Dr Peter Leech
B.A. B.Mus. Grad.Dip.Mus.(Conducting). Ph.D
Associate Lecturer
- leechp@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 4375
- 0.17, 37 Corbett Road
I am a professional choral and orchestral conductor, musicologist, composer, singer and keyboard player. I am a specialist in English court music (1600-1750), music in the British Jesuit and broader European Catholic diaspora (1600-1800) and European sacred music (1550-1800). I have published substantial articles and reviews in Early Music (OUP), Music & Letters (OUP), The Consort (Dolmetsch Foundation), Eighteenth-century music (CUP), Tijdschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis (KVNM), Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu (IHSI, Rome), Journal of Jesuit Studies (Brill) and the Newsletter of the Society For Eighteenth-Century Music (USA).
As a conductor I have recorded for the Nimbus Alliance, Tall Poppies and Toccata Classics labels. I am conductor of the Cardiff University Chamber Choir, as well as Cappella Fede, Harmonia Sacra and Costanzi Consort. With Cappella Fede I released a ground-breaking new CD in 2016, The Cardinal King (featuring first recordings of rediscovered eighteenth-century Roman sacred music by Sebastiano Bolis, Giovanni Battista Costanzi and others), to widespread critical acclaim. BBC Radio 3 Record Review (January 2017) described it as 'a moving disc' with 'consort singing second to none' (Elin Manahan-Thomas and Andrew McGregor). My future projects will include a detailed study of eighteenth-century sacred music at San Lorenzo in Damaso (Rome), further research on British seventeenth and early eighteenth-century Jesuit musicians and a cultural biography of Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart (1725-1807).
2019
- Leech, P. 2019. Jean-Paul Montagnier, The Polyphonic Mass in France, 1600-1780: The Evidence of the Printed Choirbooks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017 [Book Review]. H-France 19, pp. 1-5.
2016
- Leech, P. 2016. Richard Dering, Motets and Anthems, Ed.by Jonathan P. Wainwright. Music Britannica, 98 (Stainer & Bell), London, 2015.[Book Review]. Music and Letters 97(2), pp. 329-332. (10.1093/ml/gcw039)
- Leech, P. and Whitehead, M. 2016. Clamores omnino atque admirationes excitant: New light on music and musicians at St Omers English Jesuit College, 1658-1714. Tijdschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis LXVI(1), pp. 123-148.
- Leech, P. 2016. Prince, priest and patron: Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart and musical patronage in eighteenth-century Rome. Society for Eighteenth-century Music Newsletter 27, pp. 1, 11-12.
- Leech, P. 2016. The Cardinal King - Music for Henry Benedict Stuart in Rome, 1740-91. [CD]. 21 January 2020.
2015
- Leech, P. 2015. Princely splendour: Cardinal Henry Stuart and music patronage in 18th-century Rome. The Consort 71, pp. 51-73.
2011
- Leech, P. 2011. Music and musicians in the Catholic chapel of James II at Whitehall, 1686-1688. Early Music 39(3), pp. 379-400. (10.1093/em/car072)
- Leech, P. and Whitehead, M. 2011. 'In Paradise and among angels'. Music and musicians at St Omers English Jesuit College, 1593-1721. Tijdschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis 61(1-2), pp. 57-82.
- Leech, P. 2011. Richard Dering, Motets for One, Two or Three Voices and Basso Continuo [Book Review]. Music & Letters 92(2), pp. 282-285.
2010
- Leech, P. 2010. George Frideric Handel Parnasso in Festa [CD Review]. Eighteenth-Century Music 7(2), pp. 305-309. (10.1017/S1478570610000199)
2009
- Leech, P. 2009. Handel's legacy [Book Reviews]. Early Music 37(4), pp. 657-660. (10.1093/em/cap089)
- Leech, P. 2009. Recusant song?. Early Music 37(3), pp. 485-487. (10.1093/em/cap049)
2008
- Leech, P. ed. 2008. The Selosse Manuscript - Seventeenth Century Jesuit keyboard music. Launton: Edition HH.
2007
- Leech, P. 2007. Devotional music from Stuart England. Early Music 35(4), pp. 644-647. (10.1093/em/cam065)
- Leech, P. 2007. Music for an Academic Defense (Rome, 1617) [Music Review]. Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu 76(151), pp. 174-177.
2006
- Leech, P. 2006. Regal Handel [Book Review]. Early Music 34(1), pp. 143-146.
2003
- Leech, P. 2003. Catholic musicians in Restoration London. Genealogists Magazine 27(9), pp. 391-397.
2001
- Leech, P. 2001. Musicians in the Catholic chapel of Catherine of Braganza, 1662-92. Early Music 29(4), pp. 570-587. (10.1093/earlyj/XXIX.4.570)
- Leech, P. 2001. Records of the Chapel Royal [Book Review]. Early Music 29(3), pp. 456-457.
My main research deals with vocal and instrumental music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with specific areas including music and musicians in the British Royal Catholic chapels 1660-1714, music and musicians in the British Jesuit diaspora 1580-1773, late 17th century instrumental and vocal music in England, 18th century choral and instrumental music in Rome and early Russian Orthodox choral music.
