Retrospect Ensemble was a British period music

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

chamber ensemble Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...

and

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

which was in existence between May 2009 and December 2014.

History

The name "Retrospect Ensemble" was adopted in May 2009 by the trustees for the musical charity then known as "The King's Consort", which had been set up in 1992. To coincide with the charity's new identity, a new performing group, Retrospect Ensemble, was launched in May 2009.Hewett, Ivan
"Retrospect Ensemble: the born-again consort"
''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'', 29 April 2009 (accessed 19 November 2009) Full details surrounding the necessity to found the new group are given in the article on

The King's Consort The King's Consort is a British period music orchestra founded in 1980 by the English conductor and harpsichordist Robert King (b. 1960, Wombourne). The ensemble has an associated choral group, Choir of The King's Consort. Together, they have mad ...

. The founding artistic director was Matthew Halls, a conductor and harpsichordist who had played with

Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir is a Dutch early-music group based in Amsterdam. The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir was created in two stages by the conductor, organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman. He founded the Amsterdam Baroqu ...

, Les Arts Florissants, the

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera Artistic Associate at Kings Place, and h ...

, the

Academy of Ancient Music The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the A ...

, the Theatre of Early Music, Montreal and the New York Collegium. Retrospect Ensemble gave its debut performance on 1 May 2009 with

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's '' Jeptha'' at the Norwich and Norfolk Festival. In 2013, Justin Doyle was appointed as artistic director.

Performances and recordings

Between 2009 and 2014, Retrospect Ensemble performed at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

, at London's

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

, and toured to Korea, Israel and Portugal. The group had set out to perform in various configurations including orchestra, choir and chamber ensemble, and worked with soloists including

Robin Blaze Robin Blaze (born 1971 in Manchester) is an English countertenor. Early life The son of Peter Blaze, a professional golfer, and Christine, Blaze and his brother Mark grew up in Shadwell, near Leeds, and was educated at Leeds Grammar School, ...

, James Gilchrist,

Gillian Keith Gillian Keith (born 3 April 1972 in Toronto) is a Canadian/British operatic soprano, originally from Toronto, Canada, and living in London, UK. Keith was educated at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Schulich School of Music of McGill Uni ...

, and

Carolyn Sampson Carolyn Sampson (born 18 May 1974) is an English soprano in opera and concert. Specialising in historically informed performance, she has sung in Masaaki Suzuki's recording project of Bach cantatas and has appeared at the English National Opera. ...

. The Retrospect Trio focussed on the repertoire of the 17th and 18th century

trio sonata The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. Originating in the early 17th century, the trio sonata was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era. Basic str ...

and made two recordings of music by Purcell for

Linn Records Linn Records is a Glasgow-based record label which specialises in classical music, jazz and Scottish music. It is part of Linn Products. History While Linn engineers were testing their flagship product, the Sondek LP12 turntable, they became fru ...

. Their first CD, ''Henry Purcell: 10 Sonatas in four parts'', was released in May 2009.

Closure

In December 2014, Retrospect Ensemble was wound up by its Trustees, who stated that "the continued operation of the ensemble is no longer economically viable and accordingly will need to cease operation".

Recordings

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 En ...

: ''Ten Sonatas in Four Parts'' (Retrospect Trio) Linn CKD332 *

: ''Twelve Sonatas of Three Parts'' (Retrospect Trio) Linn CKD374

References

Footnotes

External links

Official web site
of Retrospect Ensemble (accessed 1 May 2009)
Hazard Chase
formerly agents for Retrospect Ensemble (accessed 10 April 2009) {{Authority control 2009 establishments in the United Kingdom 2014 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Early music consorts British orchestras Disbanded orchestras Chamber music groups Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups disestablished in 2014