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"Tonus
Peregrinus give us a fantastic, pure sound" (reviews)
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TONUS
PEREGRINUS is one
of the most exciting young ensembles in Britain, with
major successes in both early music and new music,
including the prestigious Cannes Classical Award
for the ensemble's debut release of Arvo Pärt's
Passio on Naxos.
Recent critical acclaim in
the BBC Music Magazine, The Telegraph, and The Gramophone
speaks for itself: "utterly spellbinding",
"utterly beguiling", "captivating
excitement", as does The Gramophone's selection
first of Passio as an Editor's Choice,
followed by the ensemble's new Hyperion release
of Antony Pitts's Seven
Letters - "gloriously sung by this
superb choir". In a new series of recordings
for Naxos, TONUS PEREGRINUS has focused on the most
important milestones of early Western music including
the first complete polyphonic mass (The
Mass of Tournai), the earliest four-part music
(Sacred Music from Notre-Dame
Cathedral), and the first-ever opera (Le
Jeu de Robin et Marion). TONUS PEREGRINUS has
also made a significant impact on the popular Christmas
market with high sales of The
Naxos Book of Carols - carol arrangements
uniquely commissioned by Naxos and published both
as a CD and as a book
in partnership with Faber
Music.
(read
more...)
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The
above image (high resolution uncropped) is available here
for download and reproduction for media/publicity purposes (obligatory
photocredit for John Crook)
TONUS
PEREGRINUS was founded while director Antony
Pitts was studying under Dr Edward Higginbottom
at New College, Oxford, and early years saw
repeated tours abroad in the Low Countries, as well
as twice featuring on the cult CD journal Unknown
Public. At the heart of TONUS PEREGRINUS are eight
singers whose individual expertise and musicianship
are reflected in their diverse careers ranging from
Musical Director of the Swingle Singers to
executive record producer; when they come together
as TONUS PEREGRINUS, the result is very "special"
- as BBC Radio 3's Andrew McGregor declared
on CD Review. Recent live
performances include a choreographed sequence
of readings and lovesongs by 14th-century poet and
composer Guillaume de Machaut at the York Early
Music Festival, and a television programme on
international satellite network INI focusing
on the sacred choral music
of Antony Pitts.
The
name TONUS PEREGRINUS is taken from an ancient
plainchant psalm tone dating back to Jewish liturgical
sources. This chant has a different starting-note
in each half, so was called the "wandering tone",
and it also gained the nickname of tonus novissimus,
the "newest tone". TONUS PEREGRINUS combines
these two characteristics in a repertoire that ranges
far and wide from the end of the Dark Ages to scores
fresh from the printer, and with an interpretative
approach that is both authentic and highly
original.
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