Crawford Young is an American

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" commonly r ...

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 ...

residing in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He is the director of the Ferrara Ensemble, Ensemble Project Ars Nova, Shield of Harmony, and is a long time accompanist of

Andreas Scholl Andreas Scholl (born 10 November 1967) is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range, specialising in Baroque music. Born into a family of singers, Scholl was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbube ...

Life and career

Robert Crawford Young graduated in 1976 from

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

in Boston, where he played

classical guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string (music), string instrument with strings made of catgut, gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the ...

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

, and

tenor banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

. At

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, he came in 1977 into contact with

Thomas Binkley Thomas Binkley (Cleveland, Ohio, December 26, 1931 – Bloomington, Indiana, April 28, 1995) was an American lutenist and early music scholar. Thomas Eden Binkley studied at the University of Illinois (BM. 1956, PhD. 1959) and the University of Mu ...

from 1978-1981 was active with Sequentia of

Benjamin Bagby Benjamin Bagby (born February 20, 1950) is an American singer, composer, harpist, and performer of medieval music. Biography Born in Evanston, Illinois, Bagby was educated at Oberlin College, Ohio, and the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Bagby founded ...

and Barbara Thornton in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

as performer on the lute and

gittern The gittern was a relatively small gut-strung, round-backed instrument that first appeared in literature and pictorial representation during the 13th century in Western Europe (Iberian Peninsula, Italy, France, England). It is usually depicted p ...

. Since 1982, Young has taught medieval lute and medieval music performance practice at the

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that hav ...

, where he also performs. In 1982, Young was a founding member of Ensemble P.A.N. (Project Ars Nova), along with Laurie Monahan (mezzo-soprano), Michael Collver (countertenor and corno muto) and first performed in Paris in 1982. For their American debut in Boston in 1984,

Shira Kammen Shira Kammen is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. She received her degree in music from the University of California, Berkeley and studied vielle with Margriet Tindemans. She has performed and taught throughout the world and has played on s ...

(bowed strings) and John Fleagle (tenor and medieval harp) joined the group. The group ceased to perform in 1999, following the death from cancer of John Fleagle. The Basel-based Ferrara Ensemble was founded almost simultaneously with Ensemble P.A.N., in 1983. Since the ensemble includes students at the Schola Cantorum, membership is fluid. Members have included: Randall Cook ( viola d’arco,

vielle The is a European bowed stringed instrument used in the medieval period, similar to a modern violin but with a somewhat longer and deeper body, three to five gut strings, and a leaf-shaped pegbox with frontal tuning pegs, sometimes with a fig ...

), Lena Susanne Norin (contralto), Kathleen Dineen (soprano), Debra Gomez (harp), Stephen Grant (baritone), Norihisa Sugawara (lute), Marion Fourquier (harp), Miriam Andersen (mezzo-soprano, harp), Masako Art (harp), Raitis Grigalis (baritone), Els Janssens (mezzo-soprano), Eve Kopli (soprano), Jessica Marshall (viola d’arco), Eric Mentzel (tenor), Karl-Heinz Schickhaus (

dulce melos The dulce melos (or doucemelle) is an early keyboard instrument and possible ancestor of the piano. The instrument is described as a type of zither, similar to a hammered dulcimer, but with the strings struck by hammers on keys. The instrument ha ...

). Young is considered by many to be the premier interpreter of repertory for Medieval and Renaissance lute.

Publications

* Chapter 25 ''On the trail of ensemble music in the fifteenth century'' in Companion to Medieval and Renaissance Music.

Recordings

With Ensemble P.A.N. (Project Ars Nova)

* ''Ars Magis Subtiliter. Secular Music of the

Chantilly Codex The Chantilly Codex (''Chantilly, Musée Condé MS 564'') is a manuscript of medieval music containing pieces from the style known as the '' Ars subtilior''. It is held in the museum at the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise. Most of the ...

.'' New Albion Records, 1989. * ''The Island of St. Hylarion. Music of Cyprus 1413-1422.'' New Albion Records, 1991. * ''Hommage to Johannes Ciconia. ca. 1370-1412.'' New Albion Records, 1992. * ''

Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...

: Remède de Fortune.'' New Albion Records, 1994. * ''Unseen Rain: Music by

Robert Kyr Robert Harry Kyr (born April 20, 1952 in Cleveland) is an American composer, writer, filmmaker, and Philip H. Knight Professor of Music Composition and Theory. Kyr is one of the most prolific composers of his generation, having written 12 symph ...

.'' New Albion Records, 1994.

With Ferrara Ensemble

* ''

Alexander Agricola Alexander Agricola (; born Alexander Ackerman; – 15 August 1506) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance writing in the Franco-Flemish style. A prominent member of the ''Grande chapelle'', the Habsburg musical establishment, he was ...

: Secular music''. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, 1990, 2010 * ''Forse che si, forse che no - Musique de danse du Quattrocento.'' Fonti Musicali 182. * ''Hildebrandston: Chansonniers Allemands du XV^e siècle.'' Producer

Michel Bernstein Michel Bernstein (Paris, 1931 – Paris, October 31, 2006) was a French musical producer and founder of several record labels. Bernstein's first contact with classical music was hearing the school music teacher play Beethoven on an out-of-tune pian ...

Arcana A35. * ''Balades a III chans de Johan Robert "Trebor" & al.'' Arcana A32 1994 "Helas pitié envers moy dort si fort" etc. reissued in Figures of Harmony: Songs of Codex Chantilly c.1390 4CD 2015 * ''Fleurs de vertus: Chansons subtiles à la fin du XIV^è siècle.'' Arcana A40 "Pictagoras Jabol et Orpheüs" etc. reissued in Figures of Harmony: Songs of Codex Chantilly c.1390 4CD 2015 * ''The Whyte Rose: Poétique anglo-bourguignone au temps de Charles le Téméraire.'' Arcana A301. * ''En doulz chastel de Pavie: Chansons à la cour des Visconti, 1400.'' (Songs for the court of Visconti, 1400)

"Documenta", Harmonia Mundi 905241 "De ma doulour" reissued in Figures of Harmony: Songs of Codex Chantilly c.1390 4CD 2015 * ''

: Mercy ou Mort - Chansons & motets d'amour.'' Arcana A305 * ''

Walter Frye Walter Frye (died 1474?) was an English composer of the early Renaissance. Life Nothing certain is known about his life. He may have been a "Walter Cantor" at Ely Cathedral between 1443 and 1466, and he may have been the Walter Frye who joined ...

: Northerne Wynde.'' Marc Aurel Edition 20018 * ''Corps Femenin: L’avant-Garde de Jean Duc de Berry.''

Senleches Jacob Senleches (fl. 1382/1383 – 1395) (also Jacob de Senlechos .e. Senleches'' and Jacopinus Senlesses) was a Franco-Flemish composer and harpist of the late Middle Ages. He composed in a style commonly known as the '' ars subtilior''. Life an ...

, Trebor, Solage. Arcana, recorded 2000 & 2008,Tracks 3,4,5,6,8 2000, 2,7,9,10 2008, track 1 2009 issued 2010. Angelorum psalat tripudium etc. reissued in Figures of Harmony: Songs of Codex Chantilly c.1390 4CD 2015

With Shield of Harmony

* ''

Oswald von Wolkenstein Oswald von Wolkenstein (1376 or 1377 in Pfalzen – August 2, 1445, in Meran) was a poetry, poet, composer and diplomacy, diplomat. In his diplomatic capacity, he traveled through much of Europe to as far as Georgia (country), Georgia (as recoun ...

: Songs of Myself''

. Harmonia Mundi, 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Crawford American musicologists Living people American lutenists Academic staff of Schola Cantorum Basiliensis American performers of early music Year of birth missing (living people)