Alarius Ensemble
The Alarius Ensemble Brussels was a Belgian chamber music formation that existed from 1954 to 1972 and was an offshoot of the " Ensemble Musique Nouvelle ".
From the 1960s onwards, the formation devoted itself to contemporary music, to early music on historical instruments. In 1961 the “Madrigal II” commissioned by Henri Pousseur for flute, baroque violin, violin, gamba and harpsichord was premiered by the Alarius Ensemble, as was the work “Tombeau de Marin Marais” composed by Pierre Bartholomée , for violin, two viols and clarinet .
Nevertheless, within a short period of time, the ensemble became influential in the pioneering period of historical performance practice , which was then still known as the “movement” , not least through the encouragement of the music historian Charles Van den Borren . It was named after the Ghent-born chamber musician of the French King Hilaire Verloge , known in Versailles as "Monsieur Alarius".
The initiators of the “Alarius” ensemble were the flautist Charles Mc Guire, who died in an accident in 1964, Janine Rubinlicht (1932–1989), who had previously worked under Safford Cape (violin) and Robert Kohnen (piano, harpsichord and organ). After completing his studies, Wieland Kuijken (viola da gamba and cello) joined. From around 1964 Sigiswald Kuijken and a few years later Barthold Kuijken (flute) joined them. The line-up varied as required, so Gustav Leonhardt and Marie Leonhardt , Anner Bylsma and Lucy van Dael or the countertenor René Jacobs were always in demand as guest musicians . Concert tours have taken the ensemble to most of Europe, the United States of America and Japan.
During this time, the ensemble made many first recordings of works by old masters that were completely unknown to the general public, such as the Flemish composer Carolus Hacquart ; but also earlier German and Italian baroque masters such as Johann Rosenmüller , Dario Castello , Carlo Farina and Giovanni Paolo Cima were represented in the repertoire alongside the better-known composers. The ensemble's first recording, with works by Turini, Barthali (Bertali) and Vitali, took place in 1964; she received the Grand Prix du Disque in 1965 .
The ensemble joined the La Petite Bande in 1972 after the founding of a larger baroque ensemble, encouraged by Gustav Leonhardt and the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi label .
Web links
Alarius Ensemble at Discogs (English)