PERIOD MUSIC
The Academy of Ancient Music
Christopher
Hogwood (1941-2014) studied classics and music at the University of
Cambridge. There, he fell under the
influence of Thurston Dart (1921-1971), a keyboardist who was an advocate of
Early Music. In 1965 Hogwood started his
association with St Martin-in-the-Fields, where he executed a number of musical
functions. Two years later the Early
Music Consort of London, which had been founded by the charismatic woodwind
player David Munrow (1942-1976) to play medieval and renaissance music that was
to be Historically Informed Performance (H.I.P.) by Andrew Porter. The ensemble recorded the theme tunes for the
B.B.C. Television dramas The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) and Elizabeth
R (1971). Hogwood played continuo
in the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, which was led by Neville Marriner
(1924-2016). As a result, his interest
in baroque music was renewed.
Separately, he established a reputation as a harpsichordist.
In
Vienna Nikolaus Harnoncourt sought to remove subsequent stylistic
accretions. In part, he did this by
using original instruments or ones that were close copies of them to play
Classical music. The approaches that
John Eliot Gardiner and Roger Norrington were taking to performance questioned
accepted performance practices. Records
company executives realised that this approach might furnish them with an
opportunity to resell music to the public they already possessed in modern
form. With the industry's support
Hogwood (1941-2014) founded the Academy of Ancient Music in 1973 to record
renaissance and baroque music. The name
was derived from a group that had met in The Crown & Anchor tavern
on Strand from 1726 to 1792. The initial
recording session was in a church in Petersham.
The resulting record sold well and others were commissioned. The sound soon became cleaner. Peter Wadland of the L Oiseau Lyre label
proved to be a consistent supporter. The
Academy not only played the principal canon, it also performed works by the
likes of Heinichen and Mont clair.
In 1978
the Academy gave its first Proms performance.
Hogwood
was an assiduous researcher in musical archives. He not only sought out original scores,
editing numerous scores for publication, but also investigated musical
practice. He was assiduous in drawing
upon musicians knowledge and opinions.
The democratic aspects of the Academy sometimes bordered upon
anarchy. Hogwood was never regarded as a
conductor of the first-order, however, he was appreciated for the originality
and rigour of his approaches.
The
Academy's approach was not immediately embraced by the broader musical
world. However, after a prolonged
struggle its approach became an accepted part of the musical world. It became not uncommon to hear Beethoven s
compositions played without vibrato and for gut strings to be used to play
Bach's rather steel ones.
There
was a point at which the Academy was outselling Pavarotti.
In 2006
Hogwood stepped as the Academy's Musical Director. Under his guidance, it had made over 200
recordings.
Upon
one occasion Hogwood felt able to draw a direct between the Academy and CAMRA.
Location:
St Martin-in-the-Fields, 6 St Martin's Place, WC2N 4JH (red, turquoise)
Website:
https://aam.co.uk www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields
In 1958
about a dozen or so orchestral musicians took to gathering at Neville
Marriner's (1924-2016) flat in Kensington to play Baroque chamber music for
pleasure. He was the leader of the
second violins with the London Symphony Orchestra. From these sessions the chamber orchestra the
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields emerged.
The keyboardist was Jack Churchill, the organist or director music of St
Martin in the Fields church. Marriner
was first violinist and conducted with his bow.
The
musicians succumbed to Churchill's request that they should perform a recital
church. There were not enough of them to
feel that the term orchestra was appropriate, they disliked the term
ensemble . The viola player Michael
Bowie proposed that they should term themselves the Academy of St Martin in the
Fields, which was generally agreed to be a ridiculous name. It was run by Marriner's wife Elizabeth
Molly Sims. It was never to receive an
Arts Council subsidy.
Present
at the concert was Louise Hanson Dyer, an Australian wool heiress who had
recently set up the Paris-based record label L Oiseau Lyre. She gave them a six-record deal. Their first album was issued in 1962. She died the same year. Harley Usgill's Argo label picked the Academy
up. The Academy proved to be highly
prolific and went on to record for other labels.
The
Academy and the violinist Alan Loveday (1928-2016) sold over half a million
copies of their recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons (1969). They were presented with a gold disc. Someone dropped it and it smashed. When the pieces were examined, it was
realised that the record had not been a copy of theirs. In 1969 started working on the Academy
full-time. He extended its repertoire to
Romantic and Early Modern and enlarged from 45 members to 70.
In 1975
a chorus became associated with the Academy.
This had been set up by L szl Heltay (1930-2019).
The
Academy's style of playing played a role in prompting younger musicians to
react by playing original instruments.
The keyboardist Christopher Hogwood played with the Academy but went on
found the Academy of Ancient Music.
The
Academy performed the music for Milos Forman's (1932-2018) movie of Peter
Shaffer's play Amadeus.
In 1978
Iona Brown succeeded Marriner as the Academy's first violin and director.
Marriner
was knighted in 1985 and made a Companion of Honour in 2015. At the time of his death, he had made over
600 recording of 2000 works.
Location:
67 Cornwall
Gardens, SW7 4BA. Marriner's flat. (red, yellow)
St
Martin-in-the-Fields, 6 St Martin's Place, WC2N 4JH (red, turquoise)
Website:
www.asmf.org www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org
David
Backhouse 2024