Chelys Consort of Viols
The Chelys Consort of Viols represents a new generation of viol consort music-making, with such novel aspects as crowdsourced album funding and the commissioning of contemporary music for viols. It uses pure gut strings, historically accurate and producing a sound distinct from those of other active ensembles.
The Chelys Consort of Viols was formed in the early 2010s in Britain. Its members are mostly graduates of British university programs. They include Ibi Aziz, who won a gold medal in gamba at Trinity College of Music, London, and leads viol consorts and Baroque groups at Morley College; Oxford graduate Alison Kinder, who later studied viols at the Royal College of Music; Royal College of Music cello major Jenny Bullock; Royal Academy of Music gambist and Baroque cellist Kate Conway (also founder of Ceruleo and Ensemble Molière); and gambist, cellist, musicologist, and educator Sam Stadlen. The name Chelys was ancient Greek for a bowed lyre, in mythology invented by the god Hermes. Its adaptation to viol music was the work of 17th century composer and treatise writer Christopher Simpson, whose Airs for two trebles and two basses were recorded by the Chelys Consort on its 2015 debut, Ayres & Graces, on the BIS label. It followed that up with A Pleasing Melancholy, a collaboration with veteran singer Emma Kirkby, and it appeared with the Ebor Singers on the 2017 seasonal release A Cavalier Christmas, featuring holiday compositions by English Renaissance composers. The pieces related to the Lachrimae melody on A Pleasing Melancholy have earned strong critical plaudits from both early music outlets and the mainstream classical press.
In concert, the group has collaborated not only with Kirkby but with other groups, including the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, and the St. Mary's Vocal Ensemble. It has commissioned new music from composer Jill Jarman and has performed contemporary choral music by Michael East with the Fieri Consort. The Chelys Consort of Viols returned on BIS in 2021, joining the Fieri Consort on the album Amavi, featuring music for viols and voices by East. Later that year, the group released the album Purcell: Fantazias.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
6 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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A Cavalier Christmas
The Ebor Singers, Chelys Consort of Viols, Paul Gameson
Classical - Released by Resonus Classics on 27 Oct 2017
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Pleasing Melancholy: Works by Dowland & Others
Chelys Consort of Viols, Emma Kirkby, James Akers
Chamber Music - Released by BIS on 1 Sep 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Honour of William Byrd
Chelys Consort of Viols, Helen Charlston
Chamber Music - Released by BIS on 23 Jun 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell: Fantazias
Classical - Released by BIS on 3 Dec 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Amavi: Music for Viols & Voices by Michael East
Fieri Consort, Chelys Consort of Viols
Chamber Music - Released by BIS on 8 Jan 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Simpson: Ayres & Graces
Chelys Consort of Viols, Dan Tidhar, James Akers
Chamber Music - Released by BIS on 1 May 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo