What the critics said:

In the music business, some of the most respected critics, and indeed those who's respect can be hardest to earn, are our fellow musicians.

Click HERE to watch a short commentary by David Hurley of The King's Singers made during a collaboration with HMSC in 2007.

CANZONE PER SONARE - Early Music, 2011

The qualities of His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts have been established for many years, particularly in relation to sound-quality and agility in the improvised ornamentations. The ensemble generates a real sensation of splendour through the dialogues between wind and string groups. 

MUSIC IN THE UNIVERSITY

THE ITALIAN ORGAN PROJECT

HIS MAJESTYS SAGBUTTS AND CORNETTS

BUCCANEERS: MUSIC FROM  ENGLAND AND SPAIN

KING’S COLLEGE CHAPEL

Sunday, 21 February 2010 

His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts is one of the finest ensembles playing early music today. Their virtuosity shone through everything they played. They were joined by their friend Roger B.  Williams on both the Italian Chamber Organ and the Aubertin.

Television chefs are always ranting on about how certain foods are “special friends. What they mean is that that they go particularly well together. Well, the organ is the “special friend”  of the brass ensemble and even more so when early instruments are involved. Sometimes, in fact, the blend was so perfect that you had to listen very hard to disentangle the sounds of the chamber organ from the rest of the ensemble, in the Pavan by Peter Philips  or the Ave Virgo Sanctissima by Francisco Guerrero for instance. In the Galliard ‘Dolorosa’ by Philips however the voice of the organ was more clearly heard and its contribution in a higher register to In nomine a 5 by Orlando Gibbons was a special delight.

All the pieces played by the ensemble members were highlights but there is not room to mention them all so I will pick just a few items which really delighted me. There was the chattering counterpoint  between cornett and sackbut in Palestrina’s Vestiva I colli. The cornett as we heard in many of the pieces is well suited to pouring out dazzling free flowing cascades of notes but I was impressed when this was matched on the sackbut by Adam Woolf, not an  easy thing to accomplish.

The duo of cornetts in music by Correa de Arauxo followed by the two sackbuts in music by Selma y Salaverde both gaining antiphonal effects played from the gallery sounded amazing. The Batalla  del sexto tono by Ximénez had the instruments calling to one another in echoing imitation across the battlefield contrasting with the gentle sounds of Pereat Dies by Diego Ortiz.

The concert ended with Adam Woolf’s special arrangement which brought together all the performers in weaving together Greensleeves with a Ricercar by Diego Ortiz as well as some lively dance  tunes: a fabulous culmination to the performance component of the Italian Organ Project.    

Alan Cooper. J.

This is a fine, and fun, addition to the early brass recording canon. The playing is expert and musical, varying from tear-inducing to energetic, and Faye Newton has a nice, clear, early-music type of voice which both blends with the brass, yet rises above them when needed. Of the group’s nearly 20 albums, this has quickly become one of my favorites.

--Paul Schmidt, Historic Brass Society - review of Music for the Twelve Days of Christmas...

'the playing is nothing short of exquisite. A breath of fresh air' from a review of our Grillo CD

'This consort is the pre-eminent group of its kind: they are brilliant advocates for the extraordinary variety of styles, moods and genres to be found in instrumental music of the 16th and 17th century...There is a technical assurance and sensitivity of the kind one might expect from a fine string quartet' (Classic FM)

***

'These players demonstrate perfectly how a balance of scholarship and expert period performance can restore familiar music to such radiant good health that we wondered how it ever survived before. Unanimity of articulation, gently tapered phrase endings and the soft fluency of two cornetts combine to give rare pleasure' (BBC)

***

'This group is now the longest established and most respectable ensemble of its kind in the world. With such an interestingly varied program - rich in sound, impressive in technique and often subtle in expression - it is easy to be enthusiastic' (Historic Brass Society)

***

'From the glistening virtuosity of its opening through a bewildering patchwork of lyrical solos, dazzling passagework, and imitative antiphonal exchanges...the effect is electrifying' (Fanfare)

***

'One only has to experience the variety of timbre, articulation and expressive nuance to realise that HMSC are, first and foremost, fine and imaginative chamber musicians' (Gramophone)

***

'The sound is crystal clear...the playing is immaculate: beautifully crisp and clean'... 'witty but unfussy playing' ...'consistently approachable'... 'These masterful performances are alive with authentic detail... a rare and unforgettable sound'... 'The balance between all the instruments is managed with almost flamboyant ease'... 'They are experts in control and subtle simplicity as well as virtuoso decoration'...'The beauteous playing sweeps one away into a feeling of nobility and calm such as only really first rate brass music can achieve'