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Hespèrion XXI

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Hespèrion XXI is an international early-music ensemble. The group was founded in Basel in 1974 as Hespèrion XX by the Catalan leader Jordi Savall, who plays string instruments, especially the viola da gamba, his wife, the soprano Montserrat Figueras, Lorenzo Alpert, flute and percussion, and Hopkinson Smith, plucked instruments. At the beginning of the twenty-first century the name changed to Hespèrion XXI. The name comes from a Greek word for the peoples of the Italian and Iberian peninsulas.

Music and breakthrough

The ensemble is known for its research into early music, especially the Spanish music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The first recordings from 1976 present music from Christian and Jewish Spain, with villancicos and Sephardic romances. Cansós de Trobairitz from 1978, with songs by Catalan troubadours, and Libre vermell de Montserrat from 1979, a fourteenth-century pilgrims' songbook, followed. The group also played English consort music by Jenkins, Locke and Purcell, among others.

Influence

The performances stand out for their generous improvisation around the melodic and rhythmic basis of the old pieces, which gives a great emotional immediacy. The group has won the Edison Prize, the Grand Prix du Disque of the Académie Charles Cros and the Diapason d'Or, among other awards. Hespèrion shows that early music can be vivid for a contemporary listener.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Libre vermell de Montserrat. Notice the simple melodies and the rhythm of the percussionists, and how the musicians improvise freely around them.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists