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THE CARDINALL'S MUSICK

Andrew Carwood – director

“The Cardinall's Musick under its conductor, Andrew Carwood, has become one of the most important vocal groups in Britain's early-music armoury.” - The Independent

The Since its foundation in 1989, The Cardinall's Musick has been a highly successful and innovative ensemble. Taking its name from the 16th century English cardinal, Thomas Wolsey, the group's reputation grew through its extensive study of music from the English Renaissance. Originally an a capella vocal group, The Cardinall's Musick now has its own period instrumental ensemble and embraces a wide range of styles and periods: from a complete reconstruction of a Tudor mass in Hampton Court to the world premieres of commissions from composers Michael Finnissy, Judith Weir, Simon Whalley and Matthew Martin Their repertoire has grown to include music from many different countries and they are well known for their thoughtful, themed programmes designed to stimulate and enlighten, to broaden horizons but also to look at standard repertoire with a fresh eye.

One of the strengths of the group lies in the combination of solid academic research with the ability of its singers to perform as soloists who are also part of a vocal team, 'preserving their vocal personalities rather than striving for a mellifluous blend … resulting in a vibrant texture of timbres' (The Daily Telegraph). Coupled with this goes a sincere love of the music and the desire to give deeply committed live performances: 'the voices of Andrew Carwood and his eight cohorts could probably start a blaze in the Antarctic!' (The Times). The group has performed at the most prestigious festivals in the UK, including Spitalfields, Bath, Chester, Aldeburgh, the South Bank and the Proms and throughout Europe. Their historical celebrations of the life of Queen Elizabeth I in 2003 and the Gunpowder Plot in 2005 have been singled out for particular praise.

The Cardinall's Musick have produced a number of CDs on the Gaudeamus label for Sanctuary Classics to great critical acclaim and now record exclusively for Hyperion Records. Their discography includes music by the Englishmen Nicholas Ludford, William Cornysh and Robert Fayrfax and by Lassus, Palestrina, Victoria. Currently they are engaged in a remarkable project to record the works of one of England's greatest composers, William Byrd. This groundbreaking series has drawn plaudits from around the world for the standard of performance, its integrity and its academic research. Their first disc of music by Fayrfax won a Gramophone Award for Early Music and they have also received a French Diapason d'Or, a German Schallplatten Kritik Preis and the Schallplatten Echo Award. Their disc of the music of Thomas Tallis released to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the composer's birth was voted a record of the year by the Daily Telegraph in 2005 and won the Gramophone Award for Early Music in 2006, and the tenth installment of their ongoing Byrd series won the same award in 2007.

Website – www.cardinallsmusick.com