Hilliard Ensemble | Artist

The Hilliard Ensemble was a British male vocal quartet formed 1974 in London by Paul Hillier, Errol Girdlestone, Paul Elliott, and David James. Hillier left in 1990 to form new group the Theatre of Voices, and the core members were then David James (Counter Tenor), Rogers Covey-Crump (Tenor), John Potter (tenor), and Gordon Jones (bass). Originally devoted to the performance of early music of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, Ensemble also performed contemporary music, working frequently with the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, as well as John Cage, Gavin Bryers, Giva Kancheli and Heinz Hollinger. Norwegian new-age Jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek became a frequent collaborator with the Ensemble, creating an unorthodox fusion style of renaissance choral music and earlier Gregorian chant. The album Officium (1994) became one of ECM's biggest-selling releases, reaching the pop charts in several European countries and receiving five gold discs in sales. Officium's sequel, Mnemosyne followed in 1999, and the third of the series, Officium Novum was released in 2010. With an impressive catalogue of comprising 85 studio albums plus additional live albums, standouts include Thomas Tallis: The Lamentations of Jeremiah (1986), Pérotin (1989), Carlo Gesualdo: Tenebrae (1991), Codex Speciálník (1995), Roland de Lassus: Penitential Psalms (1995), Gavin Bryars: Cadman Requiem (1998), Lassus (1998), In Paradisum: Music of Victoria and Palestrina (2000), and JS Bach: Morimur (2001). Also highly recommended are the Ensemble's excellent recordings of Arvo Pärt compositions: Arbos (1987), Passio (1988), Miserere (1991), Litany (1996) and Lamentate (2005). The group, which was named after the Elizabethan miniaturist painter Nicholas Hilliard, disbanded in 2014 after 41 years.

Artist Website: wikipedia/Hilliard_Ensemble

Featured Albums: Hilliard Ensemble

Related Artists: Thomas Tallis, Palestrina, Gesualdo, JS Bach, Arvo Part, Gavin Bryars, Jan Garbarek