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Thursday 20th August 2020


Ibrahim Aziz
viola da gamba

Other artistes include: John Dornenburg, gamba • Hille Perl, gamba • Lee Santana, lute • Andrew Lawrence-King, harp • Katarzyna Kowalik, square piano • Chelys Consort • Wei En Chan, countertenor • Mariah Bizzi, keyboards • Il Festino Baroque Ensemble •  Jakob David Rattinger, viola da gamba • Lina Tur Bonet, Baroque violin • Nadja Lesaulnier, harpsichord • Voices of Music

Music by: Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe le Père  ♦  Mozart  ♦  Purcell  ♦  Anthony Holborne  ♦  Byrd  ♦  Buxtehude  ♦  Corelli  ♦ Scarlatti  ♦  Marin Marais  ♦  Carlos Martínez Gil

Starts: when you are ready
latecomers will be admitted at your personal discretion

Listening position:

Relax with your choice(s) of beverage, in a place of your choosing, alone, or with company
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Ibrahim Aziz
viola da gamba


Programme

Introduction to Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe le Père
Written, narrated, performed and produced by Ibrahim Aziz    (19m47)


Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe le Père (c1640-1700)
Suite for Viola da Gamba    (6m15)
1 Allemande    ♦    2 Courante

performed by John Dornenburg


Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe le Père
Les Couplets (Bergeronnette Preste)    (9m45)
The Couplets or Variations
(on a ground bass of the song Bergeronnette Preste Agile Wagtail)

performed by Hille Perl, viola da gamba
Lee Santana, lute  •  Andrew Lawrence-King, harp


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)    (1m50)
Violin Sonata in G for Keyboard and Violin (or Flute) and violoncello K11 (1766)
II Allegro

performed by:
Ibrahim Aziz, viola da gamba, by Barak Norman (London, 1712)
Katarzyna Kowalik, square piano, by Adam Beyer (London, 1777)


Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Fantasy a 4 in A minor    (4m41)

performed by Chelys Consort: Ibrahim Aziz & Alison Kinder, treble
Kate Conway, tenor  •  Sam Stadlen & Jenny Bullock, bass


Henry Purcell   (2m40)
from the Ode for Queen Mary's Birthday: Come Ye Sons of Art Z323 (1694)
III countertenor duet: Sound the trumpet!

performed by: Ibrahim Aziz, keyboard,
Wei En Chan, countertenor 1 & 2, Ibrahim Aziz, viola da gamba


Anthony Holborne (c1645-1602)    (1m28)
The Night Watch (before 1600)

performed by the Chelys Consort


William Byrd (c1539/40 or 1543 - 1623)
Fantasia Two parts in one in the 4th above (before 1600)   (6m04)

performed by the Chelys Consort


Dieterich Buxtehude (1637/39 - 1707)
Sonata in D major for viola da gamba, violone and continuo BuxWV 267 (possibly 1690s)    (8m34)
Adagio  •  Allegro  •  Solo  •  Allegro  •  Allegro  •  Presto

performed by members of Il Festino Baroque Ensemble:
Alison Kinder, viola da gamba •  Jan Zahourek, violone • Claire Williams, harpsichord


Folia, variations by:
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)    (6m46)
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Marin Marais (1656-1728)

performed by Jakob David Rattinger, viola da gamba (director)
Lina Tur Bonet, Baroque violin • Nadja Lesaulnier, harpsichord

Anthony Holborne
The Fairie Round    (3m08)

performed by Voices of Music: (left to right) Hanneke van Proosdij, recorder
Carla Moore & Gabrielle Wunsch, baroque violins
Lisa Grodin, baroque viola • Elisabeth Reed, viola da gamba • David Tayler, archlute


Carlos Martínez Gil (b1959)
Elegía a la memoria de las víctimas del covid-19 (Toledo, Spain, 4th April 2020)
Elegy in Memory of the Victims of COVID-19    (4m24)

performed and recorded by Ibrahim Aziz
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Introduction by Ibrahim Aziz:

The viola da gamba is a fretted, bowed string instrument with six or seven strings, which was popular during the Renaissance and Baroque periods (16th & 17th centuries). It was superseded by the violin family in the 18th century.

The viola da gamba is not an orchestral instrument but rather one played in small ensembles, or in consorts with other viols, with up to five or six other players.

There are various sizes called treble, tenor, and bass. In the 18th century, the bass viola da gamba, or bass viol, was used as a basso continuo instrument. A lot of solo music was written for it at this time, including by famous composers such as JS Bach, Handel and Telemann.

Frenchman Marin Marais was a leading player of and composer for the instrument. He published about 600 works between 1686 and 1725. The viol was still heard in concerts in London as late as the 1780s. Artist and Royal Academician Thomas Gainsborough was a keen amateur player. He painted portraits of his friend, the composer Carl Friedrich Abel, who was one of the last professional players of the instrument until the 20th century's Early Music revival.

Ibrahim Aziz, viola da gamba
During lockdown Ibrahim wrote, narrated, performed, and produced a video about the composer Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe le Père.

This 20-minute video also tells us about the viola da gamba and its music. Sainte-Colombe was responsible for three key developments for the viola da gamba:
  • position of the left hand
  • the change from pure gut to silver-wound strings
  • addition of a 7th string to this traditionally 6-stringed instrument.

Feel free to skip this video if you would prefer to get straight into the music. There will be another opportunity to watch it at the end of today's selection.
An Introduction to Monsieur
de Sainte-Colombe le Père   (19m47)

Written, narrated, performed and produced by Ibrahim Aziz
Our concert opens with the first two movements of a suite by Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, and a set of variations on a ground bass (a repeating bass line).

Sainte-Colombe is believed not to have enjoyed public performance. Such performances as he gave tended to take place in his house, often with his two daughters, Brigide and Françoise, who he had taught to play the viola da gamba.
Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe le Père (c1640-1700)
Suite for Viola da Gamba    (6m15)
1 Allemande    ♦    2 Courante

performed by John Dornenburg

The painting
←   is
Le dessert de gaufrettes,
or Dessert Wafers,  by Lubin Baugin (c1612-1663)
Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe le Père
Les Couplets (Bergeronnette Preste)    (9m45)
The Couplets or Variations (on a ground bass of the song Bergeronnette Preste Agile Wagtail

performed by Hille Perl, viola da gamba
Lee Santana, lute  •  Andrew Lawrence-King, harp
We have heard the viola da gamba as a solo instrument, and in a trio. Next we shall hear Ibrahim Aziz accompanied by an historic square piano, in the collection at the Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, London. Forgive the background hum of visitors. The recording was made at one of the museum's regular Hear It Live! Thursday afternoon free concerts.

Mozart included an optional cello part which simply doubled the bass notes of the keyboard.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)    (1m50)
Violin Sonata in G for Keyboard and Violin (or Flute) and violoncello K11 (1766)
II Allegro

performed by Ibrahim Aziz, viola da gamba by Barak Norman (1712) • Katarzyna Kowalik, square piano by Adam Beyer (1777)
The first section of this Fantasy by Purcell will serve to calm us after the allegro we've just heard.

You will notice here that there are three sizes of viol.  Even the smallest, the treble, is played between the knees, rather than under the chin like the modern violin and viola.

The Chelys Consort performed to a very enthusiastic audience in one of our August 2018 concerts at St John's Old Chapel, on a day when the rain could be heard beating on the roof! Ibrahim, Kate Conway, and Sam Stadlen were among the players that day.

Imagine that. Great lumps of rain, positively beating down, in August!  Let's enjoy Purcell:

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Fantasy a 4 in A minor    (4m41)

performed by: Chelys Consort
Ibrahim Aziz & Alison Kinder, treble
Kate Conway, tenor  •  Sam Stadlen & Jenny Bullock, bass
An important role of the viola da gamba is that of continuo instrument, providing or reinforcing the bass line. This role is as vital to the musicality of a work as the foundations are to the longevity and stability of a building.

To demonstrate, here is a short item by Purcell, from his ode Come ye sons of art. We shall hear the lively clarion calls of the counter-tenor duet Sound the trumpet!
Henry Purcell   (2m40)
from the Ode for Queen Mary's Birthday: Come Ye Sons of Art Z323 (1694)
III countertenor duet: Sound the trumpet!

performed by: Mariah Bizzi, keyboard, Wei En Chan, countertenor 1 & 2, Ibrahim Aziz, viola da gamba
in their homes in London, Singapore, and London
I'm still in the mood for more from the Chelys Consort.

A consort is a group of viols, whereas when they play with other instrument families, such as with wind or harpsichord, that is known either by the number of instruments - trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, or by the term ensemble.

This lovely piece by Anthony Holborne is definitely worth hearing. His life story has been pieced together by a series of coincidences. In 1562 an Anthony Holburne entered Pembroke College Cambridge, and a person of that name was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1565.

The certainties in his life include: he had a brother named William, he married Elisabeth Marten in 1584, and a piece of his music, The Fairie Round, recorded on CD in 1976, went into space on both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 as a representation of human culture and endeavour, for whomever to find and experience.

Closer to home, here are the Chelys Consort, in the same line-up as before:
Anthony Holborne (c1645-1602)    (1m28)
The Night Watch (before 1600)

performed by the Chelys Consort, in the Morrell Room, Streatly, Berkshire
Just one more piece from Chelys. Here they are at Northwood, Middlesex, with a Fantasia by William Byrd.

There is so much to say about Byrd, Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, a prolific composer of music sacred and secular, for voices, keyboards, and for other instruments. Despite all that, we are not sure about his birth year, just that he was a brilliant composer and an influence on many composers, both contemporary and later:
William Byrd (c1539/40 or 1543 - 1623)
Fantasia Two parts in one in the 4th above (before 1600)   (6m04)

performed by the Chelys Consort, in Northwood, Middlesex
We have not yet heard from Buxtehude so I shall correct that oversight with the next piece of music.

Buxtehude was organist of the Marienkirche (St Mary's Church) in Lübeck, the leading city of the Hanseatic League. Lübeck stands close to the Baltic coast of Northern Germany, and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Buxtehude maintained a tradition of Abendmusik (Evening Concerts) established by his predecessor, Tunder. Evening concerts in this wealthy city were very well attended and attracted musicians from a wide area.

Indeed, in 1705 JS Bach, as a young man of twenty, walked from Arnstadt to Lübeck, a distance of more than 250 miles (400 km), and stayed nearly three months to hear the Abendmusik concerts, meet and hear the pre-eminent Lübeck organist, and, as Bach explained, "to comprehend one thing and another about his art."

The piece of Buxtehude's art we shall hear is a sonata for viola da gamba, violone, and harpsichord. Violone is a frustrating term as it has several meanings. In this instance it means double bass viol. You will also notice that we have moved beyond consorts and are now listening to an ensemble.
Dieterich Buxtehude (1637/39 - 1707)
Sonata in D major for viola da gamba, violone and continuo BuxWV 267 (possibly 1690s)    (8m34)
Adagio  •  Allegro  •  Solo  •  Allegro  •  Allegro  •  Presto

performed by members of Il Festino Baroque Ensemble: Alison Kinder, viola da gamba •  Jan Zahourek, violone
Claire Williams, harpsichord, in London's, St James Smith Square, in November 2009
The theme shown above is a famous theme called Folia. In fact, it is one of the oldest European themes still known and used in music-making today.

More recently you may know it from the Taizé chant Laudate Dominum. The same theme makes a brief appearance in the 2nd movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Its structure is embedded in many traditional Swedish folk tunes.

This theme, first known at the end of the 1400s, is found in the final section of Tangerine Dream's Force Majeure. Rachmaninoff and Liszt used it too.

Looking back, closer to its origins, we have here a recording of variations on Folia by three celebrated composers of a different era - Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro Scarlatti and master viol player Marin Marais.
Folia, variations by:
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)    (6m46)
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Marin Marais (1656-1728)

performed by Jakob David Rattinger, viola da gamba (director)
Lina Tur Bonet, Baroque violin • Nadja Lesaulnier, harpsichord



Having mentioned the story of Anthony Holborne's The Fairie Round going into space for our distant neighbours to enjoy (or possibly puzzle over) I should let you hear a performance of it.

So just before we reach our final item here it is, at its liveliest.
Anthony Holborne
The Fairie Round    (3m08)

performed by Voices of Music: (left to right) Hanneke van Proosdij, recorder
Carla Moore & Gabrielle Wunsch, baroque violins
Lisa Grodin, baroque viola • Elisabeth Reed, viola da gamba • David Tayler, archlute
We finish with a highly contemporary work, written and performed during lockdown in both Spain and the UK. This is Carlos Martínez Gil's Elegy in Memory of the Victims of COVID:
Carlos Martínez Gil (b1959)
Elegía a la memoria de las víctimas del covid-19 (Toledo, Spain, 4th April 2020)
Elegy in Memory of the Victims of COVID-19    (4m24)

performed and recorded by Ibrahim Aziz, viola da gamba, in London, on 5th May 2020


If this instrument or its period have sparked your interest you will find more to listen to or to study below.

First, here, for those who skipped it earlier, is the promised repeat of Ibrahim Aziz' Introduction to Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe le Père, and more about the viola da gamba, including musical excerpts.
An Introduction to Monsieur
de Sainte-Colombe le Père   (19m47)

Written, narrated, performed and produced by Ibrahim Aziz

After-thoughts - Des pensées après-coup

At the Royal Conservatoire The Hague they have been working on an interesting viola da gamba project.

Bringing together the gamba students of the Conservatoire with the composition students, a great deal of learning through interchange of experience, knowledge, and ideas is taking place.

This fascinating 13-minute video, made in June this year, reveals all:
Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag
Royal Conservatoire The Hague

Project Participants:

Class of composition
Hugo Bell
Yonatan Ron
Vojtech Sembera
Alexandros Gkonis
Arie Verheul van de Ven
Coached by Trevor Grahl

Class of viola da gamba
Alex Baker
Anna Lachegyi
Stefan Woudenberg
Magdalena Kasprzyk-Dobija
Coached by Mieneke van der Velden
Further resources:

► Click here to explore the Horniman Museum channel on youtu.be - including the Hear It Live! concerts

► The great English composer William Byrd's entry on wikipedia
 

We are indebted to Ibrahim Aziz for his assistance. You will find more of his playing on youtu.be and his website is: www.ibiaziz.com

Presenter: Peter Steadman
Assisted by: Richard Miller & Jane Forrester


We hope you have enjoyed your Viola da Gamba  Concert Online


Watch your email and this website for next week's Military Band concert

comments welcome:  musiconthursdays@gmail.com
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Alban Berg Quartett
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