Hortus Musicus specialises in performing early music, including 8th–15th-century European forms such as Gregorian Chant, Organum, Medieval Liturgic Hymns and Motets, the Franco-Flemish School, Renaissance Music (including French chansons, villanelles and Italian madrigals) and Baroque. The group also presents non-European styles including Indian Ragas, Arabian mughams and Jewish music. The group’s repertoire has also included pieces by 20th−21st century composers (Pärt, Silvestrov, Kancheli, Tüür, Sumera, Vähi, Grigorjeva, Knaifel) often composed specially for Hortus Musicus.
In 1972 the first performance of the early music consort Hortus Musicus (‘Music Garden’) initiated a new tradition in the Estonian music life. The founder, leader, and most radiant figure of Hortus Musicus is Andres Mustonen. The consort has been the first in the Estonian interpretation lore, one of the first of the Soviet Union and the Nordic countries to bring so methodically and such interesting programs the rich and largely undiscovered inheritance of early music closer to the listener. The real province of Hortus Musicus is non-ethnical European music from its start to late Renaissance and the masters of Baroque. This also explains the choice of instruments and the cast of the consort. The musicians are not only interested in the beauty of the lyrics and music but rather try to interpret the era as such and convey their attitude to what is being performed. Each Hortus Musicus’ evening is like a musical performance with original instruments and authentic attire. The staging is polished and “through-composed” – everything is essential, from strokes to the chair on which the musician is sitting on the stage. In short, you are attending ”…attractive and technically sure performances…” (The New York Times). The intense and wide scale concert life has secured concert halls forHortus Musicus nights in different parts of the world. From the start, Hortus Musicus has participated in number of international festivals and music festivities (Holland Festival, Die Berliner Festwochen, Glasperlenspiel, Music of Old Cracow, Tel Aviv Festival, Copenhagen Summer, Helsinki Festival, Bratislava Autumn, Malmö Baroque, Prague Spring, Dubrovnik and Plovdiv Festivals, Boston Festival). Since 1976, Hortus Musicus has worked under the auspices of Eesti Kontsert, the National Concert Institute of Estonia.
Download: photo of Hortus Musicus (in the Gate Tower, Tallinn, Estonia, colour, jpg, RGB, 1.2 MB)
Ensemble Hortus Musicus:
Andres Mustonen – violin, discant viola da gamba, recorders, artistic director
Anto Õnnis – tenor, percussion
Tõnis Kaumann – baritone, percussion
Riho Ridbeck – basso, percussion
Olev Ainomäe – bombardone, shawm, recorders, krummhorn, oboe
Tõnis Kuurme – dulcian, recorders, krummhorn
Valter Jürgenson – trombones
Imre Eenma – tenor viola da gamba, violone
Taavo Remmel − violone, double bass
Ivo Sillamaa – positive organ, harpsichord, piano
Discography
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EARLY MUSIC OF 3rd MILLENNIUM Knaifel, Tüür, Vähi, Pärt, Silvestrov, Kancheli Hortus Musicus 2011 ERP 4611; press resonance  Comforter, fragm, 2 min 22 sec, mp3 In Memoriam HM, fragm, 2 min 37 sec, mp3 |
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AVE… Anonymous authors, Guillaume de Machaut, etc Hortus Musicus 2005 ERP 805; press resonance |
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VEEMUUSIKA / WATER MUSIC Georg Friedrich Händel Hortus Musicus Academic Orchestra 1997 Tallinna Vesi, Hortus Musicus #10, Händel, Water Music, Prelude, 2 min 3 sec, mp3 |
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GREGORIANISCHE CHORÄLE. PLAINCHANTS Anonymous authors Hortus Musicus Erdenklang |
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1200−1600 MEDIEVAL-RENAISSANCE Hortus Musicus Erdenklang |
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MAYPOLE Orlado di Lasso, Pierre Attaingnant, Moritz Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel, etc Hortus Musicus Erdenklang 70982 |
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VUESTROS AMORES, HE SEÑORA Juan del Ensina Hortus Musicus Erdenklang 50792 |
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TELEMANN QUARTETS Georg Philipp Telemann Hortus Musicus 2003 APEX / Warner Classics 2564 60636-2 #16, Telemann, Quartets, fragm, 2 min 36 sec, mp3 |
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PEETER VÄHI. TO HIS HIGHNESS SALVADOR D Hortus Musicus Academic Orchestra 1997 Antes Edition Classics BM CD 31.9086 Peeter Vähi. Concerto piccolo, fragm, 2 min 26 sec, mp3 |
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CD: 2000 YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF CHRIST Performed by: Kaia Urb, Hortus Musicus, The Bad Orchestra 1995 Forte FD 0016/2 |
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CD: 2000 YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF CHRIST Performed by: Kaia Urb, Hortus Musicus, The Bad Orchestra 1995 Antes Edition Classics BM-CD 31.9059 2000 Years After The Birth…, Himmelan geht unsre Bahn, fragm, 2 min 4 sec, mp3Press resonance |
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CD: HELESA Work: In Memoriam HM Performed by: Hortus Musicus 2008 Helesa, fragm, 2 min 34 sec, mp3 In Memoriam HM, fragm, 2 min 45 sec, mp3 |
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Double-CD: TAMULA FIRE COLLAGE Work: 2000 Years After The Birth Of Christ Performed Hortus Musicus, Kaia Urb and The Bad Orchestra 1999 Salumuusik CD-1054 More info; Press resonance |
