Suite Pastorale, Espana & other orchestral works

Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, Gardiner's early musical experience came largely through singing with his family and in a local church choir. A self-taught musician who also played the violin, he began to study conducting at the age of 15. He was educated at Bryanston School, then studied history, Arabic, and medieval Spanish at King's College, Cambridge.

While an undergraduate at Cambridge he launched his career as a conductor with a performance of Vespro della Beata Vergine by Monteverdi, in King's College Chapel on 5 March 1964. This either featured or led to the foundation of the Monteverdi Choir, with which he made his London conducting debut at the Wigmore Hall in 1966.

Also while at Cambridge he conducted the Oxford and Cambridge Singers on a concert tour of the Middle East.

After graduating with a master's degree in history, Gardiner continued his musical studies at King's College London under Thurston Dart and in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, whose music had been a very early influence. In 1968 he founded the Monteverdi Orchestra. Upon changing from modern instruments to period instruments in 1977, the orchestra changed its name to the English Baroque Soloists.