Hespèrion XXI
Encyclopedia
Hespèrion XXI is an international early music
ensemble
. The group was formed in Basel
, Switzerland
in 1974 as Hespèrion XX by Spanish musical director Jordi Savall
(bowed string instruments, particularly the viola da gamba), Montserrat Figueras
(soprano), Lorenzo Alpert (flute
, percussion), and Hopkinson Smith
(plucked string instrument
s). The group changed its name to Hesperion XXI at the beginning of the 21st century.
The ensemble is noted for its scholarship in early music — especially the music of 16th and 17th century Spain
. Their performance practice is noted for the liberal use of improvisation around the basic melodic and rhythmic structures of the early pieces, resulting in great emotional intimacy and immediacy.
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,...
ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
. The group was formed in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in 1974 as Hespèrion XX by Spanish musical director Jordi Savall
Jordi Savall
Jordi Savall i Bernadet is a Catalan viol player, conductor and composer. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for bringing the viol back to life on the stage...
(bowed string instruments, particularly the viola da gamba), Montserrat Figueras
Montserrat Figueras
Montserrat Figueras García was a Catalan soprano who specialized in early music....
(soprano), Lorenzo Alpert (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...
, percussion), and Hopkinson Smith
Hopkinson Smith
Hopkinson Smith is an American lutenist.Born in New York, he graduated from Harvard with Honors in Music...
(plucked string instrument
Plucked string instrument
Plucked string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by plucking the strings. Plucking is a way of pulling and releasing the string in such as way as to give it an impulse that causes the string to vibrate...
s). The group changed its name to Hesperion XXI at the beginning of the 21st century.
The ensemble is noted for its scholarship in early music — especially the music of 16th and 17th century Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Their performance practice is noted for the liberal use of improvisation around the basic melodic and rhythmic structures of the early pieces, resulting in great emotional intimacy and immediacy.
Awards
- Grand Prix de l'académie du Disque Français
- Edison-Preis Amsterdam
- Grand Prix du DisqueL'Académie Charles CrosThe Académie Charles-Cros, is an organization in France that acts as an intermediary between government cultural policy makers and professionals in music and the recording industry....
of the Charles Cros Academy of France - Grand Prize of the Japanese Recording Academy
- Cannes Classic Award
- Diapason d'OrDiapason d'OrThe Diapason d'Or is a recommendation of outstanding classical music recordings given by reviewers of Diapason magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the British Gramophone magazine....
- Grand Prix FNAC
- Giorgio Gini Foundation Prize
As Hespèrion XXI
- 2009 - “The Book of the Science of Music” by Dimitrie Cantemir, Alia Vox
- 2006 - Orient-Occident, Alia Vox
- 2004 - Isabel I: Reina de Castilla, Alia Vox
- 2002 - Ostinato, Alia Vox
- 2000 - Diáspora Sefardí, Alia Vox — a recreation of music of the Eastern Sephardic communities
As Hespèrion XX
Note: The name of composer Juan del Encina (or Enzina) is spelled below as printed on the individual CD covers.- 1976 - Music From Christian and Jewish Spain, 1450-1550. Tracks include several anonymous works, as well as works by Luis de MilánLuis de MilánLuis de Milán was a Spanish Renaissance composer, vihuelist , and writer on music...
, Juan del EncinaJuan del EncinaJuan del Enzina – the spelling he used – or Juan del Encina – modern Spanish spelling – was a composer, poet and playwright, often called the founder of Spanish drama...
, and Diego OrtizDiego OrtizDiego Ortiz was a Spanish composer and musicologist, in service to the Spanish viceroy in Naples and later to Philip II of Spain. Ortiz published influential treatises on both instrumental and vocal performance....
. - 1979 - Llibre Vermell de MontserratLlibre Vermell de MontserratThe Llibre Vermell de Montserrat is a manuscript collection of devotional texts, containing amongst others some late medieval songs. The 14th century manuscript was compiled in and is still located at the monastery of Montserrat outside Barcelona in Catalonia.-The manuscript:The manuscript was...
. A 14th century pilgrimage - 1991 - Juan Del Enzina: Romances & Villancicos, Salamanca, 1496. Works by famed Spanish composer Juan del Enzina honouring King Ferdinand II of AragonFerdinand II of AragonFerdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
and Queen Isabella of Castille. The lyrics express Spain's anticipated rise to greatness as adventurers, such as ColumbusChristopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
, set off to return the world's riches to the homeland, thereby assuring Spain's wealth and power. - 1991 - Lope de VegaLope de VegaFélix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright and poet. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature...
: Intermedios del Barroco Hispanico, 1580-1680 - 1993 - Matthew LockeMatthew Locke (composer)Matthew Locke was an English Baroque composer and music theorist.-Biography:As a boy, Locke was trained in the choir of Exeter Cathedral, under Edward Gibbons, the brother of Orlando Gibbons...
, Consort of Fower Parts 1650-1660 - 1998 - Elizabethan Consort Music 1558 - 1603, Works by Alberti, Parsons, Strogers, Taverner, White, Woodcoock & Anonymes
- 1999 - El Barroco Hispánico
- 2001 - Music for the Spanish Kings