The Consort was active until around 1990, although some members including Leonhardt himself continued to perform after that date.
The ensemble was based in the Netherlands, although it included people whom Leonhardt knew from Vienna, where he taught at the Academy of Music at the beginning of the 1950s.
When it was founded the ensemble consisted of Leonhardt, his wife Marie (a violinist) and other string players.
[2] From early in the ensemble's history they collaborated with singers such as the counter-tenor Alfred Deller.
The ensemble participated in Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Groningse Bachvereniging, conducted by Johan van der Meer.