Pantagruel
Encyclopedia
Pantagruel is an international Early Music
ensemble
specialising in semi-staged performances of Renaissance
music. The group was formed in Essen
, Germany
at the end of 2002 by the English lutenist Mark Wheeler (Lutes, Citterns & Gittern) and the German born Dominik Schneider (Renaissance Recorders & Flutes, Gittern & Vocals). With the arrival of the Scottish Soprano Hannah Morrison in 2004 the ensemble began to perform throughout Europe. Recent Pantagruel performances have taken place at the Münster Baroque Festival, Utrecht Early Music Festival, Aachen Bach Festival and the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 2009 Morrison left due to artistic differences and was replaced by Danish Soprano Anna Maria Wierød.
Named after Pantagruel, the protagonist of François Rabelais
’s 1532 novel Gargantua and Pantagruel
, they have adopted the book's motto "do what thou wilt" to describe their fresh approach to early music. They combine serious musicological research with their experience not only in classical music, but also in rock music, jazz, theatre and dance, and their performances further expand classical concert conventions by using renaissance practices of medley, improvisation and gesture.
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
specialising in semi-staged performances of Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
music. The group was formed in Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
at the end of 2002 by the English lutenist Mark Wheeler (Lutes, Citterns & Gittern) and the German born Dominik Schneider (Renaissance Recorders & Flutes, Gittern & Vocals). With the arrival of the Scottish Soprano Hannah Morrison in 2004 the ensemble began to perform throughout Europe. Recent Pantagruel performances have taken place at the Münster Baroque Festival, Utrecht Early Music Festival, Aachen Bach Festival and the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 2009 Morrison left due to artistic differences and was replaced by Danish Soprano Anna Maria Wierød.
Named after Pantagruel, the protagonist of François Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
’s 1532 novel Gargantua and Pantagruel
Gargantua and Pantagruel
The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel is a connected series of five novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It is the story of two giants, a father and his son and their adventures, written in an amusing, extravagant, satirical vein...
, they have adopted the book's motto "do what thou wilt" to describe their fresh approach to early music. They combine serious musicological research with their experience not only in classical music, but also in rock music, jazz, theatre and dance, and their performances further expand classical concert conventions by using renaissance practices of medley, improvisation and gesture.
Discography
- 2006: Elizium - Elizabethan Ballads, Ayres & Dances
- 2008: Laydie Louthians Lilte - Ballads, Ayres & Dances from 17th Century Scotland
- 2011: Nymphidia - The Court of Faerie