Gothic Voices

Like so many of the best things in life, the birth of Gothic Voices came about almost by accident. Back in 1980 Christopher Page was asked by the BBC to put together a programme of plainchant by the 12th century Abbess Hildegard of Bingen. Record producer Ted Perry tuned in to that broadcast and it so impressed him that he set up what was to become one of the best-selling recordings of pre-classical music ever made: A Feather on the Breath of God — Hymns and Sequences by Abbess Hildegard of Bingen. Since that time, Gothic Voices has recorded a further twenty CDs on the Hyperion label, three of which have won the coveted Gramophone Magazine Award. Gothic Voices' concert appearances over the past 25 years have included many of the top national and international venues, including the Wigmore Hall, the BBC Promenade Concerts, international music festivals such as Cheltenham and Edinburgh, the Megaron in Athens, the Berlin Dom, even one concert in a shopping centre in Ecuador! Frequent tours of North America have included concerts in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Toronto and Vancouver, and the group has a substantial following in Europe, particularly in Spain, Germany, Belgium and Holland. Anyone following the fortunes of the group will know that there have been changes in personnel from time to time. Whilst the performing line-up has remained constant since 1995, Chris Page has retired from playing an active role in Gothic Voices to concentrate on writing his magnum opus “The Rise of Western Europe and its Music.” With Chris’s blessing and support, programme planning and concert direction has now been transferred to the singers. Since early 2006 Gothic Voices has been represented in Britain by Ben Rayfield of Rayfield Artists. Gothic Voices' 25th anniversary season is in many ways its most exciting yet. Having given in 2005 the first performance and made the first recordings of Andrew Keeling’s “Powered by Joy” (a 13 minute work with medieval texts specially commissioned by Gothic Voices) early in 2006 the group recorded the complete works of the 14th century French composer Solage, together with a number of contrasting songs by his earlier contemporary Machaut. Solage's music is some of the most challenging repertoire that Gothic Voices has ever encountered, yet so familiar with his Ars subtilior style have the singers become that they are able to make even the most virtuosic works sound effortless and second nature to them. The new CD – The Unknown Lover – is due for release in September 2006 and will appear on the innovative and well-respected Avie label. At the same time a brand-new concert programme featuring the repertoire of the new CD will be available to promoters. There is still so much more of this wonderful repertory to explore, and Gothic Voices’ mission is to bring it to a much wider public by communicating with and involving audiences at their concerts. The ensemble’s performances shed new light on medieval music, which might at first glance seem unfamiliar and austere, and yet is revealed by them as gloriously rich and strange.