The Project

In their new recording ‘The Art of Fantasy’ – Consort and lyra viol music of Alfonso Ferrabosco the Younger, The Hathor Consort explore the rich polyphony of the English Renaissance composer Ferrabosco the Younger (1575-1628). With Fantasias, dances, and In Nomines for four to six part consort as well as one to three lyra viols, the ensemble celebrates the many timbres and faces of the Golden Age of Jacobean Consort Music.

‘The Art of Fantasy‘ – Consort & Lyra viol Music of Ferrabosco the Younger

Ferrabosco the Younger, violist at the court of Elizabeth I, Jacob I and Charles I, was the most innovative composer for viol consort of his generation. During his 36 years of activity at the English Royal Court he held various posts and gained the trust of King Jacob I as well as his son Charles I. As viol teacher of Prince Charles I, he influenced his musical taste from early on and could mediate his passion for the viol and its consort music to the future king. During Charles’ regency, a fixed quartet of professional viol players was engaged at court to perform regularly for,and with, the royal family.

It was under the patronage of Jacob I and Charles I, both sovereigns especially fond of instrumental chamber music, that the four composers Giovanni Coprario, Thomas Lupo, Orlando Gibbons and Ferrabosco the Younger were encouraged to explore new forms of instrumental music: the Jacobean Viol Fantasy was born. This new fantasy was also favoured by the bourgeois amateur players, which led to an Age of Plenty. Ferrabosco’s four-part Fantasias stayed preserved in more then 27 manuscripts – often as an entire collection – an indication that it was widely played and regarded as basic repertoire.

The particular character of Ferrabosco’s music was determined by his love for architecture and symmetrical forms. These were integrated in all possible ways to his Fantasias: augmentations and diminutions of themes and a clear harmonic structure. His greatest achievement was developing an imitative counterpoint perfectly adapted to the viol. Ferrabosco was regarded as the leading pioneer of the new Jacobean Consort Music.

The Musicians

The Hathor Consort was founded by Romina Lischka in 2011 with the aim of interpreting renaissance and baroque consort music in various instrumental combinations based upon the viol.

The ensemble takes its name from the goddess Hathor, a mother deity of ancient Egypt. Worshipped as ‘Mistress of the West’she welcomes the dead into the afterlife and is regarded as a goddess of dance, art and music. Hathor is also known as the primordial mother or receiving element and embodies the principles of love and all concerning the heart.

The Hathor Consort presented their first programme ‘Consort Songs and Fantasias by William Byrd’with the countertenor Marnix De Cat in the Network Oude Muziek 2013.

In 2012 they worked on the Manufacture Project ‘Lachrimae - The Seven Teares of John Dowland’ with dancer Femke Gyselinck in dialogue with new music of the Belgian composer Annelies Van Parys. The world premiere of 'Lachrimae' took place in May 2015 in Concertgebouw Brugge and was followed by performances in 'The Cottier Chamber Project' in Glasgow, UK, Festival Trigonale, A, and De Link, Tilburg, NL.

With their first recording 'Lachrimae' of Dowland, The Hathor Consort received subsidy from the Flemish government. The recording was well received by the press (IRR outstanding, Klara's 10 nomination, 4 diapasons).

Since 2015 The Hathor Consort has further developed new projects such as Dhrupad Fantasia – a meeting of Elizabeth I England and the Dhrupad-tradition at the mogul court of Akbar the Great, Consort Music of William Lawes, as well as collaborations with the vocal groups Pluto-Ensemble of Marnix De Cat and Collegium Vocale Gent under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe.

The Hathor Consort performsin such Festivals and venues as Musikfestspiele Potsdam, Festival van Vlaanderen Gent + Mechelen, Warsaw Philharmonie, Jeunesse Österreich/Wiener Konzerthaus, BOZAR, Philharmonie Essen, Festival Trigonale, A , EMF York, Philharmonie Köln, Festival Utrecht, Muziekcentrum de Bijloke Gent, Wigmore Hall, Abbatial, MA-Festival Brugge, Festival Sablé, etc.

www.hathor-consort.eu

Romina Lischka was born in Vienna. She studied viola da gamba at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, and North Indian classical voice (Dhrupad) at Rotterdam Conservatory and in India. She has featured as a soloist with, among others, Collegium Vocale Gent, Gli Angeli Genève, Barokksolistene, and MCO in Europe, the USA and Japan. In 2012/13 Romina was chosen as 'ECHO Rising Star' of BOZAR and Concertgebouw Amsterdam in the category of early music. In the same year she founded the Hathor Consort, which specialises in Renaissance and Baroque consort repertoire.

http://www.rominalischka.eu

LABEL

The RAMÉE label was founded in 2004 by Rainer Arndt.
In only four years, RAMÉE has established itself as a greatly respected label on the Early Music scene. Many releases from its limited catalogue have been highly acclaimed by public and press alike, several receiving numerous awards. Each year sees the production of only six to eight recordings, featuring ‘hand-picked’, quality repertoire seldom or never-before recorded, or more well-known works in new and exceptional interpretations.

The small company maintains extremely high standards — not only in the aural aspect of the recording itself, but also in the musicological, literary, graphic and tactile quality of the jacket and liner notes.
RAMÉE creates CDs as complete ‘objets d’art', because they believe the ear's pleasure is intimately tied together with that of the eye and the hand. A collection for connoisseurs!

www.ramee.org
www.outhere-music.com/ramee

Recording timeline

The CD was recorded in Sint-Truiden (Belgium) in March 2018. It is scheduled for release with Ramée in October 2018. We hope to send the new CD, by post, to our crowdfunders in September 2018.

We would be very grateful if you have the possibility to support our project.

Many thanks in advance!

Support Hathor Consort's new CD recording 'The Art of Fantasy'