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The King's Consort

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

The King's Consort is a British early-music orchestra, founded in 1980 by conductor and harpsichordist Robert King, who was born in Wombourne in 1960. The orchestra is accompanied by the Choir of The King's Consort. Together they have made more than a hundred recordings. From 1987 to 2007 ninety albums were released on the Hyperion label, followed by thirteen more on their own label Vivat, together selling more than one and a half million CDs. The ensemble gives concert seasons in England and tours internationally.

Music and breakthrough

The repertoire comes mainly from the Baroque and early Classical periods, but also includes nineteenth-century work and commissions for contemporary composers such as Michael Finnissy and Michael Berkeley. Their regular London base has been the Wigmore Hall since 1987. The orchestra has played at the BBC Proms seven times, first in 1991 with Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks. Among the recordings are Handel, Bach, Vivaldi and Mozart, as shown by albums such as The Four Seasons (1989), Joshua (1991) and the series Complete Odes and Welcome Songs.

Influence

The choir can also be heard on the soundtracks of films such as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Kingdom of Heaven, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and The Da Vinci Code. In 2006 the ensemble won a BBC Music Magazine Choral Award for the Requiem by Michael Haydn. In this way The King's Consort brought the music of the Baroque to a wide audience, through the concert hall and through the cinema.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to The Four Seasons in the performance by The King's Consort and notice the sound of the instruments and the way the orchestra makes spring, summer, autumn and winter differ. Which season do you recognise first?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists