Hortus Musicus
Encyclopedia
Hortus Musicus is an Estonian ensemble that was established in 1972 by Andres Mustonen, a violin student of the Tallinn State Conservatory. Hortus Musicus specialises in performing early music
, including 8th–15th century European forms such as; Gregorian Chant
, Organum
, Medieval Liturgic Hymns and Motets, the Franco-Flemish School, and Renaissance Music
(including French chanson
s, villanelle
s and Italian madrigals
). The group also presents early, non-European styles including Indian Ragas, Israeli temple songs, Arabian mughams and Jewish music. The group's repertoire has also included pieces by 20th century composers (often created specially for Hortus Musicus, e.g. by Arvo Pärt
).
Hortus Musicus has given concerts in the US, Japan, Israel, as well as having performed at several major early music festivals. They have recorded approximately 35 programmes, a portion of which is available from companies such as Erdenklang, Musica Svecia, Forte and Finlandia Records. The group's latest recording is "Ave..." (2005): 'music from the late Middle Ages in memoriam Helle Mustonen (1950–2005)'.
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
, including 8th–15th century European forms such as; Gregorian Chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
, Organum
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...
, Medieval Liturgic Hymns and Motets, the Franco-Flemish School, and Renaissance Music
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
(including French chanson
Chanson
A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...
s, villanelle
Villanelle
A villanelle is a poetic form that entered English-language poetry in the 19th century from the imitation of French models. The word derives from the Italian villanella from Latin villanus . A villanelle has only two rhyme sounds...
s and Italian madrigals
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
). The group also presents early, non-European styles including Indian Ragas, Israeli temple songs, Arabian mughams and Jewish music. The group's repertoire has also included pieces by 20th century composers (often created specially for Hortus Musicus, e.g. by Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
).
Hortus Musicus has given concerts in the US, Japan, Israel, as well as having performed at several major early music festivals. They have recorded approximately 35 programmes, a portion of which is available from companies such as Erdenklang, Musica Svecia, Forte and Finlandia Records. The group's latest recording is "Ave..." (2005): 'music from the late Middle Ages in memoriam Helle Mustonen (1950–2005)'.
Members
- Andres Mustonen – leader, violin, viola, recorder, cromorn
- Olev Ainomäe – shawm, oboe, recorder, shalmey, cromorn, rauschpfeiff
- Valter Jürgenson – trombone
- Tõnis Kuurme – curtal, shawm, bassoon, recorder, cromorn, rauschpfeiff
- Peeter Klaas – viol, cello
- Imre Eenma – violone, contrabass, viola
- Ivo Sillamaa – harpsichord, organ, piano
- Joosep Vahermägi – tenor
- Jaan ArderJaan ArderJaan Arder is an Estonian singer. He is a member of the rock band Apelsin and the early music ensemble Hortus Musicus.His older brother Ott Arder was a poet, children's writer and translator.-References:...
– baritone - Riho Ridbeck – bass, percussion
Vinyl Recordings released on "Melodiya" label (USSR)
- 1975 — Gregorian chant / Early polyphony (Thousand years of music, vol.1) (Melodiya, S10-06499-00)
- 1975 — "Ludus Danielis" (Thousand years of music, vol.2) (Melodiya, S10 07015-16)
- 1977 — Italian secular music of the 14th c. (Melodiya, S10 07933-34)
- 1977 — Francesco LandiniFrancesco LandiniFrancesco degli Organi, Francesco il Cieco, or Francesco da Firenze, called by later generations Francesco Landini or Landino was an Italian composer, organist, singer, poet and instrument maker...
: Ballate, madrigali, caccia (Melodiya, S10 07935-36) - 1979 — French secular music of the 16th c. (Melodiya, S10 14027-28)
- 1979 — Secular music of the 12th - 14th cc. LP1: France (Melodiya, S10-15085-86)
- 1979 — Secular music of the 12th - 14th cc. LP2: Italy (Melodiya, S10-15087-88)
- 1982 — Italian music of the 16th and 17th cc. (Melodiya, S10 19277-78)
- 1982 — From Yugoslavian manuscripts of the 10th - 12th cc. (Melodiya, S10 19383-84)
- 1984 — French music of the 16th and 17th cc. (Melodiya, S10 20873-74) (LP)
- 1985 — Adriano BanchieriAdriano BanchieriAdriano Banchieri was an Italian composer, music theorist, organist and poet of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He founded the Accademia dei Floridi in Bologna.-Biography:...
: "La Pazzia Senile", madrigal comedy of 1607. (Melodiya, S10 21697-98) - 1986 — Suite from The Louvain Collection Of Dances (Melodiya, S10 24423-24)
- 1986 — Guillaume DufayGuillaume DufayGuillaume 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...
/ Gilles BinchoisGilles BinchoisGilles de Binche , also known as Gilles de Bins , was a Franco-Flemish composer, one of the earliest members of the Burgundian School, and one of the three most famous composers of the early 15th century...
(Melodiya, S10 24851-52) - 1987 — Croatian music of the 11th - 14th cc. (Melodiya, S10 25089-90)
- 1988 — German Early Baroque Dance Music (Melodiya, S10 28029-30)
- 1988 — Italian dances of the 14th c. / Liturgical drama "Tractus stellae" (Melodiya, S10 28697-98)
Compilations, reissues
- 1989 — 1200-1600 Medieval - Renaissance (CD1: instrumental music, CD2: vocal music) (Erdenklang 40692)
- 1994 — Gregorianische Choräle -Plainchants- (Erdenklang 40712)
Original early music recordings
- 1989 — Musik över Östersjön/Music across the Baltic (Musica Sveciae MSCD 302)
- 1991 — Vasakungarnas hov (The Royal Court of the Vasa Kings) (Musica Sveciae MSCD 202)
- 1994 — Johann Valentin Meder: Matthäus Passion 1700 (Hortus Musicus, vol. 1) (Forte Classical FD 0006/2)
- 1995 — Vuestros Amores, He Señora (Erdenklang 50792)
- 1996 — Ave... (Erdenklang 61142)
- 1997 — Maypole (Erdenklang 70982)
Recordings of modern (Estonian) composers
- 1995 — Peeter VähiPeeter VähiPeeter Vähi, sometime also Peter Vähi or Peeter Vahi, is a classical Estonian composer.Vähi's work Relaxatio, written in 1992 and inspired by Asian intonal elements of Tibetan canticles, is considered a noted electronic work of psychotherapeutic music.- Discography :* A CHANT OF BAMBOO, Works: A...
: 2000 years after the birth of Christ (with Kaia Urb, The "Bad" Orchestra etc.) (Antes Edition Classics BM-CD 31.9059) - 1997 — Peeter Vähi: To his highness Salvador D. (with Ivo Sillamaa, Camerata Tallinn etc.) (Antes Edition Classics BM CD 31.9086)
- 1998 — René EespereRené EespereRené Eespere is an Estonian composer. Eespere's music is noted for its spiritual dimension; he has also incorporated elements from pop music . His best-regarded works are Glorificatio and Two Jubilations , both written for mixed chorus.-References:...
: Concerto Ritornello, Flute Concerto, Viola Concerto (with Ülo Kaadu, Maano Männi, Neeme Punder, Jouko Mansnerus) (Antes Edition Classics BM-CD 31.9129) - 2011 — Early Music of 3rd Millennium: Alexander Knaifel, Erkki-Sven TüürErkki-Sven TüürErkki-Sven Tüür is an Estonian composer.Tüür was born in Kärdla on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. He studied flute and percussion at the Tallinn Music School from 1976 to 1980 and composition with Jaan Rääts at the Tallinn Academy of Music and privately with Lepo Sumera from 1980 to 1984...
, Peeter VähiPeeter VähiPeeter Vähi, sometime also Peter Vähi or Peeter Vahi, is a classical Estonian composer.Vähi's work Relaxatio, written in 1992 and inspired by Asian intonal elements of Tibetan canticles, is considered a noted electronic work of psychotherapeutic music.- Discography :* A CHANT OF BAMBOO, Works: A...
, Arvo PärtArvo PärtArvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
, Valentin SilvestrovValentin SilvestrovValentyn Vasylyovych Sylvestrov is a Ukrainian pianist and composer of contemporary classical music.-Education:Sylvestrov began private music lessons at age 15...
, Giya KancheliGiya KancheliGiya Kancheli , born 10 August 1935, in Tbilisi, is a Georgian composer resident in Belgium.Since 1991, Kancheli has lived in Western Europe: first in Berlin, and since 1995 in Antwerp, where he is composer-in-residence for the Royal Flemish Philharmonic....
. (ERP 4611)