1-7 Suite VIII en la majeur
8-14 Suite I en ré mineur
15-21 Suite IV en sol majeur
22-28 Suite V en ré mineur
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About this CD
With his performance of
the music of De Machy,
Paolo Pandolfo is enriching the recorded survey of
solo viola da gamba music with a very special
contribution; such as he has done before with his
recordings of music by Sainte-Colombe, Abel or of his
most warmly-received recording, the Bach Cello Suites in
their transcription for viola da gamba.
The publication of the
Pièces de Violle (Paris, 1685), the first of
the literature for the viola da gamba in France,
unleashed a veritable polemic or querelle with
Jean Rousseau concerning the
“true manner of playing the viola”, which had been
described by De Machy with a wealth of details in the
prologue to his work and in which radiates an enormous
sense of aplomb and certainty. His advocacy for the
viola da gamba as a harmonic (or chordal) as well as a
melodic instrument was to go on to have a significant
influence on later composers such as Marin Marais and
Antoine Forqueray.
With his recording and
also in his accompanying essay,
Paolo Pandolfo places special emphasis on one facet
of these pieces which tends to pass unnoticed: their
danceable character. Countless sources from the time
tell us about the vigorousness of the interest in the
dance in the 17th century, a passion practiced in an
almost obsessive way not only by the court nobility but
by the rural aristocracy and the wealthier bourgeoisie
as well. This all makes the vision of a viola da gamba
accompanying such dances a very suggestive one indeed…
http://www.glossamusic.com/glossa/context.aspx?Id=69
