A broken consort (also called Morley consort or English consort) is an instrumental ensemble that developed in Europe during the Renaissance. It originally referred to ensembles featuring instruments from more than one family of instruments, as for example a group featuring both string and wind instruments. (A consort consisting entirely of instruments of the same family, on the other hand, was referred to as a "whole consort.") Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... A consort of instruments was a phrase used in England during the 17th century to indicate an instrumental ensemble. ...

As constituted during the time of Queen Elizabeth I, it typically featured three plucked string instruments (lute, cittern, and bandore), two bowed instruments (treble and bass viols), and a recorder or transverse flute. Such a consort became quite popular during the Elizabethan era and often accompanied vocal songs. Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England, Queen of France (in name only), and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... The lute is a plucked string instrument with a fretted neck and a deep round back. ... A woodcut of a Cittern The cittern is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance, having evolved considerably since that time. ... The cittern is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance, having evolved considerably since that time. ... Various sizes of viol, from Michael Praetorius Syntagma musicum (1618) The viol (also called viola da gamba) is any one of a family of bowed, fretted stringed musical instruments developed in the 1400s and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. ... Various recorders The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle and ocarina. ... Elizabeth ushers in Peace and Plenty. ...

There are several surviving compositions specifically for the consort, called a Morley consort because of the publication: First Book of Consort Lessons by Thomas Morley (1599). There are other consort compositions by Philip Rosseter and some vocal music accompanied by the specific consort such as Sir William Leighton's The Teares and Lamentatacions of a Sorrowfull Soule (1614) and the Psalms of David in Metre (1599) by Richard Allison. Thomas Morley (1557 or 1558 – October 1602) was an English composer, theorist, editor and organist of the Renaissance, and the foremost member of the English Madrigal School. ... Philip Rosseter (1567/8–May 5, 1623) was an English composer and musician, as well as a theatrical manager. ... Richard Allison (fl. ...

Sidney Beck made the first modern editions of this music and had a professional consort in New York state. Julian Bream was a pioneer in reviving the consort. James Tyler (professor of music) did much to popularise the playing of these consorts by getting music students at the University of Southern California to play all six instruments. The Baltimore Consort, an American ensemble, specializes in the performance of music for broken consort. Julian Bream (born July 15, 1933) is a British guitarist and lutenist. ... The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, SC, Southern California, and incorrectly as Southern Cal[1]), located in the University Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, USA, was founded in 1880, making it Californias oldest private research university. ... The Baltimore Consort is a musical ensemble that performs a wide variety of Renaissance music. ...

External links

• Broken consort page

See also

• Consort of instruments
• Music in Elizabethan Era

A consort of instruments was a phrase used in England during the 17th century to indicate an instrumental ensemble. ... Music in the Elizabethan Era, or Elizabethan Music, refers to music during the sixteenth century. ...

Bibliography

• The First Book of Consort Lessons, Collected by Thomas Morley 1599 & 1611, Reconstructed and Edited by Sidney Beck (CF Peters Corporation, New York, 1959).
• Philip Rosseter, Lessons for Consort (1609).