The 20th Century Viola da Gamba

Malagoli, Matteo, Trento Vocal Ensemble

97568

The viola da gamba is not dead, despite a claim to the contrary in the Dictionary of Musicians by German composer, organist and cellist Ernst Ludwig Gerber (1746–1819). From the 16th century to the end of the 18th, the viola da gamba experienced a true apotheosis, becoming the favoured instrument for bourgeois entertainment, particularly in Germany, France, Italy and England, even if the instrument’s origins lie in the Spanish Renaissance. Because of these associations with the aristocracy, but also because of advances in musical style that demanded more from the role of the lower member of the string family, the gamba lost ground to the newer cello during the French Revolution.

Limited interest in the instrument persisted through the 19th century, until a rebirth occurred thanks to German cellists Christian Döbereiner (1874–1961) and Paul Grümmer (1879–1965), and later the Austrian Karl Maria Schwamberger (1905–1967) and Swiss cellist August Wenzinger (1905–1996), a pupil of Grümmer’s and a founder, in 1925, of one of Germany’s first early music ensembles. Wenzinger was appointed cello and viola da gamba teacher at Basle’s new Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where Giacomo Nones (1929–2017) and Jordi Savall (b.1941) would become his pupils.

Works:

•Christian Döbereiner: Capriccio in Style of Marin Marais (from Method) for Solo Viol
•Christian Döbereiner: Sarabanda in A Major for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord
•Christian Döbereiner: Menuett in D Major for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord
•Christian Döbereiner: Bourrée in D Major for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord
•Alexander Tcherepnin: Sonata da chiesa, Op. 101 for Viola da Gamba and Organ
•Giuseppe Selmi: Il trovadorico [The Troubadour]: I. Rhapsodic Impression
•Giuseppe Selmi: Il trovadorico [The Troubadour]: II. Short Toccata for Solo Viol (1977)
•Giuseppe Selmi: Allegro vivace all’ungherese for Viola da Gamba and Harp (1978)
•Giuseppe Selmi: Tirolese - Allegro brillante for Viola da Gamba and Harp
•Giuseppe Selmi: Marcetta cinese (1981) for Viola da Gamba and Little Harp
•Gregorian Chant: Kyrie from Mass Orbis Factor
•Giacomo Nones: Fantasy on Kyrie from Mass Orbis factor for Solo Viol
•Giacomo Nones: Partite Diverse on Choral Wass Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan for Viola da Gamba and Organ
•Giacomo Nones: Algoritmi for 2 Viols
•Riccardo Giavina: Prelude, Fantasy and Postlude in Old Style for 3 Viols

CD x 1

Brilliant Classics

3.11.2025

5063758975681