Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble

Felix Mendelsssohn Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 20 Fourth Movement (Presto)
The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields was formed in 1959 by a group of eleven enthusiastic musicians with the aim of performing in public without a conductor. Their first three recordings led to a succession of long-term contracts, and the Academy quickly took their place among the most recorded ensembles in history. As the repertoire expanded from Baroque to Mozart, Bartok and Beethoven, so it became necessary for the principal violin, Neville Marriner, to conduct the larger orchestra.

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble was created in 1967 to perform the larger chamber works—from quintets to octets—with players who customarily work together, instead of the usual string quartet with additional guests. Drawn from the principal players of the orchestra, the Chamber Ensemble tours as a string octet, string sextet, and in other configurations including winds. Its touring commitments are extensive, with annual visits to France, Germany, and Spain, and frequent tours to North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan.

The Ensemble's fall 2007 North American tour brings them to 10 cities, including (among others) New York, Chicago, Los Alamos, and Cedar Falls, IA.

Contracts with Philips Classics, Hyperion, and Chandos have led to the release of over thirty CDs by the Chamber Ensemble.

Category:

Music

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• Mendelsssohn
• Octet

[askal31]

renaissance trolls.

now i've seen everything. :)

[gestrumpet]

sounds like one of those arguments in Shakespeare.

[varfordogjesus]

Violin on the left corner are slightly out of tune. Disturbes me.

[violatione]

@gmtoomey Not true people played fast back in the day. Remember that this piece was written by a 16 year old genius coming in to his own and one of the worlds greatest composers. What do 16 year old geniuses do? They play fast!

[gmtoomey]

ASMF is arguably the best chamber ensemble in the world, but the video/audio does not do them justice.

I would argue they are playing faster then Mendelssohn intended, but that seems a global trend in the last 50 years.

[ThDV1]

Huh?

Mendellsohn is Romantic, not Baroque.

And these people are playing with modern instruments with modern bows and modern techniques.

[njshop89]

you guys are fags

[KarlAmade]

Who are you to tell?

Govern your tongue.

[Ungeniusman]

You are both obnoxious and idiotic, which I must admit is some feat.

[Koppella]

These guys came and played this piece for our orchestra class at school! Fantastic!!