Mediaeval Love Songs

"Anonymous 4...know how to present a song and how to inflect and otherwise articulate its meaning to an audience. With their passionate, romantic themes these ballate, as the form was known, invite first rate interpreters to show their best stuff, and that's what we get here...the sound is ideal, the packaging is gorgeous."
- CLASICS TODAY (Artistic Quality 10/10 Sound Quality)

Singing with "their trademark celestial tone," ANONYMOUS 4 offer a handpicked bouquet of medieval love songs (ballate) by the 14th-century Italian master of subtle refinement, Francesco Landini.

"Anonymous 4 sing with their trademark celestial tone, their voices blending and intertwining like choirs of seraphim."
- EARLY MUSIC AMERICA

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Originally formed in 1986 to experiment with the sound of medieval chant and polyphony as sung by higher voices, Anonymous 4 has become renowned for its astonishing vocal blend and technical virtuosity. The four women of Anonymous 4 combine musical, literary, and historical scholarship with 20th-century performing intuition as they create innovative programs interweaving music with poetry and narrative.

Anonymous 4 has performed to critical acclaim on music series throughout North America, in such cities as Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver and Washington, DC. The group has appeared on a wide range of radio and television programs, including NPR's "Performance Today, " "Weekend Edition, " and NPR stations around the country. Anonymous 4 has been featured on "CBS Sunday Morning" with Charles Osgood, Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion, " MPR's "St. Paul Sunday, " and WNYC's "Around New York. " The ensemble appeared on Australian Broadcasting Company's program "Access All Areas, " ZDF's "Ersteklassich! " and were also featured on Classic FM and BBC World Service.

Anonymous 4 appears regularly in concerts and festivals throughout Europe, including the Tage Alter Musik Festival (Regensburg), Eros & Ecclesia Festival (Berlin), Rheinisches Musikfest (Essen), Flanders Festival (Bruges), Oude Muziek Festival (Utrecht), Festival de Musica Antiga (Barcelona), Festival du Thoronet (France), Fondation Royaumont (Paris), Wigmore Hall and St. John Smith Square (London), Glasgow International Early Music Festival (Scotland), Birmingham and Cambridge Early Music Festivals, and the Turku Festival (Finland). The group recently made its Austrian debut with concerts in Salzburg and Graz. In the Far East, the Anonymous 4 was featured at Australia's Brisbane Biennial Festival, as well appearing in concerts in New Zealand and throughout Japan.

Anonymous 4's recordings on harmonia mundi have sold nearly one million copies worldwide; all have reached the top ten on Billboard's classical chart. Their first recording, "An English Ladymass, " was named Classical Early Music Disc of the Year by CD Review. "On Yoolis Night, " the group's second recording, received France's prestigious Diapson d'OR award, and their fourth recording, "The Lily and the Lamb, " was Classic CD's Disc of the Year for 1996. Their fifth recording, "Miracles of Sant'Iago, " received Telerama's 4 Clefs award for 1996. Their seventh disc, "11,000 Virgins: Chants for the Feast of St. Ursula" featuring music of Hildegard von Bingen, was named in the top 100 Independent Label Releases for 1997-98 by Tower's Classical PULSE!. Anonymous 4's latest recording "Legends of St. Nicholas, " will be in stores September 7.

MARSHA GENENSKY holds a B.A. in music and folklore from Scripps College, and an M.A. in folklore and folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. Originally a traditional folksinger, she has experimented with a variety of vocal techniques in order to perform Anglo-American folksongs, shape note songs, and harmonic singing. With Johanna Rose, she handles the language research and writes and adapts the readings for Anonymous 4's concert programs. In good weather, Marsha spends as much time as possible on skates; she also loves drawing and reading.

SUSAN HELLAUER grew up in New York City, where she earned a B.A. in music from Queens College as a trumpet player. An increasing fascination with the vocal music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance eventually led her to convert to singing, and to pursue advanced degrees in medieval musicology from Queens College and Columbia University. She handles Anonymous 4's music research, searching out modern editions or transcribing repertoire from original sources. In her spare time, Susan takes her dog to the park and her daughter to the movies.

JACQUELINE HORNER was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and attended Queens University, gaining a B.A. Joint Honours in Music and English. She then moved to London and studied Performance Practice at City University and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her interests lie in both early and contemporary music, and she has worked with many of Europe and New York's leading ensembles, including Ensemble Moderne, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble for Early Music, and Continuum. Having won a green card in the U.S. Visa lottery, Jacqueline is delighted to be living and working in New York, her favorite city in the universe.

JOHANNA MARIA ROSE grew up in an artistic atmosphere, where she was introduced to many kinds of music, theater, and visual arts. She has studied acting, writing, and drawing, as well as earning a B.Mus. in voice from Manhattan School of Music, and an M.A. in Early Music Performance from Sarah Lawrence College. She shares with Marsha Genensky the creation and adaptation of the readings, as well as research into language pronunciation and literary sources. When she has time, Johanna enjoys hiking in the woods, biking, and gardening.