Thankyou for sharing ! I hope you can source more Deller consort videos as these are extremely rare !!!! The first soprano in this video clip is most certainly not April Cantelo- she had left by this time- the dark haired soprano is Honor Sheppard ( my mother in law )..... she was also my singing teacher at RNCM. I’ve met the late Maurice Bevan ( Bass ) he was such a lovely man.....! Mark Deller’s son Simon is the absolute spitting image of Alfred Deller & I know Mark Deller. My late father in law was Robert Elliott who in later years for the consort would be harpsichordist. He was head of keyboard studies at RNCM. We have Alfred’s pipe here at our home still after all these years ! I’ll ask Mark Deller who the tenors were ...! Honor Sheppard took over first sop. when April left. Notice the last song.....Honor is smiling a lot ! She used to have the habit of giggling in concerts especially with Robert Tear when he was in the group at the time.
How wonderful to have this - thank you so much for sharing! I am a recent Deller Consort soprano but alas joined after Alfred died so I never had the pleasure of meeting him. I will ask Mark Deller if he can identify the tenors.
Fantastic. These men and women were pioneers of pre-baroque music and did so much to help us appreciate our musical heritage. I've never seen this before - many, many thanks for posting this.
Lovely. I came to love Deller and the countertenor voice at about age 15. I bought all the 3 albums of English folk songs...when he came to my city, Washington, DC, I stood in line from early morning to be sure to get tickets for his (free) concert in the Library of Congress. At the concert, I was astounded to find his singing even more beautiful than on the records :-) 1963, I think. Here, too, the sound is surprisingly good. Thank you for posting!
I’ll list all the tenors that sang with the consort over the years that I know of - John Buttery, Paul Elliott, Neil Jenkins, Leigh Nixon, Robert Tear, Max Worthley, Phillip Todd, Wilfred Brown, Gerald English.
This is a gem of a film. The singers' evident enjoyment of the then rare genre of consort singing relies on their mutual musical understanding allowing tight ensemble, rock solid vocal technique, true intonation and the beauty and colour of their individual voices. Add in the pioneering genius of Alfred Deller and there you have it - consort singing that nears perfection.
Absolutely fabulous! Thank you for posting. I had a choir teacher in high school who led our madrigal group. He often talked about the Deller Consort. Tremendous to see them like this and hear them sing. Incredible nuance. I wonder how this compares to the singers of old? Naturally, they didn’t dress like this. But did they sing at these tempos? Did they have a director or simply move the music with each other?
Alfred Deller, the pioneer of the early music revival. Compared to modern ensembles, it comes across as stilted, but it laid the foundation for those who followed, especially the late David Munrow & Anthony Rooley,
The Tenors are Max Worthley and Philip Todd, they were current members in 1964 and if you Google Australian Worthley you will see he is the older singer born 1913 just after Alfred.
Tenho vários LP do Deller Consort. Que ótimo ver e ouvi-los cantar. Sou grande apreciador de música renascentista. Tive o prazer de cantar a parte de tenor em músicas do período clássico e romântico e Contratenor em vários grupos de música renascentista e barroca em corais em São Paulo. Hoje aposentado e morando a 200 Km da capital, estou trabalhando na formação de um grupo na minha nova cidade. Também sou professor de teoria musical e de canto.
Thanks for this. Footage of Desmond Dupre is all too rare. Self taught lutenist & viol da gamba player, an early music pioneer no one mentions. Still my favourite lutenist despite all the many who've come since. The most eloquent touch.
I must thank you for posting this marvelous concert! Deller looks so young in this video, and conducts with the smallest motions. April Cantelo was Sir Colin Davis’ first wife, and Marjorie Thomas was also well-known as an interpreter of modern music.
