Musica Antiqua Köln

<a href="spotify:artist:6aZcT9sJMlL0yUOrEWa74E">Reinhard Goebel</a> founded Musica Antiqua Köln in 1973. The ensemble devoted itself to playing Baroque music on period instruments, with a particular penchant for playing neglected or overlooked repertoire. Many of their best albums have sold well without featuring music by well-known composers. These releases also appear to have boosted the (posthumous) careers of composers such as <a href="spotify:artist:1H7hJeNhN1zhHeWWZ489oB">Heinichen</a>, with their concerti album from 1993, and the <a href="spotify:artist:7f7Fq3LZJbshWixqxVsofz">Veracini</a> Overture album from 1994. <a href="spotify:artist:6aZcT9sJMlL0yUOrEWa74E">Goebel</a> has not only shown courage in programming unconventional repertoire, but has also been known to take risks in his approach to relatively well-known works. For instance, his ensemble plays the last movement of <a href="spotify:artist:5aIqB5nVVvmFsvSdExz408">Bach</a>'s third Brandenburg concerto at a then unrivaled, breakneck tempo. Furthermore, <a href="spotify:artist:6aZcT9sJMlL0yUOrEWa74E">Goebel</a> had sound musicological evidence that the piece should be played that way.

The original core ensemble included <a href="spotify:artist:6aZcT9sJMlL0yUOrEWa74E">Goebel</a> and Hajo Bass on violin, with Eva Bartos on viola da gamba. However, the constituency of the ensemble has changed over the years, with only <a href="spotify:artist:6aZcT9sJMlL0yUOrEWa74E">Goebel</a> remaining constant. Bartos only appears on Musica Antiqua Köln recordings until 1977, and was replaced by Jonathan Cable and <a href="spotify:artist:7hFhfDbLLuKBsShFx4fkYE">Charles Medlam</a>. By 1980, <a href="spotify:artist:2uAi952uAIXOOtChYMr7bA">Jaap ter Linden</a> appears most frequently as either cellist or gambist, and by the mid-1980s, he is replaced again by <a href="spotify:artist:7LIM7F0QKfZCZrOyo4anHV">Phoebe Carrai</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:6aZcT9sJMlL0yUOrEWa74E">Goebel</a>'s partners on violin have included Hajo Bass, Manfredo Kremer, and Florian Deuter among others. Many players who have left the ensemble have enjoyed spectacular careers afterward, including harpsichordists <a href="spotify:artist:3IOUX2zimWLnlS0kRyJQJq">Andreas Staier</a> and Robert Hill, violinists Hajo Bass and Manfredo Kraemer, as well as <a href="spotify:artist:7hFhfDbLLuKBsShFx4fkYE">Charles Medlam</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2uAi952uAIXOOtChYMr7bA">ter Linden</a> playing bowed bass instruments, and <a href="spotify:artist:239dsZ0YHrIZDC7uBoL85l">Wilbert Hazelzet</a> playing flute.

In 1990, <a href="spotify:artist:6aZcT9sJMlL0yUOrEWa74E">Goebel</a> developed tendinitis and was forced to abandon his solo playing career. The last album on which he played as a soloist was his 1990 recording of the Rosenkranz sonatas by <a href="spotify:artist:2kMM5v3f7rti00gIbVc1Tk">Heinrich Biber</a>. After 1990, he continued to direct the ensemble, and eventually returned in a limited capacity by playing his violin left handed. The ensemble continued to tour and record very actively, but their best work came from the period before <a href="spotify:artist:6aZcT9sJMlL0yUOrEWa74E">Goebel</a> injured himself. It disbanded in 2007.