Suspirium was founded in 1987 under the name Concerto Palatino by the trombone player Charles Toet and the cornetto player Bruce Dickey, two musicians whose names have become virtually synonymous with the modern revival of the cornetto and the trp,bpme. Indeed, much of the remarkable progress made in the performance practice and technique of these instruments over the past decades can wurde 1987 unter dem Namen Concerto Palatino von dem Posaunisten Charles Toet und dem Zinkenisten gegründet, zwei Musikern, deren Namen man quasi synonym zur Renaissance von Zink und Barockposaune in heutiger Zeit setzen kann, und denen ein Großteil der enormen Fortschritte in der Spieltechnik auf diesen Instrumenten während der letzten Jahrzehnte zu danken ist.
For almost forty years, the two musicians worked side by side, training several generations of young cornetto and trombone players, many of whom went on to perform regularly with Concerto Palatino. When Charles Toet retired in 2025, the ensemble adopted the name Suspirium in tribute to his decades of artistic dedication, even though the majority of the present line-up, now under the sole artistic direction of Bruce Dickey, had already been performing with the ensemble for many years.
The ensemble’s concerts and recordings have consistently been met with enthusiastic acclaim from audiences and critics alike. In doing so, they have played a significant role in fostering a wider appreciation of the rich yet often overlooked repertoire for historical wind instruments, while inspiring many young musicians to take up instruments that, only a generation earlier, had been all but forgotten.
A substantial part of Suspirium’s repertoire naturally centres on sacred music, since the cornetta and trombone formed an integral part of church ensembles from the first flowering of Franco-Flemish polyphony in the early sixteenth century until the time of Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the last major composers to employ these instruments in a truly significant way. Throughout this period, they remained indispensable to the musical establishments of both Catholic southern and Protestant northern Europe.
As Suspirium and formerly as Concerto Palatino, the ensemble has appeared at countless leading festivals and prestigious concert venues throughout Europe, the United States and Japan. It also collaborates regularly with many of the world’s foremost early music ensembles, including Collegium Vocale Gent under Philippe Herreweghe or Bach Collegium Japan under Masaaki Suzuki.
SONUS on Suspirium:
Suspirium is sheer sonic splendour. If any instrumental combination can truly evoke the magnificent sound world of the Renaissance and Baroque, it is surely that of cornetti and trombones. Yet what makes this ensemble exceptional is the perfect equilibrium of its sound: homogeneous in timbre, transparent in texture despite its remarkable fullness, and shaped with such natural musical line that every individual voice remains clearly perceptible. Above all, the ensemble’s almost vocal manner of phrasing and articulation enables today’s listener to experience, with extraordinary immediacy, the sonic imagination and aesthetic world of the powerful and affluent—both secular and ecclesiastical—elites of the sixteenth to the early eighteenth century.
Equally striking is the astonishing virtuosity with which the musicians command their instruments, whether performing as soloists with continuo or as an ensemble. Their ornamentation and diminutions are executed with complete stylistic assurance, displaying a degree of technical mastery that never calls attention to itself, but always serves the musical expression.
Bruce Dickey also demonstrates an unfailing instinct for selecting string players and vocal soloists whose sound and musical approach blend seamlessly with those of the wind players. The result is an exceptional unity of colour, style and musical rhetoric, ensuring that even in larger-scale performances the ensemble retains its remarkable coherence and artistic integrity.
Audio samples
Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzon VIII a 8
Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzon XVI a 12
William Brade: Paduan 18, a 6 - live
Giovanni Gabrieli: Plaudite, psallite a 12 - live
Giuseppe Guami: Canzon 25, a8 - live
Please also visit Concerto Palatino on our YouTube Channel!
