 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
|
||||||||
|
Chelys Australis Volume 1, 2001
Divisions for Solo Viol
Francis Withy - Edited by Patrice Connelly, Saraband Music SM25
On first thoughts when viewing the Saraband web site catalogue of publications one may be tempted to skip over these fascinating divisions for a more known composer than Francis Withy. But after playing through the divisions I began to realise that Withy must have been a player of great ability and a composer of some skill. The divisions as mentioned in the Forward have an obvious influence of Simpson but there is also the influence of lyra viol music and other composers of the period.  The first piece, a set of Divisions in F, begins in triple time with simple harmony based around mostly the tonic, dominant and subdominant but made more interesting by the early introduction of hemiola rhythms in bar 2. These harmonies are filled out in the first division with some fine chordal writing well suited for any player wishing to improve their chordal playing.The next 6 divisions, while musically reasonably predictable, give a good build up to the 8th and 9th divisions in which Withy gives the player the chance to battle with the increased technical difficulty and let off the fireworks. The excitement of these two divisions does not mean that they are beyond the ability of most players as the do appear to fit well under the fingers and are well written for the instrument. The following divisions show the versatility of the compositional style of Withy. While not, I believe, in the same class as Simpson as a composer, each division manages to maintain the interest of the player and hopefully an audience. An interesting difference between Simpson and Withy is his ability to run one division into the next without separating each one, creating a very fluid whole. The Divisions in G Minor have some remarkable similarities to the F major. The rhythms of the ground are the same and the first divisions are again chordal playing, but the contrast between G minor and G dorian mode add enough contrast to give these divisions a place of their own. Again, the divisions give the player a lot of scope to show their ability both musically and technically without being in the realms of impossibility. The A Minor Divisions, I believe, is a more complete work than the previous two much longer divisions. The ground is a little more interesting both harmonically and rhythmically and this seems to give better results in the divisions. Again the first division is chordal but there are more moving parts and a lot of the lower parts are left to resonate, giving the player that feeling that only a Violist can achieve. I feel that this piece also is more likely to be accepted by a modern audience as it is shorter and more interesting in the divisions than the earlier pieces. The Division in D minor for violin gives the reader a great insight into the changing styles of music in the period after the arrival of Thomas Baltzar in England. Peter Holman's interesting book on this subject (Four and Twenty Fiddlers: the violin at the English Court, 1540-1690) is mentioned in the footnotes of the forward. Holman gives comparisons of divisions for violin by composers such as Davis Mell and others, and interested readers could also compare the Withy Divisions. The edition is well laid out and the musical text is clear and the editorial policy has kept interference to a minimum. This leads to a plain but very clear text; well laid out with the music well spaced and very readable. The notes in the forward are concise, informed and scholarly yet still readable and interesting. Page turns in the F major and D minor divisions are unavoidable which leaves the problem for the editor and publisher of "do we create the fold out type pages one sees in expensive editions or do we keep cost down and leave the copying of a spare page up to performers themselves?" I'm glad the decision went the way of economy as all violists need music that is both playable and affordable. Paul Scott Captaine Humes Musicall Humors
Tobias Hume - The Bass Viol Music from The First Part of Ayres (1605) Edited by Patrice Connelly Saraband Music SM6
My first hearing of the music of Tobias Hume goes back to the The National Easter Viol School Sydney in 1980 when Robert Oliver performed Hume's Song Tobacco. I'm sure all present will remember the performance. Since then I have heard many different performances of Hume's music and have never quite gotten round to playing any myself.  Reading through the edition of the Bass Viol music from The First part of Ayres I felt again that feeling of joy from playing music written for an instrument with as much beauty and resonance as the bass viol. These pieces really do capture the heart and let the instrument sing at its best.The 35 pieces in this collection are perhaps not the most famous of the pieces of Hume but are full of Hume's unmistakable melancholic style with various pieces with colourful titles such as The New Knights Humour or A Toy for a Gallant. Several pieces within this collection are real gems. My favourites being A Meditation (78), and three lovely pieces in F major A Freeman's Song (79) Give you God Morrow Madam (82) and I am Glad she is Come (80-81). All of the pieces in this collection are very player friendly. The technical demands are well within the reach of most players and as such would be an asset to any teacher wishing to give students quality repertoire while they develop their technique and musicality. As well as being player friendly I believe that these pieces could hold quite an appeal for an audience hungry to hear the beauty and resonance of the bass viol in an intimate environment. The edition is very clear and readable with no superfluous editorial meddling. The forward includes a great deal about Hume the soldier/musician and gives us a good deal of information to allow the player to feel comfortable with the music. There are times, I feel, that perhaps we can tolerate more editorial "advice" with our music, especially if these works are to be used with students and particularly students without teachers. The inclusion of fingering which would help to facilitate the positioning of the hand in preparation for a chord etc. would be of assistance, (after all Marais et al included fingering which still helps us 300 years later) and even some informed bowing to keep us more in touch with style and so on. It has been my experience that these inclusions would give the average player a greater insight of the music and its style and allow the editor to show how they would play the music. But then again, most of us would disregard it anyway. I hope that with these pieces being more available they will be performed and played more regularly. They fill an important area of repertoire for all lonely violist: music for solo bass viol. Paul Scott The Tenor Viol Book
Arranged by Patrice Connelly, Saraband Music SM15
When I first thought about the concept of a Tenor viol book I was reminded of my beginnings as a viol player with a small renaissance tenor viol. As a beginner I played as many things as I could get my hands on, from bass parts, violin sonatas to Natalie Dolmetsch tutor pieces and other things. None was totally suited. It was in a variety of clefs, little of it suited the instrument being either too high or too low and mostly it sounded rotten (I still blame the music). My solution was to buy a proper viol. So what does the tenor viol specialist play?  The answer it seems is "The Tenor Viol Book".The book is for the serious player. The forward insists that it is not a tutor and the pieces are not graded. The pieces contained are of a high technical standard including the Bach Sonata BWV 1027 (it used to be in G), as well as pieces by Hume, Simpson, Le Sieur de Machy and Caix D'Hervelois and others. The biggest problem for tenor players is the availability of accompaniments at the correct pitch. The Tenor Viol Book includes accompaniments so the tenor player can prepare major works such as the Bach Sonata and actually perform with the accompaniment. The edition itself is well presented with quality paper that will stand the rigours of the practice stand. The music is clear and uncluttered and easily readable. The editorial comments are concise and to the point. All fingerings are original, but I feel that in a edition of this kind there is room for fingering in passages that would help the player, particularly in the Bach. There is obviously a great need for this type of work and in the twentieth century we are very used to transcriptions of every kind. (My favorite is Corelli Violin Sonatas For Trombone.) I believe there is also a need for a graded tutor for tenor viol to put together pieces in a graded order for beginners on the tenor viol. Paul Scott Mr Leonard's Lessons
Selected solos for unaccompanied bass viol arranged by Ian Gammie, Corda Music Publications, 2001. Available from Saraband Music
s book of 18 pieces is an interesting addition to the solo bass viol repertoire, and could well be useful to teachers as well as players looking for some light concert pieces or demonstration works. The Mr Leonard in question is one of Ian Gammie's pupils, and the idea for the book arose from some arrangements which were devised for him. Ian Gammie's preface gives us more background.  "I have eschewed the easier course of transcribing existing works in favour of a self-indulgence, - namely to make my own arrangements from tried and trusted tunes of the Elizabethan era. Thus you will find here no urtext - those players who disdain editions which are not sanctified by a 400 year old manuscript and copious pages of musicological footnotes will be disappointed. Nevertheless, these are all original tunes, arranged to lie reasonably well under fingers and bow, a mixture of chordal and melodic line, with indiscriminate borrowings from versions for lute, keyboard or cittern, plus a whiff of personal invention."Many readers will know at least some of the tunes: All in a Garden Green, Loth to depart, Robin, Watkins Ale, The Carman's Whistle, Goe from my Window, Fortune my Foe, Daphne and others. It is a pleasant mix of pieces, and with an added benefit that one piece: Robin is transposed up a fourth into alto clef, allowing tenor players a brief opportunity to muscle in, or the bass player to switch instruments to impress an audience! The standard is generally intermediate, with some more towards advanced, and as a teacher, I would see these pieces as a useful prelude to some of the Simpson divisions, as well as examples of how to improvise on a basic tune. Though I've never met Mr Gammie, I have been his Australian agent for some time, and know that he is an expert plucker as well as bower (he plays lute, viols and violone). His background shows in these arrangments which feature plenty of chords, plus copious double stopping and a use of all six strings. Only in one or two pieces does one venture above first position for a couple of notes. These pieces vary in length from 16 bars to over a page. Occasionally the alto clef is used. Some pieces, like Blame not my lute are a single tune, but the majority are the tune with variations. In playing through the book, I found that most of them do "lie reasonably well under fingers and bow", though there were one or two places where I found the arrangement sounding a little awkward in the choice of double stops, particularly bars 2 and 3 of the first piece All in a Garden Green. I wondered if this was to allow use of an open string to make life easier for the student, but other pieces in the book use the particular double stops which I would prefer. The issue of fingering and bowing is also dealt with in the preface: "It will be necessary to plan a viable bowing with appropriate re-takes, tucks and light slurs - no editorial bowing has been inserted as there are often several, equally good solutions. Left hand fingering will generally be self-evident ..." The edition is clean of almost all indications except the odd suggested mordent and a couple of trills (crosses) marked in the later pieces. As I was sight reading I found myself wishing for just a little more in the way of markings, and I think an inexperienced student without access to a teacher would be floundering somewhat. However, given that this book is not specifically targeted at students, I think his rationale is understandable: I fully agree that there are usually many solutions. I have also encountered this issue with my own editions, and have usually decided against markings for the same reasons. I regard this edition as welcome, and I can imagine it being dipped into for encore pieces, as well as teaching pieces, as examples of the technique of melodic improvisation, chord and double stopping practice and as cheerful, tuneful popular Elizabethan pieces for pleasure. Patrice Connelly The 4 Seasons
Christopher Simpson - Les Voix Humaines with Jay Bernfeld, Mike Fentross and Réjean Poirier. ATMA Classique. ACD 2 2182. Available in Australia through Sonart
A recording which is exclusively devoted to the music of Christopher Simpson is a rarity. I have only one other on my shelf, which is devoted to The Monthes, plus a few extra divisions, and which I reviewed in 1992 for the VdGSA. It is good to see another Simpson recording, this time by the Canadian bass viol duo Les Voix Humaines, with three guests: Jay Bernfeld on treble viol, Mike Fentross playing theorbo alongside the organist Réjean Poirier.  This CD should, for those few remaining doubters who believe that Simpson only wrote treatises and a few difficult divisions, convince all and sundry that Christopher Simpson was no slouch as a composer. These four sets, probably inspired by John Jenkins. Fantasia-Suites, were most likely written in the 1660s, but, as Bruce Haynes points out in his introductory notes, they were still being discussed and written about a generation later by Jenkins and Purcell. Each suite consists of a Fantasia, an Ayre and a Galliard. They are harmonically complex and interesting music, as well as technically challenging. The sonority of a treble viol with two bass viols plus theorbo and organ is very special and distinctive, yet the balance between the players on this recording is finely tuned so that you enjoy the overall effect rather than straining to hear any one line.But first a little on Christopher Simpson, whose biographical details may not be familiar to all. He was born in Yorkshire around 1605, the son of shoemaker Christopher Simpson and his wife Dorothie. Being a Catholic family, he is associated with other Catholic families, such as that of Sir Robert Bolles at Scampton, Lincolnshire. Bolles was his friend and patron and it was for him that The Division Violist was written and published in 1659. Jenkins, Coleman and Locke all contributed laudatory verses to the book, and it was popular enough to receive a second edition, published in 1667. However, by that time Sir Robert Bolles had died, and Simpson received somewhat short shrift from the son and heir, Sir John Bolles. Also in the 1660s, Simpson published A Compendium of Practical Musick, which received praise from Matthew Locke. As well as those divisions well known to students at the back of The Division Viol, Simpson composed many airs for treble instruments, bass viol and lyra viol, as well as divisions for two bass viols, treble and bass viol, and the three part works: The Monthes, and The Seasons. A catch: I saw fair Cloris, also appears in the Compendium. Simpson died sometime around 1669. To the CD now, and the performance is first-rate. The musicians exploit the colours of their instruments creatively and the ensemble is extremely pleasing. The balance is good, their tempi convincing. The theorbo and organ blend beautifully with the viols, and at times one or other gets their chance to shine. Despite the fact that the instrumentation is the same for all tracks, I did not tire of the sounds, and easily found sufficient contrast of timbre. I was particularly enchanted by the theorbo in track 10, where its lower strings were employed to considerable effect. My only small quibble, and a personal one at that, is that I find the sound and style of performance a little more French than I would have expected for English music. The introduction notes that "Christopher Simpson lived in a time when the distinctions between French and English style were less clear than they were to become in the next century. The similarity can be seen in the common stock of figures and even ornaments. Neither country was conscious of this similarity, because it was not yet an issue." I take the remarks as applying to the composition, not the performance, but then it is impossible to know exactly how English viol players sounded. I am completely prepared to enjoy this performance notwithstanding, and I feel it is quite likely that seventeenth century audiences would have done likewise. The liner notes are fairly attractively presented, though I would have preferred a slightly more extensive essay on Simpson and the music. We are given lots of black & white photos of all the performers, plus short biographies, but no mention of the cover painting, nor of the instruments used. As usual with Canadian productions, the booklet is in both French and English. The recording was made in Québec in 1998, and I hope it remains in the catalogues for some time to come. I recommend this CD for its excellent performance, the beauty of the music, and as an antidote for those struggling students who have spent hours attempting to master Simpson's exercises and divisions from The Division Viol. If only all viol players sounded like these, we'd conquer the world! Patrice Connelly A Pill to Purge Melancholy - Music for two lyra viols
The Alchemy Ensemble - Brian Capleton and Angela Cranmore. Amarilli Classical, AM-EBU-01 Recorded 2001
Lyra viol music CDs aren't that thick on the ground. True, Tobias Hume has been recorded by various artists in the last few years (Paolo Pandolfo, Miriam Morris, Les Voix Humaines) but little other music of this genre has been available. Therefore, this new release from Brian Capleton's own label is very welcome.  Those of you who have ventured into retuning your viols may have discovered the piece which is the title of the CD, but for those who have not, Thomas Ford included it in his Musicke of Sundrie Kindes (1607). In fact the CD includes all of Ford's music for two lyra viols from this book, all of which is in Bandora Set (an F major tuning). Interspersed are a few pieces in normal tuning by Tobias Hume, and a few anonymous pieces from John Merro's books, Oxford. The Ford pieces are grouped in brackets with the other items sprinkled in between.Quite a bit has been written about Tobias Hume, but we hear less about Ford. His date of birth is unknown, but he died in London late in 1648. He was a musician to Prince Henry in 1611, and later was one of the lutes and voices to Prince Charles, serving him up to the Civil War in 1642. Given this record of service, he is bound to have known many of the composers of consort music which we play: William Lawes, Coprario, John Ward and so on. Ford left us a small but interesting collection of music, mostly in manuscript and consisting of 19 anthems, sacred canons, some thirty five partsongs in three parts, and some consort music, mostly in five parts. His only published book was Musicke of Sundrie Kindes which is in two parts, the first for four voices to the lute, orpharion or bass viol; the second for two lyra viols. Tobias Hume is represented on the CD by The Spirite of Musicke, which is in Bandora Set like the Ford pieces, and two works in bass viol tuning: The Duke of Holstones delight and Touch me sweetely. All come from Hume's First Part of Ayres of 1605. Another track or two by Hume would have been welcome, but it is good to hear these pieces. The three anonymous pieces on the CD are well worth listening to. They are Dulce Auditum, Redes Pavin, The Galliard, all reasonably substantial pieces and good choices which fit well with the Ford and Hume pieces. Now to the performers on this CD. Brian Capleton studied with Alison Crum and Philip Thorby at Trinity College of Music, and with Richard Boothby (of Fretwork) and Gerald Gifford at the Royal College of Music. Angela Cranmore studied music at Oxford and viol with Alison Crum. Both musicians record and perform with a number of groups. They more than do justice to the music on this CD. The CD cover notes are worthy of mention, with excellent graphic design from Jacqueline Capleton. The front features an exquisite rose from a viol, while the back has a digital composition of viols by Ms Capleton and Norman Myall. A purfling design is on the back of the CD case along with the tracks. The notes include a three page essay mostly on the lyra viol by Brian Capleton, plus a black & white photo of the performers with their biographies. It is nice to have the viol makers listed and which tunings they are used for. The tunings are given alongside the track information. At just under 65 minutes of music, the offering is a little under what the format allows (about 72 minutes), but is perfectly sufficient. From luscious f minor harmonies of the three pavans to the fun of The Baggepipes or Cate of Bardie, the thumpes (left hand pizzicati) of Why not here and A Pill to purge melancholy, this CD offers attractive music, expertly performed and comes thoroughly recommended. Patrice Connelly |