Editing Consort of instruments

{{Short description|16/17th-century English phrase for a musical ensemble}}
[[File:The Smithsonian Consort of Viols.jpg|thumb|right|310px|The Smithsonian Consort of Viols]]
A '''consort of instruments''' was a phrase used in [[England]] during the 16th and 17th centuries to indicate an [[instrumental ensemble]]. These could consist of the same or a variety of instruments. Consort music enjoyed considerable popularity at court and in the households of the wealthy in the [[Elizabethan era]], and many pieces were written for consorts by the major composers of the period. In the [[Baroque music|Baroque]] era, consort music was absorbed into [[chamber music]].

==Definitions and forms==
The earliest documented example of the English word 'consort' in a musical sense is in George Gascoigne’s ''The Princelye Pleasures'' (1576).<ref>Warwick Edwards, "Consort", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (New York: Grove's Dictionaries, 2001).</ref> Only from the mid-17th century has there been a clear distinction made between a ''‘whole’, or ‘closed’ consort'', that is, all instruments of the same family (for example, a set of [[viol]]s played together) and a ''‘mixed’, or [[Broken consort|‘broken’ consort]]'', consisting of instruments from various families (for example viols and [[lute]]).<ref>David D. Boyden, [https://archive.today/20120717212522/http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/content/XLIII/2/220.full.pdf+html "When Is a Concerto Not a Concerto?"] (Subscription Access), ''[[The Musical Quarterly]]'' 43, no. 2 (April 1957): 220–32 (citation on pp. 228–29); S. Sadie and Alison Latham, ''The Cambridge Music Guide'' (Cambridge University Press, 1990), p. 136; P. Holman. ''Four and Twenty Fiddlers: The Violin at the English Court, 1540–1690'' (Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 275.</ref>

Major forms of music composed for consorts included [[fantasia (music)|fantasias]], [[cantus firmus]] settings (including ''[[In Nomine|In nomines]]''), [[variation (music)|variations]], dances or [[air (music)|ayres]], and fantasia suites.<ref>J. H. Baron, ''Chamber Music: A Research and Information Guide'', 2nd revised edition (London and New York: Routledge, 2002), p. 133. {{ISBN|0-415-93736-1}}</ref>

==Major composers==
Composers of consort music during the [[Elizabethan era]] include [[John Dowland]], [[Anthony Holborne]], [[Osbert Parsley]], and [[William Byrd]]. The principal [[Jacobean era]] composers included [[Thomas Lupo]], [[Orlando Gibbons]], [[John Coprario]], and [[Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger|Alfonso Ferrabosco]]. [[William Lawes]] was a principal composer during the [[Caroline era]].  Later 17th-century composers included [[John Jenkins (composer)|John Jenkins]], [[Christopher Simpson (musician)|Christopher Simpson]], [[Matthew Locke (composer)|Matthew Locke]] and [[Henry Purcell]].

==Modern consorts==
In modern times, a number of ensembles have adopted the term "consort" in their names:
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
*[[Armonico Consort]]
*[[The Baltimore Consort]]
*[[B-Five Recorder Consort]]
*[[Catacoustic Consort]]
*[[The Consort of Musicke]]
*[[Dunedin Consort]]
*[[Early Music Consort|Early Music Consort of London]]
*[[Gaia Consort]]
*[[The Harp Consort]]
*[[The King's Consort]]
*[[Leonhardt-Consort]]
*[[Locke Brass Consort]]
*[[The Newberry Consort]]
*[[Orlando Consort]]
*[[The Paul Winter Consort]]
*[[Quadriga Consort]]
*[[Clemencic Consort]]
*[[Ricercar Consort]]
*[[Rose Consort of Viols]]<ref>http://www.roseconsort.co.uk/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528155724/http://www.roseconsort.co.uk/ |date=2010-05-28 }} Rose Consort of Viols.</ref>
*[[Sherwood Consort]]
*[[Southern Consort of Voices]]
*[[Taverner Consort and Players|Taverner Consort]]
*[[The Tudor Consort]]
{{div col end}}

==See also==
*[[Chest of viols]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orPuqxoHq6o Video of consort of viols]
*Robins, Brian. "[http://www.earlymusicworld.com/id30.html The English Viol Consort in the Tudor Era]"
*[https://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=5393CEA09EF87D34 2008 Viol Extravaganza] Collection of viol consort videos (YouTube)

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[[Category:Early music consorts| ]]
[[Category:Instrumental early music groups|*]]