Andrew Parrott (born 10 March 1947) is a British conductor, perhaps best known for his pioneering "

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

s" of pre-classical music. He conducts a wide range of repertoire, including

contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...

. He conducted the premiere of

Judith Weir Judith Weir (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office. Biography Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish paren ...

's ''

A Night at the Chinese Opera ''A Night at the Chinese Opera'' is an opera in three acts by Judith Weir, who also wrote the libretto. Aside from an earlier opera for children, this was Weir's first full-scale opera, written on commission from the BBC for performance by Kent ...

'' (as well as its first recording). He has also recorded new music by other modern British composers (including

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are '' The Lamb'' (1982), ''The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and '' Song ...

), and by

Vladimír Godár Vladimír Godár (born 16 March 1956, in Bratislava) is a Slovak classical and film score composer. He is also known for his collaboration with the Czech violinist, singer, and composer Iva Bittová. As an academic, he is a writer, editor, and ...

. In 1973 he founded the Taverner Choir, Consort and Players, a "period instruments" ensemble based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Towards the end of 1973 he began conducting the early music group

Musica Reservata In music history, ''musica reservata'' (also ''musica secreta'') is either a style or a performance practice in '' a cappella'' vocal music of the latter half of the 16th century, mainly in Italy and southern Germany, involving refinement, exclusivi ...

, also based in London, after John Beckett left. He was music director of the

London Mozart Players London Mozart Players (LMP) are a British chamber orchestra founded in 1949. LMP are the longest-established chamber orchestra in the United Kingdom. Since 1989, the orchestra has been Resident Orchestra at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. History B ...

for several years until September 2006. From 2001 to 2010 Parrott was music director of the

New York Collegium The New York Collegium was an ensemble of players and singers dedicated to the music of the Baroque era, featuring historically authentic instruments and performance techniques. The artists of The New York Collegium were some of America’s best-k ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, New York. Parrott has published several articles on

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is consider ...

and

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest Eng ...

, is co-editor of the ''

New Oxford Book of Carols ''The New Oxford Book of Carols'' is a collection of vocal scores of Christmas carols. It was first published in 1992 by Oxford University Press (OUP) and was edited by Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott. It is a widely used source of carols in amo ...

'' and author of ''The Essential Bach Choir'', which was informed by his work with

Joshua Rifkin Joshua Rifkin (born April 22, 1944 in New York) is an American conductor, pianist, and musicologist; he is currently a professor of music at Boston University. As a performer he has recorded music by composers from Antoine Busnois to Silvestr ...

on one-voice-per-part performance of Bach's vocal works. This approach significantly reduces the forces employed in a performance of Bach's choral work, as it essentially removes the choir. He is a Patron of

Bampton Classical Opera Bampton Classical Opera is an opera company based in Bampton, Oxfordshire and founded in 1993. It specialises in the production of lesser known opera from the Classical period. Performances are always sung in English. ''Opera today'' called the c ...

Bibliography

* Parrott, A. (2000): ''The Essential Bach Choir.'' Woodbridge: Boydell Press.

Bibliography

References

External links