The Consort of Musicke

Formed in England to explore Renaissance and Baroque repertory with particular attention to English and Italian sources, The Consort of Musicke fields a flexible roster of vocalists and instrumentalists. Typical forces for both live appearances and discs have comprised two sopranos, one alto, two tenors, one bass, and continuo support from lute or viols. Long regarded as a leading force in the rediscovery of early English music, the ensemble has recorded extensively for EMI, L'Oiseau Lyre, MD&G, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch, Hyperion, and its own now-defunct Musica Oscura imprint.

Lutenists Anthony Rooley and James Tyler established the group in 1969. Two years later Rooley assumed sole artistic direction, a post he has held continuously. Of the original personnel, only soprano Emma Kirkby, Rooley’s wife, and bass David Thomas have remained members throughout. Subsequent singers have included soprano Evelyn Tubb, alto Mary Nichols, tenors Andrew King and Joseph Cornwell, and bass Simon Grant, while string players such as violinists Catherine Mackintosh and Polly Waterfield and bass-viol players Trevor Jones and Jane Ryan have also participated.

The ensemble’s first London performance took place in 1969 and met with immediate approval from both reviewers and audiences. Early L’Oiseau Lyre releases from the mid-1970s included the anthology O Vilanella of sixteenth-century Italian popular songs and Coprario: Songs of Mourning. Smaller formations drawn from the Consort, among them the duo of Rooley and Kirkby, subsequently contributed to further distinguished recordings of Dowland songs, Monteverdi madrigals, and other seldom-heard works.

Critical and public esteem rose further during the 1980s and 1990s through well-received tours across Italy, Austria, Holland, Germany, and Israel, where programs typically surveyed a broad spectrum of Renaissance and Baroque pieces. In 1993 Rooley and Arjen Terpstra launched Musica Oscura, which over the following decade produced more than twenty discs. The Consort has maintained an active schedule of concerts and recordings into the present century; one landmark release was the March 2007 twelve-CD Decca reissue of John Dowland: The Collected Works.