AOM 25 years - Virtual Album (15/05/2018)

The Art of Music was set up in Luxembourg in 1993 by Eric Hartley, who also directed it for the first three years; since his departure, it has been directed by Mick Swithinbank. It was originally a sextet, and is only very little larger now. Its purpose during Eric’s directorship was to sing works from a

AOM 25 years - Virtual Album (15/05/2018)

The Art of Music was set up in Luxembourg in 1993 by Eric Hartley, who also directed it for the first three years; since his departure, it has been directed by Mick Swithinbank. It was originally a sextet, and is only very little larger now. Its purpose during Eric’s directorship was to sing works from a quite specific repertoire: 16th century church music from England and Scotland. Thereafter the ensemble expanded its repertoire to include medieval and especially Renaissance music from all over Europe. It takes particular delight in delving into the inexhaustible seams of little-known early music, looking for gems that it can share with audiences. Its performances are largely confined to the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. Thanks to the recordings of the ensemble made by Josy Peschon, the Art of Music won first prize in the classical section of the first ever ‘Prix musique en ligne’ competition organised by the French performers’ rights organisation Adami in 2001. The winning entry was a recording of Josquin’s ‘Tu solus qui facis mirabilia’. The following year, the Art of Music’s recording of ‘Si quis diliget me’ by David Peebles won the second prize. The files posted here are a selection from some 20 years of concert recordings, beginning in 1998. In choosing them, the aim has been not to play it too safe but to focus especially either on works that are interesting because of their combination of quality of composition and rarity value, or else, in the case of the few better known works, those that seem the most exciting to listen to. The occasional blemish in a performance has been accepted if it was felt to be offset by other factors. Most of these works were performed and recorded only once, so then it is a question of ‘take it or leave it’.