The Hilliard Ensemble was a British male vocal quartet originally devoted to the performance of

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classi ...

. The group was named after the

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

miniaturist painter

Nicholas Hilliard Nicholas Hilliard () was an English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England. He mostly painted small oval miniatures, but also some larger cabinet miniatures, ...

. Founded in 1974, the group disbanded in 2014. Although most of its work focused on music of the

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

periods, the Hilliard Ensemble also performed contemporary music, working frequently with the Estonian composer

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in pa ...

and included in its concerts works by

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading f ...

Gavin Bryars Richard Gavin Bryars (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, avant-garde, and experimental music. Early life and career Born on 16 January 1943 in ...

Giya Kancheli Gia Kancheli ( ka, გია ყანჩელი; 10 August 1935 – 2 October 2019) was a Georgian composer. He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia but resided in Belgium. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kancheli lived first in ...

, and Heinz Holliger.

History

Membership

The group was founded by Paul Hillier, Errol Girdlestone, Paul Elliott, and

David James Dewi, Dai, Dafydd or David James may refer to: Performers *David James (actor, born 1839) (1839–1893), English stage comic and a founder of London's Vaudeville Theatre *David James (actor, born 1967) (born 1967), Australian presenter of ABC's ''P ...

, although the membership was flexible until Hillier left in 1990. After that, the core members were David James ( counter-tenor),

Rogers Covey-Crump Rogers Henry Lewis Covey-Crump (born 1944) is an English tenor noted for his performances in both early music and contemporary classical music. He has sometimes been identified as an ''haute-contre'' tenor. He has performed for over 50 years i ...

(tenor/ high tenor), John Potter (tenor), and Gordon Jones (bass), except that in 1998 John Potter was replaced by Steven Harrold.

Recordings

The Hilliard Ensemble, under Paul Hillier, had an extensive discography with EMI's Reflexe early music series during the 1980s. The ensemble then recorded mainly for the

ECM ECM may refer to: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Elliptic curve method * European Congress of Mathemat ...

label. In 1994, when popular interest in

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe dur ...

was at its height, the ensemble released the CD '' Officium'', an unprecedented collaboration with the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. The disc became one of ECM's biggest-selling releases, reaching the pop charts in several European countries and receiving five

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

s in sales. ''Officium's'' sequel, the 2-CD set ''

Mnemosyne In Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion, Mnemosyne (; grc, Μνημοσύνη, ) is the goddess of memory and the mother of the nine Muses by her nephew Zeus. In the Greek tradition, Mnemosyne is one of the Titans, the twelve divine chil ...

'', followed in 1999. The third album, '' Officium Novum'', was released in 2010. Their recordings have also been included in Craig Wright's ''Listening to Music'' textbook for music students and

music appreciation Music appreciation is a division of musicology that is designed to teach students how to understand and describe the contexts and creative processes involved in music composition. The concept of music appreciation is often taught as a subset o ...

Performances

In 2005 the ensemble took part in the Rheingau Musik Festival's composer's portrait of

, together with the Rostock Motet Choir. In 2008 the Hilliard Ensemble premiered

Heiner Goebbels Heiner Goebbels (born 17 August 1952) is a German composer, conductor and professor at Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen and artistic director of the International Festival of the Arts Ruhrtriennale 2012–14. His composition ''Stifters Dinge ...

' avant-garde staged concert ''I went to the house but did not enter'' at the 2008

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

, repeated at the Berliner Festspiele.

New music

In 2009 the ensemble premiered five new works:

Guido Morini Guido Morini (born in Milan in 1959) is an Italian pianist, organist, harpsichordist, musicologist and composer. In the ensemble Accordone he performs early baroque works with singer Marco Beasley. Beasley is also the librettist for his ''Una O ...

's ''Una Iliade'', Fabio Vacchi's ''Memoria Italiana'',

Steffen Schleiermacher Steffen Schleiermacher (born Halle, 3 May 1960) is a German composer, pianist, and conductor.Homepage
of Steffe ...

's ''Die Beschwörung der Trunkenen Oase'',

Simon Bainbridge Simon Bainbridge (30 August 1952 – 2 April 2021) was a British composer. He was also a professor and head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and visiting professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in the United ...

's ''Tenebrae'' and

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Sa ...

's ''Et Lux''. In September 2010 the Hilliard Ensemble joined the London Philharmonic Choir and

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 ...

for the world premiere of Matteo D'Amico's ''Flight from Byzantium'' at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I li ...

, London.

Miscellaneous

They also performed three pieces by

Guillaume Dufay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397(?) – 27 November 1474) was a French composer and music theorist of the early Renaissance. Considered the leading European composer of his time, his music was widely performed and repr ...

: ''Moribus et genere'', ''Vergene bella'' and ''Lamentatio sanctae matris ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae''. On 15 November 2010, the group appeared at Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York to perform

Kjartan Sveinsson Kjartan "Kjarri" Sveinsson (; born 2 January 1978) is the keyboardist for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He joined the band in 1998. A multi-instrumentalist, he has also played such instruments as the flute, tin whistle, oboe, guitar a ...

's ''Cage a Swallow Can’t You but You Can’t Swallow a Cage''.

Disbanding

The Hilliard Ensemble decided to disband after 41 years and gave their final concert on 20 December 2014 at the

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 leadi ...

, London.

Selected discography

Harmonia Mundi

* 1982: ''

Cipriano de Rore Cipriano de Rore (occasionally Cypriano) (1515 or 1516 – between 11 and 20 September 1565) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy. Not only was he a central representative of the generation of Franco-Flemish compose ...

: Le Vergine'' (LP, HM 1107) * 1982: ''Medieval English Music'' (HMC 901106) * 1983: ''Sumer is icumen in'' (HMC 901154) * 1983: ''The Singing Club'' (HMC 901153)

EMI Reflexe

* 1980: '' Lionel Power: Messen und Motetten'' (LP, EMI Reflexe 1C 069-46 402) * 1982: '' John Dunstable: Motets'' (EMI Reflexe CDC 7 49002 2) * 1983: ''

Josquin Desprez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

: Motets and chansons'' (EMI Reflexe CDC 7 49209 2) * 1983: '' Schütz: Matthäus-Passion'' (EMI Reflexe CDC 7 49200 2) * 1984: '' J. S. Bach Motets'' (EMI Reflexe CDC 7 49204 2) with

Knabenchor Hannover The Knabenchor Hannover (Hannover Boys' Choir) is a boys choir founded in 1950 by Heinz Hennig, who served as conductor until the end of 2001. Since 2002, the conductor has been Jörg Breiding. History and music The Knabenchor Hannover has t ...

* 1984: '' Ockeghem: Requiem; Missa Mi-Mi'' (EMI Reflexe CDC 7 49213 2) * 1984: ''

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pre ...

: Canticum canticorum, Spiritual madrigals'' (EMI Reflexe CDS 7 49010 8) * 1985: ''Schütz: Schwanengesang (Opus ultimum)'' (EMI Reflexe CDS 7 49214 8) with London Baroque and Knabenchor Hannover * 1985: ''

Lassus Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Pales ...

: Penitential Psalms'' (EMI Reflexe CDS 7 49211 8) with the Kees Boeke Consort * 1986: '' Dufay: Missa L'Homme armé, Motets'' (EMI Reflexe CDC 7 47628 2) * 1987: ''Draw on Sweet Night - English Madrigals'' (EMI Reflexe CDC 7 49197 2) * 1988: ''Ockeghem: Missa prolationum and Marian Motets'' (EMI Reflexe CDC 7 49798 2) * 1989: ''Josquin Desprez: Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae'' (EMI Reflexe CDC 7 49960 2)

Coro

* 1996: ''Perotin and the Ars Antiqua'' (HL 1001) * 1996: ''For Ockeghem'' (HL 1002) music by Ockeghem, Busnois and

Lupi Lupi may refer to: People * Alessandro Lupi (born 1970), Italian former professional footballer manager and former player * Carlos Lupi (born 1957), Brazilian professor and politician * Daniel Lupi (born 1961), American film producer * Darrin ...

and translated excerpts from ''Lament on the Death of the Late Ockeghem'' by Guillaume Crétin * 1997: ''

Antoine Brumel Antoine Brumel (c. 1460 – 1512 or 1513) was a French composer. He was one of the first renowned French members of the Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of the most influential composers of his gene ...

'' (HL 1003) * 1998: ''Guillaume Dufay - Missa Se la Face ay Pale'' (HL 1004)

ECM

* 1986: ''Thomas Tallis: The Lamentations of Jeremiah'' (

1341) * 1987: ''Arbos'' (ECM 1325) with the Staatsorchester Stuttgart Brass Ensemble under

Dennis Russell Davies Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944 in Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist, He is currently the music director and chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic. Biography Davies studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard Sch ...

performing works of

* 1988: ''Passio'' (ECM 1370) performing works of Pärt * 1989: ''Perotin'' (ECM 1385) performing works of Perotin * 1991: ''Tenebrae'' (ECM 1422–23) performing works of

Carlo Gesualdo Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa ( – 8 September 1613) was Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza. As a composer he is known for writing madrigals and pieces of sacred music that use a chromatic language not heard again until the late 19th century ...

* 1991: ''Miserere'' (ECM 1430) performing works of Pärt * 1993: ''The Hilliard Ensemble Sings Walter Frye'' (ECM 1476) * 1994: '' Officium'' (ECM 1525) with Jan Garbarek (Part 1 of the ''Officium''-trilogy) * 1995: ''Codex Speciálník'' (ECM 1504) * 1996: ''A Hilliard Songbook - New Music for Voices'' (ECM 1614–15) * 1998: ''Lassus'' (ECM 1658) performing works of

Orlande de Lassus Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Pale ...

* 1999: ''

'' (ECM 1700–01) with Jan Garbarek (Part 2 of the ''Officium''-trilogy) * 2001: ''Morimur'' (ECM 1765) with

Christoph Poppen Christoph Poppen (born 9 March 1956) is a German conductor, violinist and academic teacher. Career Poppen was born in Münster. As a violinist, he was awarded first prize in the Kocian Violin Competition age 14. He studied the violin with Ku ...

* 2003: ''Ricercar'' (ECM 1774) with Christoph Poppen and Münchener Kammerorchester performing works of

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

Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...

* 2003: ''Tituli - Cathedral in the Thrashing Rain'' (ECM 1861) performing works of

Stephen Hartke Stephen Paul Hartke (born July 6, 1952) is an American composer. Hartke is best known as the composer of ''Meanwhile – Incidental Music to Imaginary Puppet Plays,'' winner of the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 201 ...

* 2004: ''Motets'' (ECM 2324) performing works of

Guillaume de Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death t ...

* 2005: ''Lamentate'' (ECM 1930) with

Alexei Lubimov Alexei Lubimov (born 1944 as Алексе́й Бори́сович Люби́мов, Alexey Borisovich Lyubimov) is a Russian pianist, fortepianist and harpsichordist. Lubimov studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Heinrich Neuhaus and Lev Nau ...

performing works of Pärt * 2007: '' Motetten'' (ECM 1875) performing works of Bach * 2008: ''Audivi Vocem'' (ECM 1936) performing works of

Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis (23 November 1585; also Tallys or Talles) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one o ...

, Christopher Tye and John Sheppard * 2010: '' Officium Novum'' (ECM 2125) with Jan Garbarek (Part 3 of the ''Officium''-trilogy) * 2011: ''Song of Songs'' (ECM 2174) with the Rosamunde Quartett performing works of Boris Yoffe * 2012: ''Quinto Libro di Madrigali'' (ECM 2175) performing works of Gesualdo * 2013: '' Terje Rypdal: Melodic Warrior'' (ECM 2006) * 2013: ''Il Cor Tristo'' (ECM 2346) performing works of Roger Marsh,

Bernardo Pisano Bernardo Pisano (also Pagoli) (October 12, 1490 – January 23, 1548) was an Italian composer, priest, singer, and scholar of the Renaissance. He was one of the first madrigalists, and the first composer anywhere to have a printed collectio ...

and

Jacques Arcadelt Jacques Arcadelt (also Jacob Arcadelt; 14 October 1568) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in both Italy and France, and principally known as a composer of secular vocal music. Although he also wrote sacred vocal music, he wa ...

* 2014: '' Transeamus'' (ECM 2408) * 2015: '' Heinz Holliger: Machaut-Transkriptionen'' (ECM 2224) with Geneviève Strosser, Jürg Dähler and Muriel Cantoreggi * 2019: ''Remember me, my dear'' (ECM 2625) with Jan Garbarek

Other labels

* 1983: ''Madrigals by

Luca Marenzio Luca Marenzio (also Marentio; October 18, 1553 or 1554 – August 22, 1599) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance. He was one of the most renowned composers of madrigals, and wrote some of the most famous examples of the fo ...

'' (University of East Anglia Recordings UEA 82126) * 1988: ''Music from the time of Christian IV. Church Music at Court and in Town'' (BIS CD-389) * 1990: ''The Romantic Englishman'' (Meridian Records DUOCD 89009) * 1996: ''Sweet Love, Sweet Hope'' (Isis Records CD030) * 1997: ''

Cristóbal de Morales Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500 – between 4 September and 7 October 1553) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He is generally considered to be the most influential Spanish composer before Tomás Luis de Victoria. Life Cristóbal de Mo ...

: Missa Mille Regretz'' (Almaviva DS-0101) * 2013: ''Prayers and Praise. Vocal music by

Alexander Raskatov Alexander Mikhailovich Raskatov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Раска́тов; born 9 March 1953, in Moscow) is a Russian composer. Life Alexander Raskatovs father was a leading journalist of the magazine ''Krokodil'', ...

'' (Challenge Classics CC72578) * 2016: ''Roger Marsh: Poor Yorick'' (CMRC001) * 2017: ''Trans Limen ad Lumen'' (Divox CDX-21702) * 2019: '' John Casken: The Dream of the Rood'' (NMC Recordings NMC D245) with

Asko/Schönberg AskoSchönberg is a Dutch chamber orchestra that specialises in contemporary classical music, especially that of the 21st century. It was formed by a merger of the ''Asko Ensemble'' and the ''Schönberg Ensemble'' in 2009. Asko Ensemble Form ...

References

External links

The Hilliard Ensemble

The Hilliard Ensemble
agent Hazard Chase Ltd

bach-cantatas.com

discography, medieval.org
The Hilliard Ensemble Unofficial FanSite

The Hilliard Ensemble
(Official website) via archive.org retrieved 28 August 2015
The Hilliard Ensemble biography by Timothy Dickey, discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

The Hilliard Ensemble discography, album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

The Hilliard Ensemble albums to be listened
as stream on

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{{Authority control British early music ensembles Early music choirs British choirs ECM Records artists Virgin Veritas artists Musical groups established in 1974 Vocal quartets Medieval musical groups Erato Records artists