New York Pro Musica

Last updated

New York Pro Musica was a vocal and instrumental ensemble based in New York City, which specialized in Medieval and Renaissance music. It was co-founded in 1952, under the name Pro Musica Antiqua, by Noah Greenberg, a choral director, and Bernard Krainis, a recorder player who studied with Erich Katz. Other prominent musicians who joined included Russell Oberlin (the first American countertenor) and Martha Blackman (the first American gambist) [1] and Frederick Renz, who founded Early Music Foundation after Pro Musica disbanded. [2]

Contents

The ensemble is perhaps best known for reviving the medieval Play of Daniel in the 1950s, which has since become a popular liturgical drama among early music groups. The group gave its first concert at the New School for Social Research in New York City on April 26, 1953. The ensemble performed in 1960 for the Peabody Mason Concert series in Boston. [3] The group continued after Greenberg's death in 1966 and disbanded in 1974. Greenberg's successor, musicologist John Reeves White, took over the direction of the ensemble in 1966; the last director was George Houle, who tried to bring the group more in line with trends in Europe at a time when the United States was not ready for such changes. Houle went on to teach musicology at Stanford University.

In September 1968, the group was devastated by the theft of 10 instruments from a van parked on the street. The New York Times reported that it was unlikely that the thieves knew what was in the boxes, and that there was no ready market for the contents. [4]

Although the group made many vocal and instrumental recordings during its existence, few of them were ever released on compact disc (the Plays of Daniel and Herod were combined into a two-disc set).

The group's last concert was on May16, 1974, at the Pierpont Morgan Library. The collection of instruments was sold to New York University, where it became the Noah Greenberg Collection of Musical Instruments, in honor of the founder. [5]

Select discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renaissance music</span> Western musical period between the 15th and 17th centuries

Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century ars nova, the Trecento music was treated by musicology as a coda to medieval music and the new era dated from the rise of triadic harmony and the spread of the contenance angloise style from the British Isles to the Burgundian School. A convenient watershed for its end is the adoption of basso continuo at the beginning of the Baroque period.

Russell Keys Oberlin was an American singer and founding member of the New York Pro Musica Antiqua ensemble who became the first, and for years the only, countertenor in the United States to attain general recognition—in The New Yorker's words, "America's first star countertenor." A pioneering figure in the early music revival in the 1950s and 1960s, Oberlin sang on both sides of the Atlantic, and brought a "full, warm, vibrato-rich tone" to his recitals, recordings, and his performances in works ranging from the thirteenth-century liturgical drama The Play of Daniel to the twentieth-century opera A Midsummer Night's Dream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marek Kopelent</span> Czech contemporary composer (1932–2023)

Marek Kopelent was a Czech composer, music editor and academic teacher, who is considered to have been at the forefront of the "New Music" movement, and was one of the most-published Czech composers of the second half of the 20th century.

Circus Maximus was an American band in the late 1960s, which combined influences from folk music, rock, and jazz into a form of psychedelic rock.

The Play of Daniel, or Ludus Danielis, is either of two medieval Latin liturgical dramas based on the biblical Book of Daniel, one of which is accompanied by monophonic music.

Noah Greenberg was an American choral conductor.

Bernard Krainis (1924-2000) was an American musician and co-founder of New York Pro Musica. He played recorder and studied with Erich Katz.

Jukka Santeri Tiensuu is a Finnish contemporary classical composer, harpsichordist, pianist and conductor.

Blue Heron, directed by Scott Metcalfe, is a professional vocal ensemble based in the Boston area. The ensemble presents an annual concert series in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and performs throughout New England as well as touring the US; it made its European debut in the United Kingdom in 2017.

Studio der frühen Musik was an early music group active from 1960–1980 and based in Munich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal</span> Musical artist

The Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal is a professional early music vocal ensemble based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Safford Cape was an American conductor, composer and musicologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schola Antiqua of Chicago</span>

Schola Antiqua is a professional American early music ensemble based in Chicago, Illinois. The group specializes in pre-modern vocal music and is the 2012 winner of the Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society, an award that recognizes "outstanding contributions to historical performing practices." In 2006 and 2007, Schola Antiqua served as Artist in Residence at the University of Chicago, and the group currently holds an artistic residency at the Lumen Christi Institute. Schola Antiqua of Chicago performs mainly in Chicago but has also presented concerts around the United States and internationally. The choir is under the artistic direction of Michael Alan Anderson from the Eastman School of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Blackman</span> American musician (1927–2021)


Martha Elizabeth Blackman was an American viola da gamba player and lutenist.

Musicians of the Old Post Road (MOPR) is a chamber music ensemble based in the Boston area that specializes in period instrument performance. The ensemble often performs "rediscovered" works from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods. The ensemble, founded by Artistic Directors Suzanne Stumpf and Daniel Ryan, performs in historical buildings along the Boston Post Road, which was a trade and travel route between Boston and New York City from the late 17th through mid-19th centuries. MOPR's repertoire spans these dates. The group has produced seven CDs, toured throughout Europe and North America, and received numerous awards, including the Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society in 1998.

Frederick Renz is a conductor, director, and keyboardist specializing in Early Music spanning the medieval through the classical eras. He is the founder of the Early Music Foundation and directs its performing group Early Music New York, an internationally performing ensemble and artist in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Renz is also noted for his work in medieval drama, and has directed and produced works such as Daniel and the Lions and Le Roman de Fauvel based largely on his own musicological research.

Early Music New York is a New York City-based early music group presented by the Early Music Foundation. The group's director and conductor is Frederick Renz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith Davidoff</span> American violist and cellist (1927–2021)

Judith Davidoff was an American viol player, cellist, and performer on the medieval bowed instruments. She was considered the “Grande Dame of the viol”, "a master of the viola da gamba and other stringed instruments" and "a central part of the early-music scene." Her recorded performances reflect her wide range of repertoire and styles, including such works as Schoenberg's Verklaerte Nacht and 13th-century monody. She is responsible for the catalog of 20th- and 21st-century viol music.

References

  1. ↑ James Gollin, Pied Piper: the many lives of Noah Greenberg Pendragon Press (2001), p. 114-115. ISBN   1-57647-041-5. Retrieved November 2, 2011
  2. ↑ "Frederick Renz Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic .
  3. ↑ Boston Globe, 17-Oct-1960, Cyrus Durgin, "New York Pro Musica heard in Mason series"
  4. ↑ "10 of Pro Musica's Instruments Stolen". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  5. ↑ "PRO MUSD GIVES ITS LAST CONCERT". The New York Times. 1974-05-17. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-10-04.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.