Blue Heron Renaissance Choir
Encyclopedia
Blue Heron Renaissance Choir (Blue Heron) is a vocal ensemble that presents live performances based on the study of original source materials and historical performance practice
. Blue Heron’s principal repertoire interests are fifteenth-century English and Franco-Flemish polyphony
, ranging from Dunstable and Du Fay
through Ockeghem
to Josquin
; Spanish music between about 1500 and 1575; and neglected early sixteenth-century English music, especially the rich and unexplored repertory of the Peterhouse
partbook
s (c. 1540). Since 2010, Blue Heron has been artist-in-residence at Boston College
.
The ensemble has also reached outside these areas to perform very early music (organa
by the twelfth-century French composer Perotinus
) and very recent music (new works by the Australian Elliott Gyger).
Blue Heron draws from a roster of musicians in order to constitute the ensemble best suited to the repertoire at hand. Its performing ensemble therefore ranges in size from three singers (for a fifteenth-century chanson) to as many as fifteen (for a large-scale early sixteenth-century English mass in a cathedral setting) and adds instruments (slide trumpet
, trombone
, vielle
, bajón
) when appropriate.
Founded in 1999, Blue Heron presents its own concerts in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, performs regularly at Monadnock Music in New Hampshire, and has appeared at other venues throughout the northeastern U.S., including the 92nd Street Y
in New York City
. It often appears under the aegis of the Boston Early Music Festival
. It prepared the complete Eighth Book of Madrigals by Luca Marenzio
for the international Marenzio conference at Harvard University
in April, 2006. In 2008, the ensemble appeared at the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California.
Its first CD, featuring music by Guillaume Du Fay
, was released in March, 2007 on the Blue Heron label.
Blue Heron is a constituent organization of ArtsBoston
.
Historically informed performance
Historically informed performance is an approach in the performance of music and theater. Within this approach, the performance adheres to state-of-the-art knowledge of the aesthetic criteria of the period in which the music or theatre work was conceived...
. Blue Heron’s principal repertoire interests are fifteenth-century English and Franco-Flemish polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
, ranging from Dunstable and Du Fay
Guillaume Dufay
Guillaume Dufay was a Franco-Flemish composer of the early Renaissance. As the central figure in the Burgundian School, he was the most famous and influential composer in Europe in the mid-15th century.-Early life:From the evidence of his will, he was probably born in Beersel, in the vicinity of...
through Ockeghem
Johannes Ockeghem
Johannes Ockeghem was the most famous composer of the Franco-Flemish School in the last half of the 15th century, and is often considered the most...
to Josquin
Josquin Des Prez
Josquin des Prez [Josquin Lebloitte dit Desprez] , often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance...
; Spanish music between about 1500 and 1575; and neglected early sixteenth-century English music, especially the rich and unexplored repertory of the Peterhouse
Peterhouse, Cambridge
Peterhouse is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the oldest college of the University, having been founded in 1284 by Hugo de Balsham, Bishop of Ely...
partbook
Partbook
A partbook is a format for printing or copying sheet music in which each book contains the part for a single voice or instrument, especially popular during the renaissance and baroque. This is in contrast to the large choirbook which could be shared by an entire choir, and appears to have been a...
s (c. 1540). Since 2010, Blue Heron has been artist-in-residence at Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
.
The ensemble has also reached outside these areas to perform very early music (organa
Organum
Organum is, in general, a plainchant melody with at least one added voice to enhance the harmony, developed in the Middle Ages. Depending on the mode and form of the chant, a supporting bass line may be sung on the same text, the melody may be followed in parallel motion , or a combination of...
by the twelfth-century French composer Perotinus
Pérotin
Pérotin , also called Perotin the Great, was a European composer, believed to be French, who lived around the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century. He was the most famous member of the Notre Dame school of polyphony and the ars antiqua style...
) and very recent music (new works by the Australian Elliott Gyger).
Blue Heron draws from a roster of musicians in order to constitute the ensemble best suited to the repertoire at hand. Its performing ensemble therefore ranges in size from three singers (for a fifteenth-century chanson) to as many as fifteen (for a large-scale early sixteenth-century English mass in a cathedral setting) and adds instruments (slide trumpet
Slide trumpet
The slide trumpet is a type of trumpet that is fitted with a slide much like a trombone.The slide trumpet grew out of the war trumpet as used and developed in Western and Central Europe: Don Smithers in The Music and History of the Baroque Trumpet before 1721, argues that the slide grew out of the...
, trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, vielle
Vielle
The vielle is a European bowed stringed instrument used in the Medieval period, similar to a modern violin but with a somewhat longer and deeper body, five gut strings, and a leaf-shaped pegbox with frontal tuning pegs. The instrument was also known as a fidel or a viuola, although the French...
, bajón
Dulcian
The dulcian is a Renaissance bass woodwind instrument, with a double reed and a folded conical bore. Equivalent terms include "curtal" in English, "dulzian" in German, "bajón" in Spanish, "douçaine"' in French, "dulciaan" in Dutch, and "dulciana" in Italian....
) when appropriate.
Founded in 1999, Blue Heron presents its own concerts in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, performs regularly at Monadnock Music in New Hampshire, and has appeared at other venues throughout the northeastern U.S., including the 92nd Street Y
92nd Street Y
92nd Street Y is a multifaceted cultural institution and community center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, at the corner of E. 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Its full name is 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It often appears under the aegis of the Boston Early Music Festival
Boston Early Music Festival
The Boston Early Music Festival is a music festival held every two years in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, for all people interested in historical music performance....
. It prepared the complete Eighth Book of Madrigals by Luca Marenzio
Luca Marenzio
Luca Marenzio 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 form in its late stage of development, prior to its early Baroque transformation by Monteverdi...
for the international Marenzio conference at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in April, 2006. In 2008, the ensemble appeared at the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California.
Its first CD, featuring music by Guillaume Du Fay
Guillaume Dufay
Guillaume Dufay was a Franco-Flemish composer of the early Renaissance. As the central figure in the Burgundian School, he was the most famous and influential composer in Europe in the mid-15th century.-Early life:From the evidence of his will, he was probably born in Beersel, in the vicinity of...
, was released in March, 2007 on the Blue Heron label.
Blue Heron is a constituent organization of ArtsBoston
ArtsBoston
ArtsBoston is a not-for-profit corporation, dedicated to assisting the performing arts industry in Boston, MA. Since its founding in 1975, ArtsBoston has been one of the nation's largest performing arts non-profits, second only to New York City's Theatre Development Fund.ArtsBoston provides...
.
Sources
- Alex Ross, "Many Voices: Blue Heron brings a hint of the Baroque to Renaissance polyphony," January 10, 2011, available in part online, accessed March 15, 2011
External links
- Web Site
- Boston Early Music Festival
- http://classical-scene.com/2009/03/16/blue-heron-artistry-and-veracity-in-revival-of-dufay/
- http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2007/10/03/sounds_of_the_past_speak_to_the_present/
- http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2007/12/24/blue_heron_choir_backdates_a_holiday_tradition/
- http://www.lansingmcloskey.com/writings/ReviewBlueHeron.pdf
- http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7794771.html
- http://odeo.com/episodes/23856361-Blue-Heron-sings-Obrecht-and-Perotin-WGBH-Classical-Performance
- http://classical-scene.com/2009/03/16/blue-heron-artistry-and-veracity-in-revival-of-dufay/