Andrew Parrott celebrates the 50th anniversary of his Taverner Consort with two premiere recordings involving three major composers spanning the Renaissance and Baroque eras, backed by his inimitable and extensive research. J. S. Bach’s magisterial
single-movement motet O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht (‘O Jesus Christ, light of my life’) is transformed with the inclusion of possibly the earliest known version of the clarinet. Franco-Flemish composer Giaches de Wert’s Egressus Jesus (‘Then Jesus went thence’) for seven voices receives sumptuous treatment in Michael Praetorius’ arrangement with the addition of multiple string, plucked and wind instruments. Andrew and the Taverner’s collaborators comprise a roll call of early music luminaries, including
the fêted viol consort, Fretwork.
 

The Taverner Consort: 50 Years On
Andrew Parrott

Fifty years on, and following some seismic shifts in the musical landscape, I find that my original ‘Taverner Choir’ (instigated by composer Michael Tippett in 1973) has slowly evolved into a very different animal – a chameleon-like body capable of exploring music not only in performance
(recorded or otherwise) but also as vivid history, through symposia (lively ones!) and even, most recently, in published form (witness The Pursuit of Musick with its rich gallery of images).
 

Music-making itself, naturally enough, remains at the heart of the enterprise. Certain past events stand out: the Salzburg Festival (its very first invitation to a period-instrument group), various BBC Proms (not least, the extravagant 1589 Florentine Intermedi), the process of recording EMI’s first ‘historically informed’ Mass in B minor, repeated experiences of Bavaria’s enchanted Herrenchiemsee Festspiele (L’Orfeo etc), taking the St John Passion to Moscow and St Petersburg (in 2018), and so on. The focus on ‘early’ music – a generous slice of musical history made up of multifarious traditions – has not only demanded all manner of vocal and/or instrumental configurations but has repeatedly led me to question major assumptions of performance practice. As a result, several of Taverner’s 60 or so recordings have dared to pioneer fresh thinking. In the same spirit two brief but intriguing works have been specially recorded for this 50th anniversary.
 

I am, of course, proud of everything that all this may have achieved, and truly grateful to the numerous accomplished musicians who have aided and abetted me along the way. Whatever further contribution may yet prove possible will happily continue on this somewhat unorthodox path.