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

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, 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. Cam ...

, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood 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 and Classical music, though they have also played some new compositions for baroque orchestra 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 th ...

, 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 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 ...

in 1770, it was intended to "promote the study and practice of vocal and instrumental harmony". From the beginning, Agostino Steffani 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, Maurice Greene, Bernard Gates,

Giovanni Bononcini Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini) (18 July 1670 – 9 July 1747) (sometimes cited also as Giovanni Battista Bononcini) was an Italian Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a family of string players and composers. Biography E ...

, Senesino, Nicola Haym, Francesco Geminiani, Pier Francesco Tosi, John Ernest Galliard, Charles Dieupart, Jean-Baptiste Loeillet and Giuseppe Riva. George Frideric Handel 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 and Samuel Arnold (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 concertos, with fortepianist

Steven Lubin Steven Lubin (born 1942 in Brooklyn) is an American pianist and musical scholar. He is best known for his performances on the fortepiano, the early version of the piano. Studies Lubin studied piano with Lisa Grad, Nadia Reisenberg, Seymou ...

, and symphonies of

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'' 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 ' (Exult, rejoice), K. 165, is a 1773 motet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. History This religious solo motet was composed when Mozart was staying in Milan during the production of his opera '' Lucio Silla'' which was being performed there in the ...

''. Recently, this trend has been revived with commissioning the harpsichordist, conductor, and scholar Mahan Esfahani to write a new orchestration of Bach's ''

The Art of Fugue ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (german: Die Kunst der Fuge, links=no), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fug ...

'', 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 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 ...

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'', ''tu ...

by Handel 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 under

Stephen Cleobury Sir Stephen John Cleobury ( ; 31 December 1948 – 22 November 2019)New College Choir, including Pergolesi's ''Marian Vespers'' and Handel's

coronation anthems A coronation anthem is a piece of choral music written to accompany the coronation of a monarch. Many composers have written coronation anthems. However, the best known were composed by George Frideric Handel for the coronation of the British ...

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

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. 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 ...

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 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

* Christopher Hogwood (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