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Stile Antico

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

Stile Antico is a British vocal ensemble that specialises in polyphonic early music from before the eighteenth century. Like groups such as The Tallis Scholars and The Sixteen, it grew out of the choral tradition of the Oxford and Cambridge colleges. Unusually, the ensemble has no conductor: the twelve singers rehearse and perform as chamber musicians, an approach praised by critics. The group was founded in 2001 and in 2005 won the audience prize at the Early Music Network Young Artists' Competition.

Music and breakthrough

The debut album Music for Compline from 2007 became a great success after it was featured on NPR, and reached number two on the Billboard Classical chart. It received the Diapason d'or of the year and a Grammy nomination. Song of Songs from 2009 won the Gramophone Award for early music and spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Classical chart. The Golden Renaissance: Josquin des Prez won the first Gramophone Award for Spatial Audio in 2021. The group has recorded fifteen albums for Harmonia Mundi, and in 2020 it announced a collaboration with Decca Classics. In 2018 it performed at the Grammy Awards ceremony.

Influence

Stile Antico has collaborated widely with others, including Fretwork, B'Rock and Sting, with whom it toured Europe, Australia and the Far East with Songs from the Labyrinth, based on the music of John Dowland, and guested on his album If on a Winter's Night.... In this way the ensemble brought Renaissance polyphony to a wide audience.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a motet by Josquin des Prez on The Golden Renaissance: Josquin des Prez. Notice how the voices take up the same melody in turn, without a conductor.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists