His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts are an ensemble of wind players specializing in the performance of music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries on original instruments. The core of the ensemble consists of two cornetts and four sackbuts accompanied by a harpsichord or chamber organ, but the group regularly expands when the repertoire demands. The archaic spelling "sagbutt" in the name is derived from the original incarnation of His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts in 1516. It was for this illustrious ensemble that composers such as Matthew Locke supplied numerous works. The modern ensemble was founded in 1982 and is directed by Timothy Roberts. The group has toured Europe and Asia and has made over 15 recordings. They have collaborated with singers such as Emma Kirkby, Catherine Bott, and Charles Daniels, and numerous period instrument conductors, including Roger Norrington and John Eliot Gardiner. The ensemble has been featured at many prestigious music festivals, such as those at Salzburg, Utrecht, and Edinburgh. Since 1995, His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts has been an ensemble-in-residence at the Royal College of Music, London.