The Baltimore Consort
Encyclopedia
The Baltimore Consort is a musical ensemble that performs a wide variety of early music
, Renaissance music
and music from later periods. They began in 1980 as a group specializing in music of the Elizabethan period, but soon expanded their repertoire to include Scottish
music, broadside ballad
s, and Italian
, French
, and other European music of the 16th and 17th centuries. Their music bridges the genres of classical and folk music
.
The Baltimore Consort was founded by Roger Harmon, who formerly had taught lute
at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland. They performed together for ten years before releasing their first album for Dorian Recordings, a collection of Scottish music called On the Banks of the Helicon. By the time of that recording the ensemble consisted of Custer LaRue
(soprano
), Ronn McFarlane (lute
), Mary Anne Ballard (viol
s, fiddle
), Larry Lipkis (bass viol, recorder
), Chris Norman
(flute
s, bagpipes
, bodhran
), Howard Bass (bandora), and Mark Cudek (cittern
, bass viol
). Norman was replaced in 2003 by Mindy Rosenfeld, a member of the original 1980 group whom he had replaced in 1987, and LaRue began an indefinite leave of absence in 2004, at which time countertenor
José Lemos
began performing with the group, joined in 2005 by soprano
Danielle Svonavec.
The group has recorded some 15 albums for Dorian, including a Christmas album, Bright Day Star, and a collection of bawdy songs with the a capella quartet called the Merry Companions, The Art of the Bawdy Song and a 2007 instrumental compilation, Gut, Wind and Wire. Their various recordings also cover a number of the Child ballads
.
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,...
, 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...
and music from later periods. They began in 1980 as a group specializing in music of the Elizabethan period, but soon expanded their repertoire to include Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
music, broadside ballad
Broadside (music)
A broadside is a single sheet of cheap paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations...
s, and Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and other European music of the 16th and 17th centuries. Their music bridges the genres of classical and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
.
The Baltimore Consort was founded by Roger Harmon, who formerly had taught lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland. They performed together for ten years before releasing their first album for Dorian Recordings, a collection of Scottish music called On the Banks of the Helicon. By the time of that recording the ensemble consisted of Custer LaRue
Custer LaRue
Custer LaRue is a soprano vocalist of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. She specializes in Renaissance music and traditional Folk music such as the Child ballads and music collected in Appalachia during the early 20th century....
(soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
), Ronn McFarlane (lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
), Mary Anne Ballard (viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
s, fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
), Larry Lipkis (bass viol, recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
), Chris Norman
Chris Norman (flautist)
Chris Norman is a flautist. He also plays bagpipes and bodhran and composes music. Specializing in the wooden flute, he has played as a member of groups such as The Baltimore Consort, Helicon, Skyedance, and Concerto Caledonia; and performed and recorded solo...
(flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
, bodhran
Bodhrán
The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...
), Howard Bass (bandora), and Mark Cudek (cittern
Cittern
The cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...
, bass viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
). Norman was replaced in 2003 by Mindy Rosenfeld, a member of the original 1980 group whom he had replaced in 1987, and LaRue began an indefinite leave of absence in 2004, at which time countertenor
Countertenor
A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
José Lemos
José Lemos
Countertenor José Lemos is the First Prize winner and the Audience Prize winner of the 2003 International Baroque Singing Competition of Chimay, Belgium. He completed his Masters Degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston...
began performing with the group, joined in 2005 by soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Danielle Svonavec.
The group has recorded some 15 albums for Dorian, including a Christmas album, Bright Day Star, and a collection of bawdy songs with the a capella quartet called the Merry Companions, The Art of the Bawdy Song and a 2007 instrumental compilation, Gut, Wind and Wire. Their various recordings also cover a number of the Child ballads
Child Ballads
The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...
.
Discography
- On The Banks of the Helicon (1990)
- Watkins Ale (1990)
- La Rocque 'n' Roll (1993)
- The Art of the Bawdy Song (1993)
- Custer LaRue Sings 'The Daemon Lover' with The Baltimore Consort (1993)
- Bright Day Star (1994)
- A Trip to Killburn (1996)
- Tunes from the Attic (1997)
- The Ladyes Delight (1998)
- The Mad Buckgoat (1999)
- Shakespeare's Music (2001)
- Amazing Grace (2001)
- Adew Dundee (2003)
- The Best of the Baltimore Consort (2003)
- Gut, Wind and Wire; Instruments of the Baltimore Consort (2007)
- Adio Espana: Romances, Villancicos, and Improvisations from Spain, circa 1550 (2009)