recordings

Related Research Articles

Nicolas Gombert was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most famous and influential composers between Josquin des Prez and Palestrina, and best represents the fully developed, complex polyphonic style of this period in music history.

<i>Ars nova</i> Musical style of the Late Middle Ages

Ars nova refers to a musical style which flourished in the Kingdom of France and its surroundings during the Late Middle Ages. More particularly, it refers to the period between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel (1310s) and the death of composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377. The term is sometimes used more generally to refer to all European polyphonic music of the fourteenth century. For instance, the term "Italian ars nova" is sometimes used to denote the music of Francesco Landini and his compatriots, although Trecento music is the more common term for the contemporary 14th-century music in Italy. The "ars" in "ars nova" can be read as "technique", or "style". The term was first used in two musical treatises, titled Ars novae musicae by Johannes de Muris, and a collection of writings attributed to Philippe de Vitry often simply called "Ars nova" today. Musicologist Johannes Wolf first applied to the term as description of an entire era in 1904.

Pierre de Manchicourt was a Renaissance composer of the Franco-Flemish School.

Alonso Lobo Spanish composer

Alonso Lobo was a Spanish composer of the late Renaissance. Although not as famous as Tomás Luis de Victoria, he was highly regarded at the time, and Victoria himself considered him to be his equal.

Jean Richafort was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance, a member of the third generation of the Franco-Flemish School.

Jacquet of Mantua was a French composer of the Renaissance, who spent almost his entire life in Italy. He was an influential member of the generation between Josquin and Palestrina, and represents well the transitional polyphonic style between those two composers.

Pierre Moulu was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance who was active in France, probably in Paris.

Francisco de Peñalosa was a Spanish composer of the middle Renaissance.

Taverner Consort and Players

The Taverner Choir, Consort and Players is a British music ensemble which specialises in the performance of Early and Baroque music. The ensemble is made up of a Baroque orchestra, a vocal consort and a Choir. Performers place emphasis on a historically informed performance practice and players work with restored or replicated period instruments.

Solage, possibly Jean So(u)lage, was a French composer, and probably also a poet. He composed the most pieces in the Chantilly Codex, the principal source of music of the ars subtilior, the manneristic compositional school centered on Avignon at the end of the century.

Johannes Cesaris was a French composer of the late Medieval era and early Renaissance. He was one of the composers of the transitional style between the two epochs, and was active at the Burgundian court in the early 15th century.

Stephen Hough

Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality.

<i>Messe de Nostre Dame</i> Mass setting by Guillaume de Machaut

Messe de Nostre Dame is a polyphonic mass composed before 1365 by French poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut. Widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of medieval music and of all religious music, it is historically notable as the earliest complete setting of the Ordinary of the Mass attributable to a single composer.

Jeremy Summerly British conductor (born 1961)

Jeremy Summerly is a British conductor. He was educated at Lichfield Cathedral School, Winchester College, and New College, Oxford. While at Oxford he conducted the New College Chamber Orchestra and the Oxford Chamber Choir. After graduating with a first-class honours degree in music in 1982, he started work as a studio manager for BBC Radio, while pursuing postgraduate research in historical musicology at King's College London. Since 1991 he has been a presenter and reviewer for BBC's Radios 3 and 4, in particular for Radio 4's Front Row, and Radio 3's Record Review.

Chantilly Codex

The Chantilly Codex is a manuscript of medieval music containing pieces from the style known as the Ars subtilior. It is held in the museum at the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise.

Pro Cantione Antiqua of London (PCA) is a British choral group which was founded in 1968 by tenor James Griffett, counter-tenor Paul Esswood, and conductor and producer Mark Brown. Their first concert was at St Bartholomew's, Smithfield with Brian Brockless conducting but, from an early stage, they were closely associated with conductor and musicologist Bruno Turner. Arguably, they were the leading British performers of a cappella music, especially early music, prior to the founding of the Tallis Scholars.

David Owen Norris British pianist, composer, academic, and broadcaster

David Owen Norris, is a British pianist, composer, academic, and broadcaster.

Artur Pizarro is an internationally-acclaimed Portuguese concert pianist. Designated with the prestigious title of Yamaha Artist, Pizarro won first prize in the 1987 Vianna da Motta International Music Competition and first prize in the 1990 Leeds International Pianoforte Competition. His piano technic/knowledge is linked directly to Liszt himself : his teacher was a great portuguese pianist - Sequeira Costa-, whom had studied with José Vianna Da Motta, another world famous portuguese pianist; and this was one of the last pupils of List.

His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts (HMSC) is a British early music group founded in 1982. The ensemble presently consists of three cornetts and four sackbuts, with chamber organ or harpsichord. The group frequently collaborates with other instrumentalists and singers, and has an extensive discography on Hyperion Records and other labels.

Cinquecento (early music group)

Cinquecento is a Vienna based vocal ensemble formed in 2004 comprising five singers from Austria, Belgium, England, Germany and Switzerland.