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The Clerks (formerly The Clerks Group) are a British early music
The Clerks (formerly The Clerks Group) are a British early music vocal ensemble
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 ...
. They have authored a series of recordings and concerts featuring music by Johannes Ockeghem
Johannes Ockeghem ( – 6 February 1497) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of early Renaissance music. Ockeghem was the most influential European composer in the period between Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, and he was—with hi ...
, Josquin des Prez, Jacob Obrecht
Jacob Obrecht (also Hobrecht; 1457/8
and other composers of the Franco-Flemish Renaissance.
History
Formed by Edward Wickham in 1992 from choral scholars (also known as Academical Clerks – hence the name) at Oxford University, the ensemble was soon signed by the record label ASV (later Sanctuary Classics). During the 1990s The Clerks’ recording profile focussed on the music ofJohannes Ockeghem
Johannes Ockeghem ( – 6 February 1497) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of early Renaissance music. Ockeghem was the most influential European composer in the period between Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, and he was—with hi ...
, whose complete sacred music the ensemble finished recording in 1999, picking up a Gramophone Award in the process. Several other recordings have focussed on previously neglected repertoire and composers, such as Jacob Barbireau, Johannes Tinctoris
Jehan le Taintenier or Jean Teinturier (Latinised as Johannes Tinctoris; also Jean de Vaerwere; – 1511) was a Renaissance music theorist and composer from the Low Countries. Up to his time, he is perhaps the most significant European writer ...
and Johannes Regis
Johannes Regis (French: ''Jehan Leroy''; – ) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance. He was a well-known composer at the close of the 15th century, was a principal contributor to the Chigi Codex, and was secretary to Guillaume Dufay.
...
.
More recently The Clerks have moved into contemporary music and have given premieres of work by several British composers, including Robert Saxton
Robert Saxton (born 8 October 1953 in London) is a British composer.
Biography
Robert Saxton was born in London and started composing at the age of six. He was educated at Bryanston School. Guidance in early years from Benjamin Britten and El ...
, Gabriel Jackson and Christopher Fox. They commissioned Ian Duhig to write new poems for ' Le Roman de Fauvel', which was first performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank in 2007, and enthusiastically reviewed in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' when performed in that city in 2009.
The Clerks have been associated with pioneering work in the field of performance practice, in particular singing from facsimiles of Renaissance manuscript sources, a process heavily influenced by the work of Margaret Bent
Margaret Bent CBE , (born Margaret Hilda Bassington; 23 December 1940) is an English musicologist who specializes in music of the late medieval and Renaissance eras. In particular, she has written extensively on the Old Hall Manuscript, English ...
and John Milsom. Several recordings were made in this way, and the experience has since informed the group’s approach to the rehearsal and performance.
Discography
Recent recordings
* ''Johannes Regis: Opera omnia'' (2009) - 2CDs Musique en Wallonie MEW 0848-0849 * ''The Essential Josquin Des Prez'' (2007) - Sanctuary/Gaudeamus CD GAM 361 * ''In Memoria: Medieval Songs of Remembrance'' (2007) - Sanctuary/Gaudeamus CD GAU 362 * ''The Ockeghem Collection'' (2006) - 5CDs Sanctuary/Gaudeamus CD GAX 550See also
*Hilliard Ensemble
The Hilliard Ensemble was a British male vocal quartet originally devoted to the performance of early music. The group was named after the Elizabethan miniaturist painter Nicholas Hilliard. Founded in 1974, the group disbanded in 2014.
Althoug ...
* I Fagiolini
I Fagiolini is a British vocal ensemble specialising in early music and contemporary music. Founded by Robert Hollingworth at Oxford in 1986, the group won the UK Early Music Network’s Young Artists’ Competition in 1988 and a Royal Philharmon ...
* Tallis Scholars
The Tallis Scholars is a British professional early music vocal ensemble normally consisting of two singers per part, with a core group of ten singers. They specialise in performing ''a cappella'' sacred vocal music.
History
The group was formed ...
* The Sixteen
The Sixteen are a United Kingdom-based choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers, they started as an unnamed group of sixteen friends in 1977, giving their first billed concert in 1979.
The group performs early Engl ...
References
* Bent, Margaret, “Editing early music: the dilemma of translation”, Early Music, vol. 22, no. 3 (1994) * Wickham, Edward, “Nurture and Notation”, Musical Times vol. 137, no. 1835 (1996) {{DEFAULTSORT:Clerks, The British choirs Early music choirs English choirs Musical groups established in 1992