The ensemble was founded in 2003 with Silvia Müller and Martin Erhardt (recorders) and Mikhail Yarzhembovskiy (harpsichord). In 2004, with this line-up, it won first prize at the International ERTA Competition in Freiburg/Breisgau. Expanded into a quartet with the baroque cellist Gyöngy Erödi, Wooden Voices received second prize at the Festival van Vlaanderen competition in Bruges in 2006 and at the International Telemann Competition in Magdeburg in 2007, where Gyöngy Erödi and Mikhail Yarzhembovskiy also won the best continuo players with the continuo prize were awarded. The ensemble has performed at internationally renowned festivals such as the Leipzig Bach Festival and Itinéraire Baroque au Perigord, as well as in concert series in Germany and abroad such as Early Music in the Ibach House, the Leipzig Bach Archive and the Duisburg Theater and Philharmonic.
Silvia Müller, Gyöngy Erödi, Martin Erhardt and Mikhail Yarzhembovskiy are still pursuing numerous musical projects to this day. Radio recordings for MDR, WDR and DLF as well as CD productions, among others for the labels cpo, sony classical/deutsche harmonia mundi, Raumklang and virgin classics document the diverse artistic work of each individual. In addition to their lively concert activities, both as a soloist and in various chamber music formations, they are enthusiastic lecturers in workshops and teaching assignments at various musical institutes in Germany and are particularly committed to promoting young talent in the field of early music. While researching original literature for two recorders and basso continuo we came across an edition of Arcangelo Corelli's Trio Sonatas Op. 2 "Sonate da camera A trè, doi Violini, e Violone, ò Cimbalo da Arcangelo Corelli. Opera seconda. In Roma 1685.”, adapted for two recorders and basso continuo by the music publisher and Corelli contemporary Pierre Mortier (1661-1711).
The title of this edition is: "VI Sonates de Mr. Arcangelo Corelli, tirez de tous ses ouvrages & Transportez Pour deux Flûtes & Basse Continue. Livre second. Amsterdam, chez Pierre Mortier.” Mortier's original print is in the Marienbibliothek in Jever, a microfilm of the facsimile is in the Kassel Music History Archive. Mortier's arrangement of this work, which was already popular at the time, represents an attractive variant of the original in terms of content and sound, and is also testimony to baroque playing and performance practice as well as the joy of experimentation, which our ensemble is happy to take up. In addition to the Amsterdam print of the Corelli Sonatas Op. 2, his oeuvre was received in a large number of other prints and arrangements that were published during his lifetime in French, German and English-speaking countries. The extent to which Corelli was admired is shown not least by François Couperin's great trio sonata “L'Apothéose de Corelli”, with which he created a musical monument to the Roman master for eternity, so to speak. Combined with Corelli's trio sonatas in a program, Couperin's “Apothéosis” creates charming recognition effects: Even the layman can clearly hear how Couperin tries to imitate Corelli's personal style, while remaining true to his own musical mother tongue. The dazzling wealth of facets of the baroque ocean of repertoire becomes enchantingly vivid in this way. But in the Baroque era, almost every musician could not only play the repertoire from notes, but also express himself freely in his musical language, i.e. improvise. Our ensemble also traces this practice and thus combines several Corellian sonatas with solo improvisations to form a larger whole. We were inspired on the one hand by Corelli's personal stylistic “vocabulary” and on the other hand by the solo fantasies of some of his contemporaries. With these true-to-style yet personal improvisations, we pick up this more than 300 years of music in its time and bring it into the here and now.
01-03 Sonata I
04 Improvisation
05-08 Sonata II
09 Improvisation
10-13 Sonata VI
14-20 L'Apotheose
21-24 Sonata IV
25 improvisations
26-28 Sonata III
29 improvisations
30-33 Sonata V
