Biography
The Freiburger BarockConsort, likewise identified as the Freiburg Baroque Consort, originated as a smaller branch of the Freiburger Barockorchester. Both organizations concentrate on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century chamber repertoire, placing particular emphasis on the intimate works of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Georg Muffat, and Antonio Bertali.
String students at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg launched the principal Freiburger Barockorchester in 1985 to investigate historically informed performance practices. Its founding directors, Petra Müllejans and Gottfried von der Goltz, stayed involved with the parent ensemble as well as with the Consort, which emerged during the first ten years of the larger group’s existence. The Consort was created expressly to present Baroque pieces for reduced forces, and its roster therefore remains flexible, ranging from a handful of players to as many as eight, all drawn from the Freiburger Barockorchester. Although the ensemble’s central focus lies on the virtuoso chamber music of Biber, Schmelzer, Muffat, and Bertali, its programs also encompass historically overlooked works from England, northern Germany, the Habsburg Empire, and Italy, occasionally incorporating contemporary compositions. Frequent partnerships with the vocal ensemble Vox Luminis have yielded chamber vocal projects, yet the Consort continues to maintain an independent schedule of instrumental concerts in Freiburg and elsewhere.
Its first recording, an album of sonatas by Biber and Schmelzer, appeared in 1995, only two years after the main orchestra’s debut. Both groups have released recordings on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, while the Consort has issued additional discs on Carus and Alpha. In 2003 the ensemble ranked among the earliest to document Telemann’s Quatuors Parisiennes, part of its ongoing effort to revive obscure scores. A 2021 Alpha release united the Consort once more with Vox Luminis for Biber’s Requiem in F minor.
String students at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg launched the principal Freiburger Barockorchester in 1985 to investigate historically informed performance practices. Its founding directors, Petra Müllejans and Gottfried von der Goltz, stayed involved with the parent ensemble as well as with the Consort, which emerged during the first ten years of the larger group’s existence. The Consort was created expressly to present Baroque pieces for reduced forces, and its roster therefore remains flexible, ranging from a handful of players to as many as eight, all drawn from the Freiburger Barockorchester. Although the ensemble’s central focus lies on the virtuoso chamber music of Biber, Schmelzer, Muffat, and Bertali, its programs also encompass historically overlooked works from England, northern Germany, the Habsburg Empire, and Italy, occasionally incorporating contemporary compositions. Frequent partnerships with the vocal ensemble Vox Luminis have yielded chamber vocal projects, yet the Consort continues to maintain an independent schedule of instrumental concerts in Freiburg and elsewhere.
Its first recording, an album of sonatas by Biber and Schmelzer, appeared in 1995, only two years after the main orchestra’s debut. Both groups have released recordings on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, while the Consort has issued additional discs on Carus and Alpha. In 2003 the ensemble ranked among the earliest to document Telemann’s Quatuors Parisiennes, part of its ongoing effort to revive obscure scores. A 2021 Alpha release united the Consort once more with Vox Luminis for Biber’s Requiem in F minor.
Albums
