Pro Cantione Antiqua of London (PCA) is a British choral group which was founded in 1968 by tenor
James Griffett, counter-tenor
Paul Esswood, and conductor and producer
Mark Brown. Their first concert was at St Bartholomew's, Smithfield with Brian Brockless conducting but, from an early stage, they were closely associated with conductor and musicologist
Bruno Turner.[1] Arguably, they were the leading British performers of
a cappella music, especially early music, prior to the founding of the
Tallis Scholars.
basses: David Beavan, Ian Caddy, Brian Etheridge, Michael George, Christopher Keyte, Christopher Underwood, Stephen Roberts,
David Thomas and Adrian Peacock.
Though principally an all-male group it has been supplemented with female voices where appropriate (e.g. for the 1978 recordings OUP 151/2 under
Philip Ledger, to accompany The Oxford Book of English Madrigals)
Discography
Archiv
PCA's 6-LP set 'The Flowering of Renaissance Polyphony' (Geistliche Musik der Renaissance') issued on Archiv in the late 1970s was particularly influential. This was subsequently reissued with other material for Archiv as 7-CD:
Josquin des Prez (1440–1521) Motets. Benedicta es coelorum regina; Tu solus qui facis mirabilia; ominus regnavit; Ave Maria, virgo serena; Miserere mei Deus; Inviolata, integra et casta es, Maria.
Tölzer Knabenchor, Pro Cantione Antiqua,
Collegium Aureum, DHM
Weihnachtsgesänge des 15.Jahrhunderts. Christmas songs of the 15th Century. Pro Cantione Antiqua. Turner. DHM
Lassus Missa Puisque J'Ay Perdu. Musica Dei Donum. Lauda Sion Salvatorem. Pro Cantione Antiqua, Turner DHM
Lassus Requiem. O bone Jesu. Pro Cantione Antiqua, Turner DHM
Palestrina Missa Papae Marcelli Stabat Mater;Missa l'Homme Arme. Alma Redemptoris Mater. Peccantem Me Quotidie Pro Cantione Antiqua, Lamentations. Bruno Turner, Mark Brown. Carlton. Reissued Alto 1CD. Reissued Brilliant 5CD.
Gregorian chant.
Sing we pleasure. Madrigals Wilbye, Weelkes, Gibbons, Farnaby, Byrd, Morley, Tomkins, Greaves, Farmer, Kirbye, Ward, Bennet, East, Bateson Pro Cantione Antiqua. reissue Alto.
The Edwardian gentleman's songbook. Ballads & Glees von Bishop, Stevenson, Hatton, Smart, Stanfort, Paxton, Somerville, Bridge, Foster, Sullivan. James Griffett, Pro Cantione Antiqua. Carlton. Reissue Alto.
Other labels
El Siglo de oro - Spanische Kirchenmusik der Renaissance.
Victoria,
Guerrero,
Lobo,
Esquivel,
Ceballos, Pro Cantione Antiqua, Turner 2 CDs Das Alte Werk, Teldec.
Purcell in the Ale House,
part-songs by Purcell, Ravenscroft, Bennet, Pearce, Browne, Isham, Dowland, Campion, Pilkington, Coleman Brown, Partridge, Wilson. Pro Cantione Antiqua Teldec. reissue Apex.
A Medieval Christmas (accompanied by the Medieval Wind Ensemble), dir. Mark Brown, Innovative Music Productions (PCD 844), 1986
The Gregorian Lent and Easter, dir.
James O'Donnell, Musica di Angeli (99182)
A Gregorian Advent and Christmas, dir. James O'Donnell, The United Recording Company (CD-88007), 1993
Gregorian Feast, dir. Mark Brown, recorded 1990-2, Regis Records Ltd (RRC 1217), 2005
Sacred Music by
Heinrich Schütz, dir. Edgar Fleet, Pro Cantione Antiqua, London Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, Restoration Academy, Academy Sound and Vision (1979)