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Hespèrion XXI
United by a common aim – study, popularization
and performance of early music – and fascinated
by the enormous resources of European, and
especially Spanish music, Jordi Savall (bowed string
instruments), Montserrat Figueras (voice), Lorenzo
Alpert (wind and percussion instruments) and
Hopkinson Smith (plucked string instruments)
founded an ensemble known as Hespèrion XX in
1974. Active for over 30 years, the group has remained
faithful to that original idea; it performs mainly
works written before 1800 which have not previously
been performed. Together with the arrival of the
new millennium, all that has changed is the name
(Hespèrion XXI). The artists’ eclectic attitude finds
expression in its diverse repertoire – from medieval
Spanish music to works from the Renaissance (such
composers as Dowland, Tye and Coprario) and the
English Baroque, and even traditional Armenian,
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Sephardic, Aramaic and Jewish music (albums
realized with the participation of invited musicians:
Jerusalem in 2008 and Istanbul in 2009). The
ensemble’s concert activity is not limited to Europe;
Hespèrion XXI takes part in early music festivals
all over the world, presenting such cross-sectional
and thematic programs as Música en los tiempos
de Cervantes, Música napolitana del Renacimiento,
El Barroco Español and Lachrimae Caravaggio
(presented as part of the Misteria Paschalia festival in
2008), or programs devoted to the œuvre of selected
composers (G. Gabrieli, G. Frescobaldi, S. Scheidt,
W. Lawes, J. Cabanilles, F. Couperin, J. S. Bach).
Their recordings of J. S. Bach’s Die Kunst der Fuge
and J. Dowland’s Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares are
noteworthy. For their phonographic achievements,
the ensemble has frequently won awards, among
others the Grand Prix de l’Académie du Disque
Francis Carco, the Grand Prix du Disque Charles
Cros and the Diapason d’Or.