 Various sizes of viol, from Michael Praetorius' Syntagma musicum (1618)
 Early Italian tenor viola da gamba, detail from the painting St. Cecilia, by Raphael Sanzio, c.1510. The viol (also called viola da gamba) is any one of a family of bowed, fretted stringed musical instruments developed in the 1400s and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Spanish vihuela (a guitar-like plucked string instrument). Some degree of developmental influence, if only in playing posture, is credited to the Moorish rabab as well.[1] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
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Raphael or Raffaello (April 6, 1483 – April 6, 1520) was an Italian master painter and architect of the Florentine school in High Renaissance, celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings. ...
A cello bow In music, a bow is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound. ...
The neck of a guitar showing the first four frets. ...
A string instrument (also stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ...
A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ...
(14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...
Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ...
Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ...
Orpheus playing a vihuela. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
The rebab is a musical string instrument which was heavily used in old Arabic music its considered as part of the Lute familiy (Oud in Arabic). ...
History
 Woodcut of an early 16th century pattern six-string viola da gamba illuminating and reflecting the plucked vihuela origins of viols.
 Detail from an Italian fresco, c.1560, painted by Lattanzio Gambara, featuring a guitar-shaped viol (no waist-cuts) and some nice period costuming. The full Concert scene includes: a lute, bass viol, virginal, and flute.
 Detail from a painting by Jan Verkolje, Dutch, c.1674, Elegant Couple (A Musical Interlude). The theme is similar to the classic Music Lesson genre, and features a bass viol, spinet, and cittern (in the womans hand, out of frame in this detail, see full image). This image highlights the domestic amateur class of viol playing. Vihuelists began playing their flat-bridged instruments with a bow in the second half of the 15th century. Within two or three decades this led to the evolution of an entirely new and dedicated bowed string instrument which retained many of the features of the original plucked vihuela: a flat back, sharp waist-cuts, frets, thin ribs (initially), and an identical tuning — hence its Spanish name vihuela de arco (arco meaning "bow"). Due to their comparatively large sizes, this new instrument was usually held upright, either resting on the lap or held between the legs, similar to the playing posture of a cello. This gave rise to its Italian name viola da gamba, meaning "viol of the leg," which also helped differentiate it from the visually similar but only distantly related early violin family which the Italians called viola da braccio (lit. "viol of the arm"). Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
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A medieval era lute. ...
A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ...
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The violoncello, almost always abbreviated to cello, or cello (the c is pronounced as the ch in cheese), is a bowed stringed instrument, the lowest-sounding member of the violin family. ...
The Violin family of instruments was developed in Italy in the 17th Century. ...
The Violin family of instruments was developed in Italy in the 17th Century. ...
Construction Viols most commonly had six strings, although many 16th century instruments had five or even four strings. Viols were (and are) strung with (low tension) gut strings, unlike the steel strings used by members of the modern violin family. Gut strings produce a sonority far different from steel, which is generally described as softer and sweeter. Around 1660, gut or silk core strings overspun with copper wire first became available. These were then used for the lowest pitched bass strings on viols (and on many other string instruments as well). Viols are fretted in a manner similar to early guitars or lutes, by means of movable, wrapped-around and tied-on gut frets. A low seventh string was supposedly added in France to the bass viol by Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (c. 1640-c. 1690), whose students included the French gamba virtuoso and composer Marin Marais. However, the painting Saint Cecilia with an Angel (1618) by Domenichino (1581-1641) shows what may be a seven-string viol. Catgut is the name applied to cord of great toughness and tenacity prepared from the intestines of sheep/goat, or occasionally from those of the hog, horse, mule, pig, and donkey. ...
// Events January 1 - Colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and begins advance towards London in support of English Restoration. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic pinkish red Standard atomic weight 63. ...
A medieval era lute. ...
Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (Born: 1640??, France, Died: 1690??, France) was a celebrated player of the viol. ...
A virtuoso (from Italian virtuoso, late Latin virtuosus, Latin virtus meaning: skill, manliness, excellence) is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability at singing or playing a musical instrument. ...
Marin Marais Marin Marais (31 May 1656, Paris – 15 August 1728, Paris) was a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Lully and of the viol player Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe. ...
Domenico Zampieri (or Domenichino) (October 21, 1581 - April 15, 1641), was a prominent high Baroque painter of the Bolognese or Carracci School of Painters. ...
Unlike members of the violin family, which are tuned in fifths, viols are usually tuned in fourths with a major third in the middle, mirroring the tuning employed on the vihuela de mano and lute during the 16th century, and similar to that of the modern six-string guitar. The Violin family of instruments was developed in Italy in the 17th Century. ...
The perfect fifth or diapente is one of three musical intervals that span five diatonic scale degrees; the others being the diminished fifth, which is one semitone smaller, and the augmented fifth, which is one semitone larger. ...
A medieval era lute. ...
(15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Viols were first constructed much like the vihuela de mano, with all surfaces, top, back, and sides, made from flat slabs or pieces of joined wood, bent or curved as required. However, some viols, both early and later, had carved tops, similar to those more commonly associated with instruments of the violin family. The ribs or sides of early viols were usually quite shallow, reflecting more the construction of their plucked vihuela counterparts. Rib depth increased during the course of 16th century, finally coming to resemble the greater depth of the classic 17th century pattern. The flat backs of most viols have a sharp angled break or canted bend in their surface close to where the neck meets the body. This serves to taper the back (and overall body-depth) at its upper end to meet the back of the neck-joint flush with its heel. Traditional construction uses animal glue, and internal joints are often reinforced with strips of either linen or vellum soaked in hot animal glue — a practice also employed in early plucked vihuela construction. The peg-boxes of viols (which hold the tuning pegs) were typically decorated either with elaborate carved heads (of animals or people) or with the now familiar spiral scroll finial. Torn linen cloth, recovered from the Dead Sea Linen is a material made from the fibers of the flax plant. ...
Vellum (from the Latin for wool or pelt) is a sort of parchment, a material for the pages of a book or codex, characterized by its thin, smooth, durable properties. ...
The earliest vihuelas and violas, both plucked and bowed, all had sharp cuts to their waists, similar to the profile of a modern violin. This is a key and new feature, which first appeared in the mid 1400s and from then on was employed on many different types of string instruments. This feature is also key in seeing and understanding the connection between the plucked and bowed versions of early vihuelas. If one were to go searching for very early viols with smooth-curved figure-eight bodies, like those found on the only slightly later plucked vihuelas and the modern guitar, they would be out of luck. By the mid 1500s, however, "guitar-shaped" viols were fairly common, and a few of them survive.
The earliest viols had flat, glued down bridges just like their plucked counterpart vihuelas. Soon after, however, viols adopted the wider and high arched bridge which facilitated the bowing of single strings. The earliest of viols would also have had the ends of their fretboards flat on the deck, level with or resting upon of the top or sound board. Once the end of their fretboards were elevated above the top of the instrument's face the entire top could vibrate freely. Early viols did not have sound posts either (again reflecting their plucked vihuela siblings). This reduced dampening meant again that their tops could vibrate more freely, contributing to the characteristic "humming" sound of viols. Yet the absence of a sound post also resulted in a quieter and softer voice overall. The fingerboard, also known as a fretboard, is a part of most stringed instruments. ...
It is commonly believed that C-holes (a type and shape of pierced sound-port visible on the top-face or belly of string instruments) are a definitive feature of viols, a feature used to distinguish viols from instruments in the violin family, which typically had F-shaped holes. This generality, however, renders an incomplete picture. The earliest viols had either large, open, round, sound-holes (or even round pierced rosettes) like those found on lutes and vihuelas, or they had some kind of C-holes. Viols sometimes had as many as four small C-holes, one placed in each corner of the bouts, but more commonly they had two. The two C-holes might be placed in the upper bouts, centrally, or in the lower bouts. In the formative years, C holes were most often placed facing each other or turned inwards. In addition to round or C-holes, however, and as early as the first quarter of the 16th century, some viols adopted S-shaped holes, again facing inward. By the mid 1500s S-holes morphed into the classic F-shaped holes which were then used by both viols and members of the violin family alike. By the mid-late 16th century the viol's C-holes facing-direction was reversed, becoming outward-facing. That configuration then became a standard feature of what we call today “the classic” 17th century pattern. Yet another style of sound-holes found on some viols were a pair of flame-shaped Arabesques placed left and right. The lute and vihuela-like round or oval ports or rosettes became a standard feature of German and Austrian viols and was retained to the very end. That feature or “genetic marker” was exclusively unique to viols and reminded always of the viol's more ancient plucked vihuela roots, the "luteiness" of viols. Rosettes can refer for: A small, circular, device that can be awarded with medals (see: Rosette (decoration)). A type of plant with their leaves at an upset stem in a typical form. ...
Historians, makers, and players generally distinguish between Renaissance and Baroque viols. The latter are more heavily constructed and are fitted with a bass bar and sound post like modern stringed instruments. Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ...
Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ...
In a string instrument, the bass bar is a brace running from the foot of the neck to a position under the bridge, which bears much of the tension of the strings. ...
In a string instrument, the sound post is a small dowel inside the instrument directly under the treble end of the bridge, spanning the space between the top and back plates and held in place by friction. ...
Viol bows The bow is held underhand (palm up), similar to a German double bass bow grip, but away from the frog towards the balance point. The stick's curvature is generally convex as were violin bows of the period, rather than concave like a modern violin bow. The "frog" (which holds the bowhair and adjusts its tension) is also different from that of modern bows: whereas a violin bow frog has a "slide" (often made of mother of pearl) to hold the hair flat across the frog, viol bows have an open frog that allows more movement of the hair. This is essential to allow the traditional playing technique in which the player tensions the bow hair with one or two fingers of the right hand between the hair and the bow stick in order to control articulation and inflection while playing. A cello bow In music, a bow is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound. ...
Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...
Nacre, also known as mother of pearl, is a naturally-occurring organic-inorganic composite. ...
In music an articulation is a sign, direction, or performance technique which indicates or affects the transition or continuity between notes or sounds. ...
 Violone or great bass viol. Painting by Sir Peter Lely, c. 1640, Dutch-born English Baroque era painter. Note the Italianate shape, square shoulders and F-holes, apart from its massive size. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
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The violone (literally large viol in Italian, -one being the suffix for large) is a musical instrument of the viol family. ...
Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 - 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin. ...
Events December 1 - Portugal regains its independence from Spain and João IV of Portugal becomes king. ...
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Christopher Simpson (c. ...
Versions The gamba (as the name is often abbreviated for convenience) comes in six sizes: "pardessus de viole" (which is relatively rare), treble, alto, tenor, bass, and contrabass (also known as a violone). The treble is about the size of a violin (but with a deeper body); the standard bass is a bit smaller than a cello. The English made smaller basses known as division viols, and the smaller still Lyra viol. German consort basses were larger than the French instruments designed for continuo. Two closely related instruments include the baryton and the viola d'amore, although the latter is played under the chin, viola-fashion. The violone (literally large viol in Italian, -one being the suffix for large) is a musical instrument of the viol family. ...
The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ...
The violoncello, almost always abbreviated to cello, or cello (the c is pronounced as the ch in cheese), is a bowed stringed instrument, the lowest-sounding member of the violin family. ...
From The Division-viol, an explanation and illustration of proper posture while playing the viol. ...
Frontispiece from John Playfords Musicks recreation on the lyra viol The lyra viol is a small bass viol, used primarily in England in the seventeenth century. ...
A drawing of a baryton from 1880 The baryton is an obsolete bowed stringed instrument, in regular use up until the end of the 18th century. ...
Viola dAmore from the mid eighteenth century (Library of Congress collection) The viola damore (Italian: love viol) is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. ...
Tuning The standard tuning of the viol is in fourths, with a major third in the middle (like the standard Renaissance lute tuning). For bass viols the notes would be (from the lowest) D-G-c-e-a-d', with an additional low A for seven-string bass viols. For the tenor viol the tuning is G-c-f-a-d'-g'. The treble viol is one octave higher than the bass. The perfect fourth or diatessaron, abbreviated P4, is one of two musical intervals that span four diatonic scale degrees; the other being the augmented fourth, which is one semitone larger. ...
A major third is the larger of two commonly occuring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees. ...
A medieval era lute. ...
In music, an octave (sometimes abbreviated 8ve or 8va) is the interval between one musical note and another with half or double the frequency. ...
Alternate tunings (called scordatura) were often employed, particularly in the solo lyra viol style of playing, which also made use of many techniques such as chords and pizzicato, which were not generally used in consort playing. An unusual style of pizzicato was known as a thump. Lyra viol music was also commonly written in tablature. There is a vast repertoire of this music, some by well-known composers and much by anonymous ones. Frontispiece from John Playfords Musicks recreation on the lyra viol The lyra viol is a small bass viol, used primarily in England in the seventeenth century. ...
Typical fingering for a second inversion C major chord on a guitar. ...
Pizzicato is a method of playing a bowed string instrument by plucking the strings with the fingers, rather than using the bow. ...
Example of numeric vihuela tablature from the book Orphenica Lyra by Miguel de Fuenllana (1554). ...
Much viol music predates the adoption of equal temperament tuning by musicians. The moveable nature of the tied-on frets permit the viol player to make adjustments to the tempering of the instrument and some players and consorts adopt meantone temperaments which are arguably more suited to Renaissance music. There are several recognised fretting schemes in which the frets are spaced unevenly, in order to give "better-sounding" chords in a limited number of keys. In some of these schemes, the two strands of gut which comprise the fret are separated so that the player can finger a slightly sharper or flatter version of a note, to suit different circumstances. An equal temperament is a musical temperament -- that is, a system of tuning intended to approximate some form of just intonation -- in which an interval, usually the octave, is divided into a series of equal steps (equal frequency ratios). ...
Meantone temperament is a system of musical tuning. ...
In music theory, the key identifies the tonic triad, the chord, major or minor, which represents the final point of rest for a piece, or the focal point of a section. ...
Treatises
 Illustration from Sebastian Virdung's (German) 1511 treatise Musica Getutsch showing the lute family — plucked and bowed. This is the first printed illustration of a viol in history. Descriptions and illustrations of viols are found in numerous early 16th century musical treatises, including those authored by: Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
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Sebastian Virdung (born c. ...
- Sebastian Virdung: Musica getutsch, 1511
- Hans Judenkunig: Ain schone kunstliche Vunderwaisung, 1523
- Martin Agricola: Musica instrumentalis deutsch, 1528
- Hans Gerle: Musica Teusch (or Teutsch), 1532
Both Agricola's and Gerle's works were published in various editions.
There were then several important treatises concerning or devoted to the viol. The first was by Silvestro Ganassi: Regola Rubertina & Lettione Seconda (1542/3). Diego Ortiz published Trattado de Glosas (Rome 1553), an important book of music for the viol with both examples of ornamentation and pieces called Recercadas. In England, Christopher Simpson wrote the most important treatise, with the second edition being published in 1667 in parallel text (English and Latin). This has divisions at the back which are very worthwhile repertoire. A little later in England, Thomas Mace wrote Musick's Monument, which deals more with the lute, but also has an important section on the viol. After this the French treatises by Machy (1685), Rousseau (1687), Danoville (1687) and Loulie (1700) show further developments in playing technique. A treatise is a formal, systematic written analysis of a certain subject, more lengthy than an essay. ...
Diego Ortiz (ca. ...
Nickname: The Eternal City Motto: SPQR: Senatus PopulusQue Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area - City 1285 km² (580 sq mi) - Urban...
Christopher Simpson (c. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition; reiteration with changes. ...
This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Jean Rousseau (born: 1644; died 1699) was a French viol player, composer, and author remembered principally for his Traité de la viole (1687), a valuable source of information on the performance practices of his time. ...
Popularity Viols were second in popularity only to the lute (although some might dispute that secondness), and like lutes they were very often played by the common-man (or woman, or child), otherwise know as "amateurs". Affluent homes might have a so-called chest of viols which would contain one or more instruments of each size. Gamba ensembles, called consorts, were common in the 16th and 17th centuries, when they performed vocal music (consort songs or verse anthems) as well as that written specifically for instruments. Only the treble, tenor, and bass sizes were regular members of the viol consort, which consisted of three, four, five, or six instruments. Music for consorts was very popular in England in Elizabethan times, with composers such as William Byrd, John Dowland and during the reign of King Charles I by composers such as John Jenkins and William Lawes. The last music for viol consorts before their modern revival was probably that written in the early 1680s by Henry Purcell. Chest of viols is a term which was used primarily in the 16th and 17th centuries in England for either a consort of viols, or the specialized cabinet made to contain a small consort of viols, usually containing two treble, two tenor, and two bass viols, or alternately two treble...
A consort of instruments was a phrase used in England during the 17th century to indicate an instrumental ensemble. ...
(15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...
(16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...
Verse Anthem The verse anthem is a species of religious choral music distinct from the motet or full anthem (i. ...
Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification - by Athelstan AD 927 Area - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK) 50,346 sq mi Population - 2006 est. ...
Elizabeth I redirects here. ...
William Byrd William Byrd (c. ...
John Dowland (1563 – February 20, 1626) was an English composer, singer, and lutenist. ...
John Jenkins (1592-1678), English composer, was born in Maidstone, Kent, and died at Kimberley, Norfolk. ...
William Lawes (1602–1645) was an English composer and musician. ...
Events and Trends The Treaty of Ratisbon between France and England in 1684 ended the Age of Buccaneers. ...
Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (IPA: [1]; September 10 (?) [2], 1659–November 21, 1695), a Baroque composer, is generally considered to be one of Englands greatest composers—indeed, he has often been called Englands finest native composer. ...
 Painting by Abraham Bosse, Musical Society, French, c.1635. Subject matter depicts amateur social music making, featuring: lute, bass viol, and singers, with part-books spread around the table. This is also representative of one kind of broken consort, albeit with minimal instrumentation. Perhaps even more common than the pure consort of viols was the mixed or broken consort (also called Morley consort). Broken consorts combined a mixture of different instruments, a small band essentially, usually a gathering of social amateurs, and typically included such instruments as: a bass viol, a lute or orpharion (a wire-strung lute, metal-fretted, flat-backed, and festoon-shaped), a cittern, a treble viol (or violin as time progressed), sometimes an early keyboard instrument (virginal, spinet, or harpsichord), and whatever other instruments or players (or singers) might be available at the moment. The single most common and ubiquitous pairing of all was always and everywhere the lute and a bass viol -- for centuries, the inseparable duo. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
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A broken consort (also called Morley consort or English consort) is an instrumental ensemble that developed in Europe during the Renaissance. ...
A medieval era lute. ...
An orpharion, labeled cythara communis, from Kirchers Musurgia Universalis The orpharion is a plucked instrument from the renaissance. ...
A woodcut of a Cittern The cittern is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance, having evolved considerably since that time. ...
The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ...
A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ...
A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ. ...
Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is any of a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument currently called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ...
 Portrait of French composer and viola da gamba master Marin Marais, by Andre Bouys, 1704. The bass viola da gamba continued to be used into the 18th century as a solo (music) instrument and to complement the harpsichord in basso continuo). It was a favorite instrument of Louis XIV and acquired associations of both courtliness and Frenchness (in contrast to the Italianate violin). Composers such as Marin Marais, Johann Sebastian Bach, Antoine Forqueray, and Karl Friedrich Abel wrote virtuoso music for it. However, viols fell out of use as concert halls grew larger, and the louder and more penetrating tone of the violin family became more popular. In the last one hundred years or so, the viola da gamba and its repertoire were revived by early music enthusiasts, an early proponent being Arnold Dolmetsch. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
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Marin Marais Marin Marais (31 May 1656, Paris – 15 August 1728, Paris) was a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Lully and of the viol player Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe. ...
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Karl Friedrich Abel (December 22, 1723 – June 20, 1787) was a German composer of the Classical era. ...
Self-portrait, painted 1759 Thomas Gainsborough (May 14, 1727 (baptised) – August 2, 1788) was one of the most famous portrait and landscape painters of 18th century Britain. ...
(17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...
In music, solo means to play or sing alone. ...
Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is any of a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument currently called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ...
Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervallic content (the intervals which make up a sonority), later chords, in relation to a bass note. ...
Sun King redirects here. ...
Marin Marais Marin Marais (31 May 1656, Paris – 15 August 1728, Paris) was a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Lully and of the viol player Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe. ...
Places in which Bach resided throughout his life Johann Sebastian Bach (pronounced ) (21 March 1685 O.S. – 28 July 1750 N.S.) was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought...
Antoine Forqueray (c. ...
Karl Friedrich Abel (December 22, 1723 – June 20, 1787) was a German composer of the Classical era. ...
Early music is European classical music before the classical music era and after Ancient music. ...
(Eugène) Arnold Dolmetsch (24 February 1858 - 28 February 1940), was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey. ...
The viol today Today, the viol is attracting ever more interest, particularly amongst amateur players. This may be due to the increased availability of reasonably-priced instruments from companies using more automated production techniques, coupled with the greater accessibility of music editions. Also, the viol is regarded as a suitable instrument for adult learners; Percy Scholes wrote that the viol repertoire "belongs to an age that demanded musicianship more often than virtuosity." Percy Alfred Scholes (1877–1958) was a musician, journalist and prolific writer, whose best-known achievement was the compilation of the Oxford Companion to Music. ...
There are now many societies for people with an interest in the viol. The first was The Viola da Gamba Society, which was established in the United Kingdom in 1948 but has a worldwide membership. Since then, similar societies have been organized in several other nations. 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...
A living Museum of historical musical instruments was created by Prof José Vázquez of the university of vienna, as a center for the revival of the instrument. More than 100 instruments including approximately 50 historical viola da gambas in playable conditions are the property of this new concept of museum: Orpheon - Museum of Historical Instruments. All the instruments of this museum are played by the Orpheon Baroque Orchestra, the Orpheon consort, or by musicians who receive an instrument for a permanent loan. The instruments can be seen during temporary exhibitions[2]. They are studied and copied by violin makers contribuing to the extension of the general knowledge we have on the viola da gamba, its forms and the diffent techniques used for its manufacture.
The 1991 feature film Tous les matins du monde by Alain Corneau, based on the life of the Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe and Marin Marais, prominently featured these composers' music for the viola da gamba and brought viol music to new audiences. The film's bestselling soundtrack features performances by Jordi Savall, one of the best-known modern viola da gamba players. A reel of film, which predates digital cinematography. ...
Tous les matins du monde is a novel writen by Pascal Quignard in 1991. ...
Alain Corneau is a french movie director and writer. ...
Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (Born: 1640??, France, Died: 1690??, France) was a celebrated player of the viol. ...
Marin Marais Marin Marais (31 May 1656, Paris – 15 August 1728, Paris) was a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Lully and of the viol player Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe. ...
// In film formats, the sound track is the physical area of the film which records the synchronized sound. ...
Jordi Savall i Bernadet (born 1941, in Igualada, Catalonia) is a Spanish viol player and composer. ...
Among the foremost modern players of the viols are: José Vàzquez, Paolo Pandolfo, Jordi Savall, Wieland Kuijken, Vittorio Ghielmi, Hille Perl, and Guido Balestracci. Many fine modern viol consorts (ensembles) are also recording and performing, among them the groups Fretwork and Phantasm. The Baltimore Consort specializes in Renaissance song (mostly English) with broken consort (including viols). Paolo Pandolfo is an Italian virtuoso player, composer, and teacher of music for the viola da gamba. ...
Jordi Savall i Bernadet (born 1941, in Igualada, Catalonia) is a Spanish viol player and composer. ...
Vittorio Ghielmi is a viola da gamba player, born in 1968, in Milano, Italy. ...
Hille Perl Hille Perl is a German virtuoso performer of the viola da gamba and lirone. ...
Fretwork is a consort of viols based in England, United Kingdom. ...
Phantasm is a four member viol consort based in England founded in 1994 by Laurence Dreyfus. ...
The Baltimore Consort is a musical ensemble that performs a wide variety of Renaissance music. ...
New compositions for viols A number of contemporary composers have written for viols, and a number of soloists and ensembles have commissioned new music for viols. Fretwork has been most active in this regard, commissioning George Benjamin, Michael Nyman, Elvis Costello, Sir John Tavener, Orlando Gough, John Woolrich, Tan Dun, Alexander Goehr, Fabrice Fitch, Andrew Keeling, Thea Musgrave, Sally Beamish, Peter Sculthorpe, Gavin Bryars, Barrington Pheloung, Simon Bainbridge, Duncan Druce, Poul Ruders, Ivan Moody, and Barry Guy; many of these compositions may be heard on their 1997 CD Sit Fast. The Yukimi Kambe Viol Consort has commissioned and recorded many works by David Loeb, and the New York Consort of Viols has commissioned Bülent Arel, David Loeb, Daniel Pinkham, Tison Street, Frank Russo, Seymour Barab, William Presser, and Will Ayton, many of these compositions appearing on their 1993 CD Illicita Cosa. Other composers for viols include Moondog, Kevin Volans, Roy Whelden, Toyohiko Satoh, Mark Moya, Giorgio Pacchioni, and Michael Starke. Fretwork is a consort of viols based in England, United Kingdom. ...
George Benjamin (born January 31, 1960) is a British composer of classical music, and also a conductor, pianist and teacher. ...
Michael Nyman (born March 23, 1944) is a British minimalist composer, pianist, librettist and musicologist, perhaps best known for the many scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the British filmmaker Peter Greenaway. ...
Declan Patrick MacManus (born August 25, 1954, in London), better known by his stage name, Elvis Costello, is an English musician, singer, and songwriter of Irish ancestry. ...
Sir John Tavener (born 28 January 1944 in London) is an English composer. ...
Tan Dunn (pinyin: Tán Dùn, èšç›¾; born August 18, 1957) is a Chinese composer, most widely known as the Grammy and Oscar award winning composer for the soundtracks of the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. ...
Alexander Goehr (born 10 August 1932 in Berlin) is an English composer. ...
Andrew Keeling is a classical composer. ...
Thea Musgrave (1928-05-27– ) is a Scottish-American composer. ...
Sally Beamish (born 1956 in London) is a British composer. ...
Peter Sculthorpe (born April 29, 1929) is a noted Australian composer from Launceston, Tasmania. ...
Richard Gavin Bryars (born 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. ...
Barrington Pheloung is an Australian composer, now living in England. ...
Simon Bainbridge (born 1952 in London) is a British composer and professor of composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and the University of Louisville, Kentucky in the United States. ...
Poul Ruders (born March 27, 1949 in Ringsted) is a Danish composer. ...
Ivan Moody, British composer, was born in London in 1964, and studied composition with Brian Dennis at London University and privately with John Tavener. ...
Barry Guy (born 1947 in London) is a British composer and performer on the double bass. ...
David Loeb (b. ...
Bülent Arel (b. ...
Daniel Rogers Pinkham, Jr. ...
Frank Russo (June 18, 1959 - ) is an author and baseball researcher. ...
Moondog the nom de plume of Louis T. Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), was a composer, musician and poet, who also invented musical instruments - all this despite being blind, and, for three decades, homeless. ...
Kevin Volans is a composer. ...
Giorgio Pacchioni (b. ...
Michael Starke (1955-) American neo-baroque composer who has gained a following worldwide for his chamber works that showcase the recorder. ...
Electric viols In the early 21st century, the Ruby Gamba, a solid-body seven-string electric viola da gamba was developed by Ruby Instruments of Arnhem, the Netherlands. It has 21 tied nylon (adjustable) frets in keeping with the adjustable (tied gut) frets on traditional viols, and has an effective playing range of more than six octaves. The instrument has been adopted by such contemporary gambists as Gilles Zimmermann, Jay Elfenbein, and Tony Overwater. Arnhem is a municipality and a city in the east of the Netherlands, located on the Lower Rhine, and the capital of the Gelderland province. ...
Another new version of the viol is the TogaMan GuitarViol, which is essentially a solid-bodied electric tenor viol. Its tuning is the same as a guitar, whereas the Ruby Gamba is more traditionally oriented.
Similar names The viola da gamba is occasionally confused with the viola, the alto member of the modern violin family and a standard member of both the symphony orchestra and string quartet. The latter instrument came into being and was named long after the original late 15th century Italian violas. The earlier Italian viola family included the viola da mano and viola da gamba — being plucked and bowed viola guitars, respectively. The names viola (Italy) and vihuela (Spain) were essentially synonymous and interchangeable. Vihuela and viola are thus both synonymous names for the plucked guitar-like instrument usually called simply vihuela today. Viola da gamba, viola cum arculo, and vihuela de arco are some (true) alternate names for viols. Both names vihuela and viola were originally used in a fairly generic way, having included even early violins (viola da braccio) under their umbrella. It is common enough (and justifiable) today for modern players of viola da gamba to call their instruments violas, and likewise to call themselves violists. That the "alto violin" eventually usurped the name "viola" is unfortunate and is actually more the cause of any current confusion. Some other names for viols include: viole or violle (French). In Elizabethan English, the word "gambo" (for gamba) appears in many permutations, e.g. "viola de gambo", "gambo violl", "viol de gambo", or "viole de gambo", used by such notables as: Tobias Hume, John Dowland, and William Shakespeare in Twelfth Night. The viola (in French, alto; in German Bratsche) is a string instrument played with a bow. ...
The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ...
Early Modern English is a name for the modern English language the way it was used between around 1485 and 1650. ...
Tobias Hume (possibly 1569 - April 16, 1645) was an English composer, viol player and soldier. ...
John Dowland (1563 – February 20, 1626) was an English composer, singer, and lutenist. ...
Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...
Twelfth Night has at least three meanings: Twelfth Night (holiday), celebrated by some Christians Twelfth Night, or What You Will, a comedic play by William Shakespeare Twelfth Night (band), a progressive rock band This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share...
Media Image File history File links Williamsburg_Cellist. ...
References - Bryan, John (2005). "In Search of the Earliest Viols: Interpreting the Evidence from a Painting by Lorenzo Costa." The Viola da Gamba Society of Great Britain, Newsletter, no. 131.
- Crum, Alison, with Sonia Jackson (1992). Play the Viol: The Complete Guide to Playing the Treble, Tenor and Bass Viol. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-816311-8.
- Woodfield, Ian (1984). "The Early History of the Viol." Cambridge University Press. (Documents the connections between the vihuela and the viol.)
Orpheus playing a vihuela. ...
See also - Jordi Savall — a viol player and composer, one of the major figures in the field of early music
Jordi Savall i Bernadet (born 1941, in Igualada, Catalonia) is a Spanish viol player and composer. ...
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