In the great sweep of music history some instruments emerge then
disappear after a short while. Good examples are the baryton
and the arpeggione. Nobody would know about the former if Haydn
hadn't felt the need to provide his employer with suitable music
for an instrument he happened to love. And apart from the sonata
by Schubert nothing substantial has ever been composed for the
arpeggione, and that instrument has disappeared in the fog of
history.
The viola d'amore has fared a little better, even though it was
never a really main-stream instrument. It was mentioned for the
first time by the English author John Evelyn: "I dined at
the Master of the Mints with my wife, invited to heare Musique
which was most exquisitely performed by 4 of the most renouned
Masters, DuPrue a French-man on the Lute: Signor Batholomeo Ital:
on the Harpsichord: & Nicolao on the Violin: but above all
for its swetenesse & novelty the Viol d'Amore of 5 wyre-strings,
plaied on with a bow, being but an ordinary Violin, play'd on
Lyra way by a German, than which I never heard a sweeter Instrument
or more surprizing…"
The viola d'amore was especially popular in Germany, Austria,
Bohemia and Italy from the late 17th century to the end of the
18th century. Several authors are mentioning the instrument,
like Johann Mattheson and Leopold Mozart. Like John Evelyn they
describe the instrument as sweet and languishing, and Johann
Mattheson regretted that it wasn't more often used. He himself
wrote parts for the viola d'amore in two of his operas, and other
composers also used it in dramatic works, both sacred and secular,
like Antonio Vivaldi in his oratorio 'Juditha triumphans'. One
of the best-known composers for the viola d'amore was Heinrich
Ignaz Franz von Biber. Johann Sebastian Bach used it in several
of his cantatas and in the St John Passion. It also appeared
in Passions by Telemann and Stölzel. In the 19th century
it was seldom used. The 20th century has seen a kind of revival.
But it has never risen to the status of being part of the symphony
orchestra. Today it is mostly used in the performances of early
music, but the number of recordings with music for the viola
d'amore is rather small.
The instrument has seven playing strings which cross the top
of the bridge, and seven sympathetic or resonating strings, which
run through the bridge and under the fingerboard. In fact, over
the years, there has been some variation in its appearance. It
seems the viola d'amore with sympathetic strings was mostly used
in the 18th century, whereas they are largely absent from 17th-century
instruments. But in the booklet Thomas Georgi quotes Kai Koepp,
who has done much research into the history of the viola d'amore
and who thinks both instruments were used side by side. "It
seems that the use of sympathetic strings depended on the financial
and socio-cultural situation of the individual player".
One of the peculiarities of the viola d'amore is that it can
be tuned in many different ways. Usually it is tuned in the key
of the piece which is to be played. This is called 'scordatura'
and was in particular used by Biber. This causes some trouble
for the interpreter and makes a project like this a time-consuming
and exhausting undertaking.
In the booklets Thomas Georgi explains at length the problems
he faced and how he surmounted them. This is partly pretty technical
and therefore I leave it to those readers with a more than average
interest in these matters. It is interesting to read, though,
how he approached the material, for instance in regard to the
choice of instruments and pitch. In addition he writes about
his application of ornaments and certain liberties he has taken
in the interpretation.
It is time to say something about the composer, probably just
as shadowy as the viola d'amore. Attilio Ariosti, an Italian
composer of the generation of Alessandro Scarlatti, was born
in Bologna, and ordained as a priest. His first compositions
were oratorios, but after composing his first opera in 1697 he
concentrated on writing music for the theatre. A year before
he had entered the service of the Duke of Mantua, who sent him
to Berlin to the court of Sophie Charlotte, Electress of Brandenburg,
he was appointed
maître de musique and became Sophie
Charlotte's favourite musician. Later on he worked at the Imperial
court in Vienna, where he was held in high esteem by Joseph I.
For him he worked as a diplomat in Italy, and after Joseph's
death entered the service of the Duke of Anjou, the future French
king Louis XV. As a result of his many activities as a diplomat,
but also as a music teacher and an interpreter - he was a singer
and played the keyboard, the cello and the viola d'amore - his
output is rather limited in comparison to that of some of his
more famous contemporaries.
Ariosti spent the last stage of his life in England, where he
arrived in July 1716. He played in public on the viola d'amore,
and composed some operas. His first opera in England was
Tito
Manlio, first performed in 1717. It made such an impression
that the Royal Academy of Music commissioned another opera from
him. From 1722 to 1728 he was one of the composers employed by
the Royal Academy, alongside Handel and Bononcini. He died in
London in 1729.
In 1724 Ariosti published a number of sonatas for viola d'amore
in London, under the title 'Cantatas and a Collection of Lessons
for the Viol d'amour'. It is remarkable that Ariosti immediately
adapted them for the violin. He reckoned - and rightly so - that
the viola d'amore wasn't much played in England, and certainly
not by amateurs, the kind of people his collection was aiming
at. The fact that Georgi is able to play them in their original
form is due to the fact that these sonatas were copied by the
Swedish composer Johan Helmich Roman. This is entitled 'Recueil
de Pièces pour la Viol d'Amour'. The Lessons appear in
both sources which means that they are available in real and
in scordatura notation. For these the original description as
Lessons (Lezioni) has been preserved, although all pieces are
sonatas, consisting of either three or four movements. In total
there are 21 lessons or sonatas for viola d'amore and bc; they
are the largest single set of works for this instrument of the
baroque period.
It is crystal clear that this project is very important for historical
reasons. There are not that many recordings which are devoted
to the viola d'amore, and only a small number of pieces, in particular
some compositions by Biber and the eight solo concertos by Vivaldi,
are recorded now and then. To many-music lovers Attilio Ariosti
is an unknown quantity, and there is little chance that they
have ever heard these sonatas. But it isn't just for historical
reasons that these discs are worthwhile. The music is versatile
and captivating. The sonatas contain strongly contrasting movements.
Many slow movements show great depth of expression, for instance
the sarabandes. The Lezione II (Vol. 1) contains two slow movements:
cantabile (grave) and sarabande (adagio), two really moving pieces.
The Sonata No. 8 (Vol. 2) begins with two equally touching movements,
largo and adagio. In some sonatas Ariosti includes sudden general
pauses which creates a dramatic tension, like in the 'air en
rondeau' of Sonata No. 11 (Vol. 2) and in the adagio of the Sonata
No. 15 (Vol. 3).
But Ariosti has another side as well. In particular the gigas
(Vol. 1) are delightful, often witty, with jaunty rhythms. The
Sonata No. 7 (Vol. 1) is a good example of a piece where we meet
both aspects of Ariosti's music: the third movement is an adagio
of great expressive depth, the last movement a jolly giga, in
which the phrases of the viola d'amore are time and again echoed
by the basso continuo.
It is not only the variety in the sonatas which makes one enjoy
these discs, it is also the performances. Thomas Georgi really
impresses with his impeccable technique and great sensitivity
in the realisation of the very different kinds of sonatas and
movements. It also helps that he uses various instruments - three
in total, two with sympathetic strings and one without. In addition
he plays them in either soprano pitch or alto pitch, both commonly
used pitches at the viola d'amore in Ariosti's days. In the basso
continuo Lucas Harris plays the theorbo, the archlute and the
guitar. The latter is especially used to great effect in the
gigas. Joëlle Morton (Vol. 1) and Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann
give excellent support on their respective string bass instruments.
The third disc offers a chamber cantata - a genre which was very
popular in the early 18th century. It is no coincidence that
this cantata is chosen: the flowers "proclaim as queen of
the meadow the gentle violet ('viola' in Italian) who inspires
love" rather than the arrogant rose who wants to rule with
cruelty, "by means of blood". As Thomas Georgi writes: "the
violet survives, as Ariosti must have hoped, and as long as human
curiosity and spirit of invention survive as well, so will the
viola d'amore". The soprano and the viola d'amore are treated
as equals: the two arias - which embrace a recitative - begin
with an introduction for the viola d'amore after which the soprano
comes in. Emma Kirkby gives a very good performance, with beautiful
and tasteful ornamentation, and blends well with the viola d'amore.
This project just has it all: a rather uncommon instrument with
an intriguing, beautiful and - indeed - sweet sound, music of
excellent quality and great variety, outstanding performances,
and booklets which contain all the information one needs in order
to understand the repertoire and the instrument. Thomas Georgi
also has a
website which
aims at promoting the viola d'amore which is well worth visiting.
The record company also deserves much praise for giving Thomas
Georgi the opportunity to realise this project and for the impeccable
recording and production.
Johan van Veen
see also reviews of Volume I by Gary
Higginson and Volume II by Dominy Clements
Thomas Georgi (viola d'amore),
Joëlle Morton (viola da gamba, great bass
viol) Lucas Harris (archlute, guitar) 
