Music for Viola da Gamba
Carl Friedrich ABEL (1723-1787)
Piece in d minor (WKO.205) [2;03]
Piece in d minor (WKO.206) [3:49]
Allegro in d minor (WKO.207) [5:29]
Adagio in d minor (WKO.209) [3:47]
Piece in d minor (WKO.208) [6:20]
Diego ORTIZ (c.1510-c.1570)
Recercada prima [1:31]
Recercada segunda [1:22]
Recercada tercera [1:21]
Recercada quarta [1:23]
Johannes SCHENCK (1660-after 1710)
Sonata VI in a minor, op. 9,6 [17:25]
Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681-1767)
Sonata in D (TWV 40,1) [10:56]
Christopher SIMPSON (c.1602/06-1669)
Prelude in D [1:24]
Prelude in e minor [1:46]
Prelude in B flat [1:44]
Tobias HUME (c.1579-1645)
My mistresse hath a pritty thing [4:24]
Touch me lightly [2:34]
Wieland Kuijken (viola da gamba)
rec. February 1993. DDD
REGIS RRC1346 [67:24]
The viola da gamba , both as a solo instrument and in ensemble, played an
important role in music history from the renaissance until the 18th century.
Italy was the first country where it became marginalised. It practically disappeared
during the second half of the 17th century, being replaced by the cello. In
other countries it continued to play a substantial role. The present disc
bears witness to that, although Wieland Kuijken concentrates on Germany and
England, and ignores France. The earliest music dates from the 16th century
(Ortiz), the latest from the third quarter of the 18th century (Abel). The
gamba was the only string instrument for which a considerable number of solo
pieces were written, without a basso continuo accompaniment. In comparison
the repertoire for unaccompanied violin or cello is rather small.
The pieces which have been selected are not chronologically ordered. Kuijken
begins with the latest works: five pieces by Carl Friedrich Abel. He was born
into a musical family: his father Christian Ferdinand, a violinist and gambist,
was a member of the court chapel in Cöthen when Bach was Kapellmeister.
The latter may have written his three gamba sonatas for him. When Christian
Friedrich died in 1737 his son moved to Leipzig and became part of the Bach
household. In 1758 he moved to London, where he would soon meet Bach's youngest
son Johann Christian, with whom he organized the so-called Bach-Abel concerts.
There can be little doubt that he played some of his own music for the gamba
during these concerts. There are suggestions that the five pieces in D minor
which are recorded here were written for the painter Thomas Gainsborough,
who was a friend of Abel's. If that is the case this amateur gambist must
have been very skilled as they are of considerable virtuosity, with arpeggios,
multiple-stopping and wide leaps. The five pieces take the form of a suite;
the first has the character of a prelude of an improvisatory character, dominated
by arpeggios.
There is no multiple-stopping in the four pieces by Diego Ortiz. These come
from the second part of his Trattado de glosas (1553), a treatise on
the art of ornamentation, so-called diferencias. The pieces which are
included in this treatise are about breaking up a melodic line in various
ways rather than the harmonic capabilities of the gamba. The Division-Violist
(1659) of Christopher Simpson has largely the same goal. Simpson also includes
compositions of his own to illustrate his instructions. The three preludes
are so-called mixt divisions, a combination of fragmenting a melodic
line over a ground-bass and dividing a ground into short sections. Also from
England is Tobias Hume, probably the best-known musical maverick in English
history. He was a gambist but also a soldier in various armies. The two collections
of music which were printed in 1605 and 1607 respectively include dances,
songs and programmatic pieces. They show that he must have been a highly-skilled
player.
The two remaining pieces are by German composers, although Johannes Schenck
spent the most part of his life in Amsterdam. Here he soon established himself
as an important member of the cultural élite. It seems that their financial
support gave him the opportunity to publish a remarkable number of collections
of music. He was by far the most widely published Dutch composer of the 17th
century. His printed oeuvre includes five collections of music for viola da
gamba. Some of his sonatas are for gamba and bc, some for gamba solo; in others
the basso continuo can be added ad libitum. The six sonatas which were
printed as his op. 9 in 1704, under the title L'Echo du Danube, show
the influence of the Italian violin sonata. At the time of composition he
worked in Düsseldorf, at the court of the Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm
II. The latter had great admiration for Corelli, who dedicated his concerti
grossi to him. It is likely that here Schenck became acquainted with the Italian
sonata style. The Sonata VI begins with a sequence of adagio-allegro-adagio,
which is followed by presto and adagio, four 'arias' of contrasting character,
and closes with a swinging giga.
Lastly Telemann: he wrote for virtually every instrument which was common
in his time. A number of his compositions include parts for the gamba, and
he even composed an overture for gamba, strings and bc. The Sonata in D
was printed in his Der getreue Music-Meister, a series of periodicals
with music which was published in 1728-29. It is a specimen of the mixed style
which Telemann preferred. The structure is modelled after the Italian sonata
da chiesa. The third movement is remarkable; it has the form of a recitative
and aria.
Regis reissues recordings which were released earlier on other labels. The
'booklet' - if that is the proper name for a sheet of just four pages - includes
programme-notes which are to the point, but omits any further information
about the time or place where the recording was made, let alone the identity
of the instrument which Wieland Kuijken plays. I searched the internet and
learned that the original recording dates from 1993 and was released by the
Japanese label Denon. I don't know how widely available it was at the time.
It has never crossed my path, though, and this is the first time that I have
heard it. I am glad that it is available again as we have here some masterful
performances of one of the pioneers of the viola da gamba. Kuijken's playing
is technically brilliant, and his interpretation explores the character of
the various pieces to the full. In particular the pieces by Abel and Schenck
will probably be new to many music-lovers. They belong among the best which
have been written for the instrument, and Kuijken delivers a convincing and
eloquent performance. In Telemann's sonata he shows how a recitative should
be sung.
In short, this is a disc no lover of the gamba would want to miss.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
A disc no lover of the gamba would want to miss.