Peter Kenneth Holman MBE (born 19 October 1946, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) is an English conductor and

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

best known for reviving the music of

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...

and his English contemporaries. Holman, with the ensemble The Parley of Instruments made many of the extensive series of recordings of lesser-known English baroque music on

Hyperion Records Hyperion Records is a British classical music record label. It was independent until February 2023, when it was acquired by the Universal Music Group. Under Universal, Hyperion is one of the three main classical record labels, alongside Decca a ...

in that label's ''English Orpheus'' series from 1980 to 2010. The ensemble was co-founded in 1979 by Holman and the violinist

Roy Goodman Roy Goodman (born 26 January 1951) is an English conductor and violinist, specialising in the performance and direction of early music. He became internationally famous as the 12-year-old boy treble soloist in the March 1963 recording of Alleg ...

. Holman and the ensemble now record on the Chandos Classics label. Holman was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to early music.

Publications

* Dowland: Lachrimae (1604) 1999 * Henry Purcell 1994 * Life After Death: The Viola Da Gamba in Britain 2010 * From Renaissance to Baroque: change in instruments Jonathan Wainwright, Peter Holman, University of York. Dept. of Music - 2005 * Four and twenty fiddlers: the violin at the English court, 1540-1690 - 1996 * Music in the British Provinces, 1690-1914 Rachel Cowgill, Peter Holman - 2007 * Purcell - 23 articles ed. Peter Holman - 2011 * Terpsichore at 400: Michael Praetorius as a Collector of Dances. The Viola da Gamba Society Journal, Volume Six - 2012. pp. 34–51
online

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holman, Peter English male conductors (music) English musicologists 1946 births Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century English conductors (music) 21st-century English male musicians Michael Praetorius scholars