Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
A small orchestra specializing in music of the Baroque and Classical eras, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields became one of the most popular ensembles in the entire field of classical music, making albums that topped classical charts and even made an impact in pop. The group's seamless sound was identified in the minds of many listeners with that of Baroque music itself.
The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (the name has been spelled both with and without the hyphens, and with and without the period after "St") was formed in 1958 by violinist Neville Marriner, who was interested in exploring the then largely new field of Baroque music with a group of other musicians. Performing without a conductor until market forces dictated that Marriner take the post, the group played its first concert on November 13, 1959, at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and took its name from that venue. The orchestra began recording in 1961 on the L'Oiseau-Lyre label, championed by its founder, Louise Hanson-Dyer, and at first, finding more success with recordings than with concert appearances. The Academy moved to the early music-oriented Argo label in 1965. Appearances on the BBC Proms programs brought the group to a wider public, and in 1970 it incorporated, under the direction of Marriner and other founders, as a fully professional ensemble. Soundtrack performances in BBC television films added to the Academy's financial stability. Although he took up the conductor's baton, Marriner preferred to lead the orchestra from the first violinist's chair, and as violinists Iona Brown and Kenneth Sillito took over the group's direction on occasion, they followed the same practice in Baroque works. After Sillito's retirement in 2012, violinist Joshua Bell was named the music director. Pianist Murray Perahia has been the principal guest conductor since 2000; Perahia had for some time led the group in conductorless performances of Mozart and other Classical-period piano concertos.
The Academy's repertory also expanded over time, coming to include the Wagner Siegfried Idyll and even contemporary works. The original Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Orchestra grew to include several subgroups, the Chamber Ensemble (formed 1967), which focused on small-group chamber music for strings, and a larger grouping that could include as many as 45 musicians. A Chorus of St. Martin in the Fields, formed in 1975 for a tour performance of Bach's Mass in B minor, BWV 232, grew into an independent organization. The Academy continued to perform at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and added a short Royal Festival Hall Season as its popularity grew.
However, recordings remained at the center of the group's activities, and to date, it has issued more than 500 albums. Its recording schedule often involved more than a dozen albums a year. The orchestra moved to the Philips label in 1971; it has since recorded for Decca, London, ASV, and other labels. One milestone was the orchestra's 1984 recording of the score for the film Amadeus, which topped classical charts, appeared on pop charts, and remains one of the best-selling classical albums of all time. In 2019, the Academy, with young pianist Jan Lisiecki conducting from the keyboard, issued a complete recording of Beethoven's piano concertos on the Deutsche Grammophon label.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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The London Recordings
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by CapriccioNR on Aug 3, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Alan Loveday, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons & Other Concertos
Alan Loveday, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart : Concerto pour clarinette K. 622 & Quintette pour Clarinette K. 581
Andrew Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Chamber Music - Released by PENTATONE on Nov 1, 2004
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gioachino Rossini: Complete Sonate a quattro
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Praga Digitals on Jan 1, 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Albinoni: Adagio in G Minor (Arr. Giazotto)
Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jun 9, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
4 Seasons
Iona Brown, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Jonathan Rees, Ralph de Souza, Briony Shaw
Classical - Released by haenssler CLASSIC on Sep 20, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Transclassical Concertos
Lucia Caruso, Pedro H. da Silva, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Classical - Released by Imaginary Animals on Aug 25, 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven : Complete Piano Concertos (Live 2018, Konzerthaus Berlin)
Jan Lisiecki, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Tomo Keller
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Sep 13, 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Handel : Messiah
Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ivan Moravec Edition
Ivan Moravec, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by haenssler CLASSIC on Feb 5, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Tallis Fantasia; Fantasia on Greensleeves; The Lark Ascending etc.
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Oct 1, 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: The Piano Concertos
Alfred Brendel, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amadeus
Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Classical - Released by Verve (Adult Contemporary) on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks; Water Music Suites
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorák: Serenades
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphony No. 44 'Trauer'; Symphony No. 49 'La passione' (Sir Neville Marriner – Haydn: Symphonies, Volume 5)
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Jan 1, 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ives: The Unanswered Question
Oliver Zeffman, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Simon Höfele
Classical - Released by Ozero Records on Feb 18, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Marriner & The Academy - 20th Century Classics
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano & Violin Concertos - Sir Neville Marriner - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Ivan Moravec, Garrick Ohlson, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Pamela Frank, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by haenssler CLASSIC on Aug 23, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The English Patient (Original Soundtrack Recording)
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Gabriel Yared
Film Soundtracks - Released by Fantasy on Nov 7, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo