Anonymous 4

2025-10-27T04:58:43Z

98.144.139.230: /* Discography */ 1992 everywhere I see

{{Short description|American female a cappella quartet}}
{{about|the singing group|the manuscript author|Anonymous IV}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Anonymous 4
| image = Anonymous 4 (8074312056) (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
| landscape = yes 
| alt =
| caption = Anonymous 4 in October, 2012
| alias =
| origin =
| genre = [[A cappella]], [[Medieval music|Medieval]]
| years_active = {{start date|1992}}–{{end date|2016}}
| label = [[Harmonia Mundi]], [[Sony Classical Records]]
| associated_acts = [[Bruce Molsky]], [[The Mountain Goats]], [[Chilingirian Quartet]], [[Christopher Tin]]
| website = {{URL|http://www.anonymous4.com/}}
| current_members = Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, Ruth Cunningham, Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek
| past_members = Johanna Maria Rose
}}
'''Anonymous 4''' was an American female ''[[a cappella]]'' quartet, founded in 1986<ref>{{cite web |title=Anonymous 4—About |url=https://www.anonymous4.com/about.html |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20241226192403/https://www.anonymous4.com/about.html |archivedate=2024-12-26}}</ref> and based in [[New York City]]. Their main performance genre was [[medieval music]], although later they also premiered works by recent composers such as [[John Tavener]] and [[Steve Reich]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2015-11-23 |title=Anonymous 4: Appearing and Disappearing » Early Music America |url=https://www.earlymusicamerica.org/emag-feature/anonymous-4-appearing-and-disappearing/ |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20241226190116/https://www.earlymusicamerica.org/emag-feature/anonymous-4-appearing-and-disappearing/ |archivedate=2024-12-26}}</ref>

The name of the group is a pun on the name used to refer to an anonymous [[England|English]] music theorist of the late 13th century, [[Anonymous IV]], who is the principal source on the two famous composers of the [[Notre Dame school]], [[Léonin]] and [[Pérotin]].

Anonymous 4 performed in cities throughout [[North America]], and were regulars at major international festivals. The 2003–2004 season was their last as a full-time recording and touring ensemble, but they continued to tour and make recordings while pursuing individual projects.

The group collaborated with the [[Chilingirian Quartet]] on their 2003 album ''Darkness Into Light'' and [[The Mountain Goats]] on their 2012 album ''[[Transcendental Youth]]'' as well as with [[Christopher Tin]] in 2009 on his album ''[[Calling All Dawns]]'', and in 2014 on ''[[The Drop That Contained the Sea]]''.<ref>{{cite web |date=2012-03-23 |title=The Ecstatic Music Festival: The Mountain Goats And Anonymous 4 : NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/03/23/148782993/the-ecstatic-music-festival-the-mountain-goats-and-anonymous-4 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20241226192158/https://www.npr.org/2012/03/23/148782993/the-ecstatic-music-festival-the-mountain-goats-and-anonymous-4 |archivedate=2024-12-26}}</ref>

The CD ''1865'', which features songs from the Civil War with [[Bruce Molsky]] on guitar, fiddle, banjo, and vocals was their final recording. The ensemble disbanded at the end of the 2015–2016 season.<ref name="NPRbreakup">{{cite web |date=2014-05-13 |title=Anonymous 4: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (But They're Doing It) |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2014/05/13/311087203/anonymous-4-breaking-up-is-hard-to-do-but-theyre-doing-it |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241226190525/https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2014/05/13/311087203/anonymous-4-breaking-up-is-hard-to-do-but-theyre-doing-it |archive-date=2024-12-26 |accessdate= |publisher=National Public Radio}}</ref>

==Lineup==
The original lineup included Johanna Maria Rose, Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, and Ruth Cunningham. In 1998, Cunningham left and was replaced by Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek. In 2008, Cunningham returned to the group in place of Johanna Maria Rose until their 2016 disbanding. Genensky grew up in [[California]] in the foothills of the [[Santa Monica Mountains]]; Hellauer was born and raised in the [[Bronx, New York]]; Cunningham was brought up in [[Millbrook, New York]]; Rose grew up in the village of [[Grand View-on-Hudson, New York]]; and Horner-Kwiatek is from [[Monkstown, County Antrim]], in [[Northern Ireland]] (she won her [[United States Permanent Resident Card|Green Card]] in the [[Diversity Immigrant Visa]] program, commonly known as the "Green Card Lottery").

==Discography==
{| class="wikitable"
!Name!! Date!! Label!! Format
|-
|''An English Ladymass: Medieval Chant and Polyphony''||1992||[[Harmonia Mundi]]||CD
|-
|''On Yoolis Night: Medieval Carols and Motets for Christmas''||1993||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Love's Illusion: Music From The Montpellier Codex 13th Century''||1994||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''The Lily and the Lamb: Chant & Polyphony from Medieval England''||1994||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''[[Voices of Light]]''||1995||[[Sony Classical Records]]||CD
|-
|''Ancient Voices ''||1995||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Miracles of Sant'Iago''||1996||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''A Star in the East – Medieval Hungarian Christmas Music ''||1996||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Portrait of Anonymous 4''||1997||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Hildegard von Bingen – 11,000 Virgins: Chants for the Feast of St. Ursula''||1997||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''A Lammas Ladymass: 13th and 14th Century English Chant and Polyphony''||1998||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Legends of St. Nicholas''||1999||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''1000: A Mass for the End of Time''||1999||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''The Second Circle: Love Songs of Francesco Landini''||2001||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''La bele Marie: Songs to the Virgin from 13th-Century France''||2002||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Darkness into Light – John Tavener''||2003||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Wolcum Yule''||2003||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''American Angels''||2004||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''The Origin of Fire: Hildegard von Bingen''||2005||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Carols and Chants for Christmas''||2005||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Gloryland''||2006||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Miracles of Compostela''||2008||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Four Centuries of Chant''||2009||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''The Cherry Tree''||2010||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Secret Voices: Chant & Polyphony from the Las Huelgas Codex, c. 1300''||2011||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Marie et Marion''||2014||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''love fail''||2014||Cantaloupe||CD (A work composed for the group by [[David Lang (composer)|David Lang]] using texts by such writers as [[Lydia Davis]])
|-
|''1865''||2015||Harmonia Mundi||CD
|-
|''Three Decades Of Anonymous 4: 1986–2016''||2016||Harmonia Mundi||CD (A retrospective collection of highlights from the 30-year collaboration with Harmonia Mundi, with repertoire ranging from 12th-century ecstatic chant to American roots music.)
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://archive.today/20120906065537/http://www.anonymous4.com/ Official website (archived)]
* {{musicbrainz artist|id=bdbd99ab-3f4b-4028-9306-cd71d8695fbc|name=Anonymous 4}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070319151234/http://www.sonybmgmasterworks.com/artists/anonymous4/ Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks]
* Two entries ([{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p142356|pure_url=yes}} first], [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=q10359|pure_url=yes}} second]) on [[AllMusic]]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Vocal quartets]]
[[Category:Early music choirs]]
[[Category:Medieval musical groups]]
[[Category:American vocal groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups from New York City]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1992]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2016]]

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Anonymous 4