Orchestra of the 17th Century, Washington D.C.

Orchestra of the 17th Century, Washington D.C. (Period instrument ensemble)
Michael Holmes, music director
with the Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble
and voices of Carmina, Vera Kochanowsky, dir.
This clip was salvaged from raw footage filmed during a recording session done in the summer of 2001.
Music from Sacrae Symphoniae (1615) by Giovanni Gabrieli and Psalmen Davids (1619) by Heinrich Schütz

The Orchestra of the 17th Century ("O17"), directed by its founder Michael Holmes, is dedicated to the exploration and promotion of music from the century that saw the birth of the modern notion of the "orchestra." Since there was no standardized orchestra for most of the 17th century, each performance by O17 is a unique experience in instrumental color. Its audiences hear groups that feature a variety of wind instruments such as cornetts, sackbuts, curtals, shawms, and recorders, as well as performances that feature the more familiar large string group with continuo. O17 is now in its eighth season of its existence and still striving to produce more unique and fascinating programs otherwise difficult to produce due to the specialized use of period instruments. One of the subsets of O17 is the Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble, North America's premiere ensemble of its kind. Another subset is the Ensemble Stylus Luxurians. O17 released its first CD recording of Roman and Venetian music in the Fall of 2004, in collaboration with the Choir of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C.

Contact: musicdirector@uucss.org

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Orchestra
• of
• the
• 17th
• Century
• Washington
• Michael
• Holmes
• Carmina
• Gabrieli
• Schutz
• Cornett
• and
• Sackbutt
• Ensemble

[Dogsledfan]

I would be interested in someone writing a more "modern" work for the same (or similar) instrumental ensemble used in Monteverdi's "Orfeo" - using old instruments with a more neo-classic/neo-romantic approach. In it, there would be more "tutti" than in the original where the various instrumental consorts were used to evoke a mood or a particular place setting. Unfortunately, except for the very end of the opera, there is no place where the entire ensemble plays together.

[msholmes]

There are hundreds of examples of fuller "tutti" ensembles written in obliggato fashion in so much 17th century repertoire. To begin with, consider specific concerted motets [proto cantatas] of Johann Schelle, Sebastian Knupfer, Johann Christoph Bach [late 17th Cent.], Heinrich Schutz [Psalmen Davids], and even Giovanni Gabrieli [Sacrae Symphoniae, 1615]. Also, consider the gargantuan stacking of instruments by musicians who wrote for the courts of Munich, Vienna, Salzburg, and Kromeriz.

[MaBu888]

Several of your videos I selected as favorites.

[msholmes]

Many thanks!

[Bachsoboe]

Everyone in this clip is so lucky to have such a wonderful gift, be it singing or playing.

The enthusiasm and passion just rings out.

Thanks Michael.

[msholmes]

That was a fun recording session. We had people from all over the USA, including the west coast.

[JanesterMontana]

hmm, it would be interesting to know what some of the clips are from...even tho' they are fragments...what was the final outcome?

[mrmolinodelahoz]

It has been done, but old instruments with modern sensabilities doesn´t add up to anything.

It´s like breeding donkeys.

[starvinghysterical]

I played cornett and alto sackbut in the collegium musicum at St. Olaf College in Minnesota and have really missed it since transferring to the U of Iowa. Do you know of any similar professional/semiprofessional groups based out of the midwest?

[MaBu888]

USA actually has several masterful musicians of music from very many periods. This is the one of the best one I've heard. Also, American Bach soloists has ggreat recordings om magnatune dott commm.