ABOUT the ensemble
Fount & Origin is a new Oxford-based early music vocal ensemble specialising in late-medieval and early-renaissance music. We are committed to performing lesser-known works from this period and exploring the rich cultural and liturgical history that accompanies the music. We hope that our work will inspire further performance and interest in this neglected repertory.
Formed in Autumn 2018 by our director, James Tomlinson, the ensemble of a dozen students and young professionals delight in reviving forgotten and underperformed early music to the highest standards of choral performance, combining clarity of tone with an expressive wit, and demonstrating “impressive control over challenging idioms” (Edward Higginbottom, 2019).
Fount & Origin has been awarded the Stile Antico Ensemble Development Bursary 2019-2021, for which the members of Fount & Origin will be working closely with those of Stile Antico to embark on exciting projects and performances in the near future.
Our next event
Qui Timet Deum
5th March Lassus - Cantiones Sacrae Sex Vocum and Gesualdo – Tenebrae Responsoria for Holy Week
Qui Timet Deum follows a programme of music for six voices by the renaissance composers Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594) and Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613).
The Cantiones Sacrae Sex Vocum by Lassus is the composer’s final book of motets, published in the year of his death. The collection features some of his most accomplished and beautiful compositions, setting music to a range of texts and themes.
Gesualdo’s collection of responsories for Holy Week deals with texts that follow the evocative story of Jesus’s crucifixion. His music captures the intense emotional conflicts associated with Christ’s death through the use of jarring dissonances and warped tonal progressions – the hallmarks of his later style.
Do listen to the short preview video from a recent rehearsal.
29th May
Anglia Rubet: The Quest for English Polyphony through the 15th Century (more details coming soon on our Events page!)
Latest news
Stile Antico Ensemble Development Bursary (14/03/19)
We are delighted to announce that Fount & Origin has been awarded the 2019-2021 Stile Antico Ensemble Development Bursary. We are very much looking forward to working with Stile Antico over the next two years!
https://www.stileantico.co.uk/latest/news/ensemble-development-bursary-result-announced
Concert video (05/03/19)
We’re pleased to share with you a video of ‘Nectar et ambrosiam’ by Lassus recorded live at our recent concert.
Teaser video published! (19/02/19)
Check out this teaser video for our next concert, ‘Qui Timet Deum’ – this clip features some Gesualdo, filmed at our Saturday rehearsal in Queen’s College Chapel
Rehearsals start again (16/02/19)
And we’re off! We are excited to get started on our next programme featuring Lassus and Gesualdo for performance in The Queen’s College chapel on 5th March!
Concert video (15/02/19)
We’re pleased to share with you the Kyrie from Ockeghem’s Missa Caput, recorded live in concert on 9th Feb. We hope you enjoy!
Ockeghem and Leonel Power (10/02/19)
We had a wonderful time performing Ockeghem’s Missa Caput and other works by Ockeghem and Leonel Power in Merton Chapel last night!
