The Schubert Ensemble

The Schubert Ensemble of London was a popular quintet with an unusual makeup: a standard piano quartet with the addition of a double bass player, the same instrumental forces needed to perform <a href="spotify:artist:2p0UyoPfYfI76PCStuXfOP">Schubert</a>'s Trout Quintet. The group's choice of repertory staples generally favored works by Romantic composers, with <a href="spotify:artist:2p0UyoPfYfI76PCStuXfOP">Schubert</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6MF58APd3YV72Ln2eVg710">Mendelssohn</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2UqjDAXnDxejEyE0CzfUrZ">Schumann</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5wTAi7QkpP6kp8a54lmTOq">Brahms</a> foremost on the list. The Schubert Ensemble also included a variety of later fare on its programs, with compositions by <a href="spotify:artist:1C3sffOOvQNUwg4YIsvKqy">Franck</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2gClsBep1tt1rv1CN210SO">Fauré</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6s1pCNXcbdtQJlsnM1hRIA">Shostakovich</a>, among many others, commonly heard. It was also well known for its advocacy of contemporary music, commissioning and premiering new works from some of the most prominent composers in the U.K. and abroad, including <a href="spotify:artist:0LOMMah2zqiiGZ7pfPiXYT">Colin Matthews</a>, Martin Butler, and <a href="spotify:artist:4AhGJX48US2OIdpSG7oo5c">Judith Weir</a>, who provided the group's 50th and final new work. The ensemble performed throughout the U.K. and made many tours across Europe, Asia, the Americas, and elsewhere. It typically performed more than 60 concerts yearly and made more than 30 recordings for a variety of labels, including <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hyperion%22">Hyperion</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chandos%22">Chandos</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Champs+Hill%22">Champs Hill</a>.

The Schubert Ensemble of London was formed in 1983. The group's membership for most of its existence was as follows: <a href="spotify:artist:3NkjYttHnIbRubcPdtyvSL">William Howard</a> (piano), Simon Blendis (violin), Jane Salmon (cello), Douglas Paterson (viola), and Peter Buckoke (double bass). The group steadily built its reputation in its early years and, by the late '80s, had become one of the more prominent chamber groups in England. Its first major recording was, not surprisingly, the <a href="spotify:artist:2p0UyoPfYfI76PCStuXfOP">Schubert</a> Trout Quintet, coupled with the <a href="spotify:artist:0WiK9IsQEQEuIQ1iDxvuPg">Hummel</a> Op. 87 Quintet, released in 1988 on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hyperion%22">Hyperion</a>. However, the ensemble did not limit itself to quintets, performing everything from solos to octets.

Throughout the 1990s and into the new century, the Schubert Ensemble concertized regularly abroad, including at major venues like the <a href="spotify:artist:2HqNckz4bPVT37fWkhugTZ">Concertgebouw Amsterdam</a>, and it performed in many broadcast concerts over BBC 3. Around the turn of the century, members of the ensemble founded Chamber Music 2000, which commissioned 45 piano and string works whose technical demands would be within reach of both amateur and young musicians.

The Schubert Ensemble made several successful tours of the U.S, including a 2008 series of concerts in Oregon and California, where the group presented the American premiere of David Knotts' On such a night as this is! It made its first tour of China in 2010 and also performed in the United Arab Emirates. Among the ensemble's recordings is the 2007 CD on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22NMC%22">NMC</a> of nine Martin Butler works, entitled (after the leadoff piece) American Rounds, and the music of Martinu, Fauré, and Dvorák, all on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chandos%22">Chandos</a>. The group's final album was issued in 2016, also on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chandos%22">Chandos</a>, pairing the piano quartets of Saint-Saëns and Chausson. The group did record <a href="spotify:artist:3j8SFKYjKXAPnqPHwlnp3R">Cheryl Frances-Hoad</a>'s The Whole Earth Dances, which it commissioned, in 2017; this recording was included on a 2020 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Champs+Hill+Records%22">Champs Hill Records</a> collection of <a href="spotify:artist:3j8SFKYjKXAPnqPHwlnp3R">Frances-Hoad</a>'s work. The Schubert Ensemble members decided to disband after the 2017-2018 season, premiering its 50th and final commissioned work, A Song of Departure by <a href="spotify:artist:4AhGJX48US2OIdpSG7oo5c">Judith Weir</a>, in March 2018 and giving its final concert on June 30. ~ Robert Cummings & Keith Finke, Rovi