The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, England. Founded by harpsichordist

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer, and musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on historically i ...

in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the Academy of Vocal Music). The musicians play on either original instruments from the period when the music was composed or modern copies of such instruments. They generally play

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

and Classical music, though they have also played some new compositions for

baroque orchestra A Baroque orchestra is an ensemble for mixed instruments that existed during the Baroque era of Western Classical music, commonly identified as 1600–1750. Baroque orchestras are typically much smaller, in terms of the number of performers, than t ...

in recent years. The AAM's current Music Director is

Laurence Cummings Laurence Cummings (born 1968, Birmingham) is a British harpsichordist, organist, and conductor. He is currently music director of the Academy of Ancient Music. Biography Cummings was educated at Solihull School, Christ Church, Oxford and the Ro ...

, who took over the post from

Richard Egarr Richard Egarr (born 7 August 1963) is a British conductor and keyboard player. Biography Born in Lincoln, Egarr received his early musical training as a choirboy at York Minster and at Chetham's School of Music. He was an organ scholar at Clar ...

at the beginning of the 2021-2022 season.

Original organisation

The original Academy of Vocal Music was founded in London, England in 1725/26 (the

Gregorian date The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years diffe ...

of the inaugural meeting was 1 February 1726). Records of the purpose of the academy no longer exist, but according to

John Hawkins John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

in 1770, it was intended to "promote the study and practice of vocal and instrumental harmony". From the beginning,

Agostino Steffani Agostino Steffani (25 July 165412 February 1728) was an Italian ecclesiastic, diplomat and composer. Biography Steffani was born at Castelfranco Veneto on 25 July 1654. As a boy he was admitted as a chorister at San Marco, Venice. In 1667, ...

was elected honorary president for life. In 1731 it was renamed the Academy of Ancient Music, and continued to grow in membership, including the composers

William Croft William Croft (baptised 30 December 1678 – 14 August 1727) was an English composer and organist. Life Croft was born at the Manor House, Nether Ettington, Warwickshire. He was educated at the Chapel Royal under the instruction of John Blow ...

Michael Christian Festing Michael Christian Festing (29 November 1705 – 24 July 1752) was an English violinist and composer. His reputation lies mostly on his work as a violin virtuoso. Biography Michael Christian Festing was born in London to parents John and Elizabe ...

, Maurice Greene,

Bernard Gates Bernard Gates ( The Hague, 23 April 1686 - North Aston, 15 November 1773, aged 87) was an English composer, and a bass singer employed by Handel in his oratorios. He was director of the choir at Westminster Abbey from 1740 to 1757. Surviving mus ...

, Giovanni Bononcini,

Senesino Francesco Bernardi (; 31 October 1686 – 27 November 1758), known as Senesino ( or traditionally ), was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel ...

Nicola Haym Nicola Francesco Haym (6 July 1678 – 31 July 1729) was an Italian opera librettist, composer, theatre manager and performer, literary editor and numismatist. He is best remembered for adapting texts into libretti for the London operas of Geo ...

Francesco Geminiani 230px Francesco Saverio Geminiani (baptised 5 December 1687 – 17 September 1762) was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist. BBC Radio 3 once described him as "now largely forgotten, but in his time considered almost a musical god, ...

Pier Francesco Tosi Pier Francesco Tosi (c. 16531732) was a castrato singer, composer, and writer on music. His ''Opinoni de' cantori antichi e moderni...'' was the first full-length treatise on singing and provides a unique glimpse into the technical and social asp ...

John Ernest Galliard Johann Ernst Galliard (?1666/?1687–1749 ) was a German composer. Galliard was born in Celle, Germany to a French wig-maker. His first composition instruction began at age 15. Galliard studied composition under Jean-Baptiste Farinel, the dire ...

Charles Dieupart Charles Dieupart (1676 - 1751) was a French harpsichordist, violinist, and composer. Although he was known as Charles to his contemporaries according to some biographers, his real name was actually François. He was most probably born in Paris, but ...

, Jean-Baptiste Loeillet and

Giuseppe Riva Giuseppe Riva (4 November 1834 in Ivrea – 10 November 1916) was an Italian lawyer and painter, known for portraits, historical paintings, and landscapes. He was a resident of Milan. One of his masterworks was ''While reading a memorial plaque fo ...

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

was never a member, although the society studied and performed his music as well as their own, and that of other composers of the day. Directors of the organisation included

Johann Christoph Pepusch Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667 – 1752), also known as John Christopher Pepusch and Dr Pepusch, was a German-born composer who spent most of his working life in England. He was born in Berlin, son of a vicar, and was married to Margherita de ...

(from 1735 onwards),

Benjamin Cooke Benjamin Cooke (1734 – 14 September 1793) was an English composer, organist and teacher. Cooke was born in London and named after his father, also Benjamin Cooke (1695/1705 – 1743), a music publisher based in Covent Garden (active fr ...

and

Samuel Arnold Samuel Arnold may refer to: *Samuel Arnold (composer) (1740–1802), English composer and organist * Samuel Arnold (Connecticut politician) (1806–1869), U.S. Representative from Connecticut * Samuel Arnold (conspirator) (1834–1906), co-conspira ...

(from 1789 onwards). H. D. Johnstone called the Academy of Ancient Music "the most famous and influential institution of its kind in eighteenth-century London".

Modern revival

In 1973, the Academy of Ancient Music was revived by the British conductor and harpsichordist, Christopher Hogwood, for the purpose of playing 18th- and early 19th-century music on

period instruments In the historically informed performance movement, musicians perform classical music using restored or replicated versions of the instruments for which it was originally written. Often performances by such musicians are said to be "on authentic ...

. For choral works, it is joined either by the Academy of Ancient Music Chorus or by a cathedral or collegiate choir with boys' voices. The AAM was the first orchestra to record all of Mozart's symphonies on period instruments. The AAM has since recorded the complete Beethoven

piano concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpie ...

s, with

fortepianist A fortepiano , sometimes referred to as a pianoforte, is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 up to the early 19th century. Mo ...

Steven Lubin, and

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning co ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

, and has recorded numerous Haydn symphonies. It continues to record its cycle of

Mozart piano concertos Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's concertos for piano and orchestra are numbered from 1 to 27. The first four numbered concertos and three unnumbered concertos are early works that are arrangements of keyboard sonatas by various contemporary composers. ...

, with fortepianist Robert Levin. The AAM has also recorded

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 ...

's ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was com ...

'', Handel's ''

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

'' and '' Rinaldo'', Mozart's ''

La clemenza di Tito ' (''The Clemency of Titus''), K. 621, is an ''opera seria'' in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Pietro Metastasio. It was started after most of ' (''The Magic Flute''), the last o ...

'', Haydn's ''

L'anima del filosofo ''L'anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice'' (''The Soul of the Philosopher, or Orpheus and Euridice''), Hob. 28/13, is an opera in Italian in four acts by Joseph Haydn, the last he wrote. The libretto, by Carlo Francesco Badini, is based o ...

'' and over 200 other recordings for a range of different labels. The commissioning of new works under

Paul Goodwin Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

represented a new development for the AAM. The first commission and recording,

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 ...

's ''Eternity's Sunrise'', met with enthusiastic critical acclaim and led to a second new Tavener work and recording, ''Total Eclipse''.

David Bedford David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter ...

's ''Like a Strand of Scarlet'' followed in 2001 and, in 2003, the AAM premiered John Woolrich's ''Arcangelo'', written to mark the 350th anniversary of the birth of

Arcangelo Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (, also , , ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence of th ...

. The next commission in 2006 celebrated the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth with a work from the Scottish-American composer

Thea Musgrave Thea Musgrave CBE (born 27 May 1928) is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music. She has lived in the United States since 1972. Biography Born in Barnton, Edinburgh, Musgrave was educated at Moreton Hall School, a boarding independ ...

, ''Journey into Light'', which was written as a companion piece to Mozart's '' Exsultate, jubilate''. Recently, this trend has been revived with commissioning the harpsichordist, conductor, and scholar

Mahan Esfahani Mahan Esfahani ( fa, ماهان اصفهانی) (born 1984 in Tehran) is an Iranian-American harpsichordist. Education Esfahani received his first guidance on the piano from his father before exploring an interest in the harpsichord as a teenag ...

to write a new orchestration of Bach's '' The Art of Fugue'', which was premiered at the BBC

Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in July 2012. Both Tavener recordings are on Harmonia Mundi (France), for whom the AAM has made a large number of CDs: Mozart's '' Zaïde'' and Christmas music by Schütz and his contemporaries (conducted by Paul Goodwin); violin concertos by J.S. Bach and

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widesprea ...

; and

concerti grossi The concerto grosso (; Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the '' concertino'') and full orchestra (the ''ripieno'', '' t ...

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 ...

and Geminiani (directed by Andrew Manze); and Bach's harpsichord concertos (played by

). Choral recordings include works by Bach, Handel, Purcell and Vivaldi, with

King's College Choir The Choir of King's College, Cambridge is an English Anglican choir. It is considered one of today's most accomplished and renowned representatives of the great English choral tradition. It was created by King Henry VI, who founded King's Coll ...

under

Stephen Cleobury Sir Stephen John Cleobury ( ; 31 December 1948 – 22 November 2019)New College Choir, including

Pergolesi Pergolesi is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, (1710–1736), Italian composer, violinist, and organist *Michael Angelo Pergolesi Michael Angelo Pergolesi () was an Italian decorative artist from th ...

's ''Marian Vespers'' and Handel's coronation anthems, a collection of music from 17th and 18th-century English coronations. With Richard Egarr, the orchestra has released Handel's instrumental music Opp. 1–7, as well as

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 wor ...

's four

orchestral suites 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, ce ...

and his ''

St John Passion The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (german: Johannes-Passion, link=no), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the older of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as direc ...

''. In 2013, the Academy launched an in-house label for its future recordings. The AAM is Orchestra-in-Residence at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. In January 2020, the Teatro San Cassiano announced that the AAM is to become its first associate ensemble.

Leadership

In 1996, the AAM appointed Paul Goodwin as associate conductor and

Andrew Manze Andrew Manze (born 14 January 1965) is a British conductor and violinist living in Germany. Born in Beckenham, United Kingdom, Manze read Classics at Cambridge University. Manze studied violin and worked with Ton Koopman (his director in th ...

as associate director under Hogwood. In 2003, Manze resigned as associate director, to be replaced in 2005 by

. On 1 September 2006, Egarr succeeded Hogwood as music director of the AAM and Hogwood received the title of

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

director. Egarr concluded his tenure as AAM music director at the close of the 2020–2021 season. In November 2020, the AAM announced the appointment of

as its next music director, effective with the 2021–2022 season. Past chief executives of the AAM have included Alexander Van Ingen. In June 2020, the AAM announced the appointment of John McMunn as its next chief executive, effective 1 September 2020.

Music directors

(1973–2006) *

(2006–2021) *

(2021–present)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1726 establishments in England Early music orchestras London orchestras Musical groups established in 1973 Musical groups from Cambridge Music in London Organisations associated with the University of Cambridge