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
Wieland Kuijken (viola da gamba) 