The English Concert

One of the United Kingdom’s pioneering period-instrument groups specializing in Baroque music, The English Concert quickly established itself as a leading orchestra whose buoyant, energetic style shaped numerous later ensembles and launched several notable careers.

Harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock assembled the ensemble in 1972, initially recruiting seven musicians to investigate Baroque literature; as additional performers expressed interest, the collective expanded, attaining its present orchestral dimensions of roughly twenty players the following year. Its first public appearance took place at the 1973 English Bach Festival, where the then-novel combination of Bach-era instruments and restrained string vibrato attracted immediate attention and prompted a recording agreement with Archiv Produktion, Deutsche Grammophon’s early-music division. In 1983 the formation of the English Concert Choir enabled frequent presentations of large-scale eighteenth-century choral works.

Pinnock, who directed from the harpsichord, largely determined the ensemble’s characteristic sound and served as music director until 2003, when violinist Andrew Manze assumed the post; harpsichordist Harry Bicket succeeded Manze in 2007 and continues in that role. The orchestra appears regularly at Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, and the BBC Proms, and it has undertaken international tours, among them a twenty-fifth-anniversary journey through Asia. Under Manze the group demonstrated a talent for making historical-performance practice accessible by reconstructing the original barge presentation of Handel’s Water Music on the Thames River, an event captured by the BBC and later released on DVD.

The ensemble’s extensive discography, exceeding 130 releases by 2021 and occasionally reaching half a dozen albums in a single year, constitutes its most widely recognized legacy. Although its long association with Archiv continued for many seasons, Manze also recorded several projects for Harmonia Mundi, while further sessions appeared on Decca and Deutsche Grammophon; in 2021 the orchestra supported a production of Handel’s Rodelinda issued by Linn.