The Hilliard Ensemble: Transeamus

The Hilliard Ensemble is calling it a day.

The quartet, which specialises in early vocal music and also some of the newest, was founded in 1973, the same year that saw the arrival of the late Christopher Hogwood’s Academy of Ancient Music and Trevor Pinnock’s English Concert.

The official farewell concert, at London's Wigmore Hall, is on December 20th. Transeamus, the official final CD, features 15th-century English carols and motets, repertoire that baritone Gordon Jones says is "music we were born and bred to sing – it's quintessentially English".

Eight of the 14 tracks are by composers whose names have not come down to us; the rest are by Plummer, Lambe, Cornysh and Sheryngham. The music is mild, gentle and sweet, the performances understated and calm, sometimes touchingly fragile. A haunting farewell. ecmrecords.com