Huelgas Ensemble
Encyclopedia
The Huelgas Ensemble is a Belgian early music
group formed by the Flemish conductor Paul Van Nevel
in 1971. The group's performance and extensive discography focuses on renaissance polyphony
. The name of the ensemble refers to a manuscript of polyphonic music, the Codex Las Huelgas
.
Nevel is noted for his style of performing many pieces with the singers and himself in a large circle, rotating, both in live performances (such as at the Rheingau Musik Festival
where the pews had to be unbolted from the floor of the Basilika of Schloss Johannisberg
in 2005), and in recordings around the microphone hovering above the center.
In 2009, after 8 years with Harmonia Mundi
of Bernard Coutaz
, the group returned to the Sony Classics Group which celebrated the occasion with the reissue of a 15CD reissue box.
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,...
group formed by the Flemish conductor Paul Van Nevel
Paul Van Nevel
Paul Van Nevel is a Belgian conductor, musicologist and art historian. In 1971 he founded the Huelgas Ensemble, a choir dedicated to polyphony from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Van Nevel is known for hunting out little known polyphonic medieval works to perform.He grew up in a musical...
in 1971. The group's performance and extensive discography focuses on renaissance 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 ....
. The name of the ensemble refers to a manuscript of polyphonic music, the Codex Las Huelgas
Codex Las Huelgas
The Codex Las Huelgas is a music manuscript or codex from c. 1300 which originated in and has remained in the Cistercian convent of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in Burgos, in northern Spain...
.
Nevel is noted for his style of performing many pieces with the singers and himself in a large circle, rotating, both in live performances (such as at the Rheingau Musik Festival
Rheingau Musik Festival
The Rheingau Musik Festival is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres...
where the pews had to be unbolted from the floor of the Basilika of Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg is a winery in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany, that has been making wine for over 900 years. The winery is most noted for its claim to have "discovered" late harvest wine.- History :...
in 2005), and in recordings around the microphone hovering above the center.
In 2009, after 8 years with Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....
of Bernard Coutaz
Bernard Coutaz
Bernard Coutaz was a French musical publisher, founder of the Harmonia Mundi label....
, the group returned to the Sony Classics Group which celebrated the occasion with the reissue of a 15CD reissue box.
Discography
- 1977 - Le chansonnier de Paris. (LP). Alpha 260.
- 1978 - Musique à la Cour de Chypre 1192-1489. (LP). Alpha DB 264.
- 1978 - Netherlands Renaissance. De Monte, Lassus, NörmigerAugust NörmigerAugust Nörmiger was a German composer and court organist in Dresden. He was born and died in Dresden.The main source for Nörmiger's compositions is the manuscript Organ tabulature "Tabulaturbuch auff dem Instrumente", which he compiled for Sophie von Sachsen in 1598...
, WhiteRobert White (composer)Robert White probably born in Holborn, a district of London, was a catholic English composer whose liturgical music to Latin texts is considered particularly fine...
. (LP, CD). Sony "Seon" 60705. - 1978 - Motets Wallons. Motets, Conductus et Pièces Instrumentales. Anon. (LP). Musique en Wallonie MW 29.
- 1979 - Ars Moriendi. IsaacHeinrich IsaacHeinrich Isaac was a Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer of south Netherlandish origin. He wrote masses, motets, songs , and instrumental music. A significant contemporary of Josquin des Prez, Isaac influenced the development of music in Germany...
, CornagoJuan CornagoJuan Cornago was a Spanish composer in the transition from Ars nova to the Renaissance.- Life :Almost nothing is known of Cornago's origins. He may be the Juan Carnago of Calahorra, La Rioja, Spain, who solicited Pope Martin V for prebends in various parishses between 1420 y 1429...
, NörmigerAugust NörmigerAugust Nörmiger was a German composer and court organist in Dresden. He was born and died in Dresden.The main source for Nörmiger's compositions is the manuscript Organ tabulature "Tabulaturbuch auff dem Instrumente", which he compiled for Sophie von Sachsen in 1598...
(LP). Alpha 270. - 1982 - La Favola di Orfeo. Reconstruction of 1494 favola. PesentiMichele PesentiMichele Pesenti was an Italian composer and lutenist who served the House of Este at Ferrara. Michele Pesenti. was one of the most lively...
, TromboncinoBartolomeo TromboncinoBartolomeo Tromboncino was an Italian composer of the middle Renaissance. He is mainly famous as a composer of frottola; he is principally infamous for murdering his wife...
, CaraMarchetto CaraMarchetto Cara was an Italian composer, lutenist and singer of the Renaissance. He was mainly active in Mantua, was well-connected with the Gonzaga and Medici families, and along with Bartolomeo Tromboncino, was well known as a composer of frottolas.-Life:Next to nothing is known of his early life...
, AquilaSerafino dell' AquilaSerafino dell'Aquila alias Serafino Cimini di Bazzano alias Serafino dei Ciminelli , Italian and prominent member of the Cimino family, poet and improvisatore, was born in 1466 at the town of Aquila, from which he took his alias, and died in the year 1500...
. Sony Classical, Seon SB2K 60095 (2 LP, 2 CD). - 1985 - Musica aldersoetste Konst. Polyphonic songs from the Low Countries. Gheerkin De HondtGheerkin de HondtGheerkin de Hondt Gheerkin de Hondt Gheerkin de Hondt (also Gerit, Gerrit, Gheerart, Gerryt de Hont (died 1547) was a Dutch composer of polyphonic songs.Despite the enormous popularity of his songs, almost no biographical information survives beyond that he was choirmaster of the Marian brotherhood...
etc. (LP, CD) Klara MMP 013. - 1990 - O cieco mondo. The Italian Lauda, c.1400-1700. 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...
, Anon.(LP, CD) Deutsche Harmonia Mundi RD77865. - 1990 - Cypriot Advent Antiphons. Anonymus c.1390. (LP, CD) Deutsche Harmonia Mundi RD77977.
- 1990 - Antoine BrumelAntoine BrumelAntoine Brumel was a French composer. He was one of the first renowned French members of the Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of the most influential composers of his generation....
: Missa Et ecce terrae motus. Sequentia Dies irae. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 46348. - 1990 - Cypriano de Rore: Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Johannem. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 7994.
- 1991 - Mateo FlechaMateo FlechaMateo Flecha was a composer born in Catalonia, in the region of Prades. He is sometimes known as "El Viejo" to distinguish him from his nephew, Mateo Flecha "El Joven" , also a composer of madrigals...
el Viejo: Ensaladas; El Fuego, La Negrina, La Justa. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 46699. - 1991 - La Dissection d'un Homme armé. Six Masses after a Burgundian Song. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 45860.
- 1991 - Italia mia. Musical Imagination in the Renaissance. Philippe VerdelotPhilippe VerdelotPhilippe Verdelot was a French composer of the Renaissance, who spent most of his life in Italy. He is commonly considered to be the father of the Italian madrigal, and certainly was one of its earliest and most prolific composers; in addition he was prominent in the musical life of Florence...
, NennaPomponio NennaPomponio Nenna was a Neapolitan Italian composer of the Renaissance. He is mainly remembered for his madrigals, which were influenced by Gesualdo, and for his polychoral sacred motets, posthumously published as Sacrae Hebdomadae Responsoria in 1622.- Life :Pomponio Nenna was born in Bari, in the...
etc. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 48065. - 1991 - In morte di Madonna Laura. Madrigal cycle after texts of PetrarchPetrarchFrancesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
. Hoste da ReggioHoste da ReggioHoste da Reggio was an Italian composer of the Renaissance, active in Milan and elsewhere in northern Italy. He was well-known for his madrigals, which were published in several collections in Venice.-Life:...
, PisanoBernardo PisanoBernardo Pisano was an Italian composer, priest, singer, and scholar of the Renaissance. He was one of the first madrigalists, and the first composer anywhere to have a printed collection of secular music devoted entirely to himself.- Life :He was born in Florence, and may have spent some time...
, CimelloTomaso CimelloGiovanni Tommaso Cimello was a poet, musician, composer and musical theorist employed by the powerful Colonna family, and active at the Aragonese court in Naples.- Works :...
, etc. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 48942. - 1992 - Nicolas GombertNicolas GombertNicolas Gombert was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most famous and influential composers between Josquin des Prez and Palestrina, and best represents the fully developed, complex polyphonic style of this period in music history.-Life:Details of his early life are...
: Music from the Court of Charles V. Motets. Chansons. Mass for 6 Voices. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 48249. - 1992 - Michael PraetoriusMichael PraetoriusMichael Praetorius was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms based on Protestant hymns, many of which reflect an effort to make better the relationship between...
: Magnificat. Aus tiefer Not; Der Tag vertreibt. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 18039. - 1992 - Febus Avant! Music at the Court of Gaston Febus. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 48195.
- 1993 - Orlande de LassusOrlande de LassusOrlande de Lassus was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance...
: Lagrime di San Pietro. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 53373. - 1993 - João Lourenço RebeloJoão Lourenço RebeloJoão Lourenço Rebelo, or João Soares Rebelo, was court composer to John IV of Portugal .-Life:Rebelo was born in Caminha in 1610. He entered the service of Teodósio II, Duke of Braganza in 1624 at the age of fourteen, then became music teacher to his son, who was to become João II, 8th Duke of...
: Vesper Psalms and Lamentations. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 53 115. - 1993 - Codex Las HuelgasCodex Las HuelgasThe Codex Las Huelgas is a music manuscript or codex from c. 1300 which originated in and has remained in the Cistercian convent of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in Burgos, in northern Spain...
. Music from 13th Century Spain. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 53341. - 1994 - Music at the Court of king Janus of NicosiaJanus of CyprusJanus of Cyprus was a King of Cyprus, King of Armenia and a Titular King of Jerusalem from 1398 to 1432.-Biography:He was born in Genoa where his father, King James I of Cyprus was a captive...
. Ars subtiliorArs subtiliorArs subtilior is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Paris, Avignon in southern France, also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century. The style also is found in the French Cypriot repertory...
of 14thC. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 53976. - 1994 - Jacobus GallusJacobus GallusJacobus Gallus Carniolus was a late Renaissance composer of Slovenian ethnicity...
: Opus musicum. Missa super "Sancta Maria". Sony Classical Vivarte SK 64305. - 1994 - Costanzo FestaCostanzo FestaCostanzo Festa was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. While he is best known for his madrigals, he also wrote sacred vocal music...
: Magnificat; Mass parts; Motets; Madrigals. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 53116. - 1994 - Cançóes, Vilancicos e Motétés Portugueses: Séculos XVI-XVII. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 64 305.
- 1995 - Utopia Triumphans. First recording of TallisTallis-People:* Gorden Tallis, an Australian rugby league player* John Tallis, cartographer* Raymond Tallis, an English geriatrician and intellectual* Thomas Tallis , an English composer-Other:...
Spem in aliumSpem in aliumSpem in alium is a forty-part Renaissance motet by Thomas Tallis, composed circa 1570 for eight choirs of five voices each. The sacred text has been used as a basis for other choral settings, such as and the...
. PortaCostanzo PortaCostanzo Porta was an Italian composer of the Renaissance, and a representative of what is known today as the Venetian School. He was highly praised throughout his life both as a composer and a teacher, and had a reputation especially as an expert contrapuntist.-Biography:Porta was born in Cremona...
à 13, à 14, Josquin Desprez à 24, Ockeghem à 36, ManchicourtPierre de ManchicourtPierre de Manchicourt was a Renaissance composer of the Franco-Flemish School.Little is known of his early life other than that he was a choirboy at Arras in 1525; later in life he had a succession of posts in Arras, Tours and Tournai, before going to Spain to be master of the Flemish chapel at...
à 6, Giovanni GabrieliGiovanni GabrieliGiovanni Gabrieli was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque idioms.-Biography:Gabrieli was born in Venice...
à 16, StriggioAlessandro StriggioAlessandro Striggio was an Italian composer, instrumentalist and diplomat of the Renaissance. He composed numerous madrigals as well as dramatic music, and by combining the two, became the inventor of madrigal comedy...
à 40. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 66261. - 1996 - PerusioMatteo da PerugiaMatteo da Perugia was a Medieval Italian composer, presumably from Perugia. From 1402 to 1407 he was the first magister cappellae of the Milan Cathedral; his duties included being cantor and teaching three boys selected by the Cathedral deputies. Little is known about his life apart from this...
: Virelais, Ballades, Caccia. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 62928. - 1996 - Matthaeus PipelareMatthaeus PipelareMatthaeus Pipelare was a Flemish composer, choir director, and possibly wind instrument player of the Renaissance.He was from Louvain, and spent part of his early life in Antwerp. Unlike many of his contemporaries, many of whom traveled to Italy, Spain or elsewhere, he seems never to have left...
: Missa L'homme armé. Chansons. Motets. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 68258. - 1996 - Claude le JeuneClaude Le JeuneClaude Le Jeune was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance. He was the primary representative of the musical movement known as musique mesurée, and a significant composer of the "Parisian" chanson, the predominant secular form in France in the latter half of the 16th century...
: Le printemps. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 68259. - 1997 - Tears of Lisbon. 16th Century Arts Songs. Traditional FadoFadoFado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 62256. - 1997 - Pierre de ManchicourtPierre de ManchicourtPierre de Manchicourt was a Renaissance composer of the Franco-Flemish School.Little is known of his early life other than that he was a choirboy at Arras in 1525; later in life he had a succession of posts in Arras, Tours and Tournai, before going to Spain to be master of the Flemish chapel at...
: Missa Veni Sancte Spiritus. Motets. Chansons. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 62694. - 1997 - La pellegrinaIntermedioThe intermedio, or intermezzo, in the Italian Renaissance, was a theatrical performance or spectacle with music and often dance which was performed between the acts of a play to celebrate special occasions in Italian courts. It was one of the important predecessors to opera, and an influence on...
. Music for a Medici wedding. Sony Classical Vivarte S2K 63362. - 1997 - Johannes CiconiaJohannes CiconiaJohannes Ciconia was a late medieval composer and music theorist who worked most of his adult life in Italy, particularly in the service of the Papal Chapels and at the cathedral of Padua....
: Oeuvre complète. Pavane 7345 (3 CD). - 1998 - Alexander AgricolaAlexander AgricolaAlexander Agricola was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. A prominent member of the Grande chapelle, the Habsburg musical establishment, he was a renowned composer in the years around 1500, and his music was widely distributed throughout Europe...
: A Secret Labyrinth. Sony Classical Vivarte SK 60760. - 1999 - Lamentations de la Renaissance. Lassus, OrtoMarbrianus de OrtoMarbrianus de Orto was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was a contemporary, close associate, and possible friend of Josquin des Prez, and was one of the first composers to write a completely canonic setting of the Ordinary of the Mass.-Life:The illegitimate child of a priest,...
, WhiteRobert White (composer)Robert White probably born in Holborn, a district of London, was a catholic English composer whose liturgical music to Latin texts is considered particularly fine...
, MassainoTiburtio MassainoTiburtio Massaino, also Massaini was an Italian composer.-Life:Augustinian friar in Piacenza he became maestro di cappella at S Maria del Popolo in Rome in 1571. He moved to Modena in 1578, Lodi in 1580 and Salò in 1587 before arriving in Innsbruck at the service of Archduke Ferdinand II in 1589-90...
. Harmonia Mundi 901682. - 2000 - 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...
: O Gemma Lux. Intégrale des motets isorythmiques. Harmonia Mundi901700. - 2000 - Christoph DemantiusChristoph DemantiusChristoph Demantius was a German composer, music theorist, writer and poet. He was an exact contemporary of Monteverdi, and represented a transitional phase in German Lutheran music from the polyphonic Renaissance style to the early Baroque.-Life:He was born in Reichenberg Christoph Demantius (15...
: Vêpres de Pentecoste. Harmonia Mundi 901705. - 2001 - Two unpublished tracks: Binchois Sanctus, Crecquillon Amour partez, accompanying book.
- 2001 - Le Chant de Virgile. Adrian WillaertAdrian WillaertAdrian Willaert was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance and founder of the Venetian School. He was one of the most representative members of the generation of northern composers who moved to Italy and transplanted the polyphonic Franco-Flemish style there....
, Cipriano de RoreCipriano de RoreCipriano de Rore was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy...
. Secular motets. Harmonia Mundi 901739. - 2001 - Annibale PadovanoAnnibale PadovanoAnnibale Padovano was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance Venetian School. He was one of the earliest developers of the keyboard toccata.- Life :...
: Messe à 24 voix. Harmonia Mundi 901727. - 2002 - Cipriano de RoreCipriano de RoreCipriano de Rore was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy...
: Missa Praeter rerum seriem. Madrigaux et motets. Harmonia Mundi901760. - 2003 - Jean RichafortJean RichafortJean Richafort was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance.He was probably born in Hainaut, and his native language appears to have been French. He may have studied with Josquin des Prez, though the evidence for this is circumstantial. Richafort served as choir master at St. Rombold...
: Requiem (in memoriam Josquin Desprez) à 6 voix, motets. Harmonia Mundi 901730. - 2003 - Costanzo FestaCostanzo FestaCostanzo Festa was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. While he is best known for his madrigals, he also wrote sacred vocal music...
: La Spagna. 32 contrapunti. (SACD) Harmonia Mundi 801799. - 2004 - Orlande de LassusOrlande de LassusOrlande de Lassus was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance...
: Il Canzoniere di Messer Francesco Petrarca. Harmonia Mundi 901828. (Awards: 10 de Répertoire, Edison Classical Music Award). - 2004 - Jacobus de KerleJacobus de KerleJacobus de Kerle was a Flemish composer and organist of the late Renaissance.-Life:Kerle was trained at the monastery of St. Martin in Ypres, and held positions as a singer in Cambrai and choirmaster in Orvieto, where he also became organist and carillonneur...
: "Da Pacem Domine" Messes & Motets. Harmonia Mundi 901866. - 2005 - Alfonso Ferrabosco the elder "Ferrabosco Il Padre": Psalm 103. Motets et chansons. Harmonia Mundi 901874.
- 2006 - À 40 voix. 2nd recordings of Thomas TallisThomas TallisThomas Tallis was an English composer. Tallis flourished as a church musician in 16th century Tudor England. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered among the best of England's early composers. He is honoured for his original voice in English...
Spem in AliumSpem in aliumSpem in alium is a forty-part Renaissance motet by Thomas Tallis, composed circa 1570 for eight choirs of five voices each. The sacred text has been used as a basis for other choral settings, such as and the...
, Striggio, Gabrieli, Desprez. 1st recordings by Huelgas Ensemble of pieces by ComesJuan Bautista ComesJuan Bautista Comes , aka per Valencian spelling Joan Batiste Comes, was a Spanish Baroque composer who was born and died in Valencia....
, MoutonJean MoutonJean Mouton was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was famous both for his motets, which are among the most refined of the time, and for being the teacher of Adrian Willaert, one of the founders of the Venetian School....
, Robert WylkynsonRobert WylkynsonRobert Wylkynson was one of the composers of the Eton Choirbook.Only four works survive:* 2x Salve Regina* Jesus autem transiens/Credo in Deum à 13* motet O virgo prudentissima...
, RebeloJoão Lourenço RebeloJoão Lourenço Rebelo, or João Soares Rebelo, was court composer to John IV of Portugal .-Life:Rebelo was born in Caminha in 1610. He entered the service of Teodósio II, Duke of Braganza in 1624 at the age of fourteen, then became music teacher to his son, who was to become João II, 8th Duke of...
, and Willem Ceuleers (b.1962)(SACD). Harmonia Mundi 801954. - 2007 - La Quinta essentia. Lassus, PalestrinaPalestrinaPalestrina is an ancient city and comune with a population of about 18,000, in Lazio, c. 35 km east of Rome...
, Thomas AshwellThomas AshwellThomas Ashwell or Ashewell was an English composer of the Renaissance. He was a skilled composer of polyphony, and may have been the teacher of John Taverner....
. Harmonia Mundi 901922. - 2009 - Michelangelo RossiMichelangelo RossiMichelangelo Rossi was an important Italian composer, violinist and organist of the Baroque era....
: La Poesia Cromatica. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 7428542 - 2010 - Praebachtorius. DHM 92587799