Suggestions for viola da gamba

[Ciel_Rouge]

As far as I know viola da gamba looks similar to a cello but its sound is different and very recognisable once you hear it. Alongside viola da braccio, viola di bordone, viola d'amore, viola pomposa and viola da spalla, it is part of an older generation of string instruments. I would highly welcome any recommendations of artists and pieces which use these instruments.

Viola da gamba:



Viola di bordone:

[petrarch]

For viola da gamba there's no one better than Jordi Savall.

[M forever]

Viola da gamba and viola da braccio are the "founding" instruments of whole instrument families which come in a number of sizes. The viola da braccio, BTW, is the instrument which is today simply called viola, and the violino and violoncello are its smaller and bigger relatives.

[hornteacher]

If I'm not mistaken, Bach's 6th Brandenburg Concerto uses them.  This is a great DVD of the Brandenburgs.

http://www.amazon.com/Brandenburg-Concertos-Freiburger-Barockorchester-Bach/dp/B000EQHRVA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1216954549&sr=1-1

[M forever]

My home area is called Brandenburg, not Brandenberg.

[FideLeo]

I am sure the various solo and consort recordings by Paolo Pandolfo would be of interest to you.

[hornteacher]

My home area is called Brandenburg, not Brandenberg.

Oops.  For some stupid reason I always make that mistake.  I fixed it.

[Novi]

For viola da gamba there's no one better than Jordi Savall.

I agree. This is very good:

[71 dB]

Marin Marais - Markku Luolajan-Mikkola - BIS CD-909

[quintett op.57]

[CRCulver]

Try Horatiu Radulescu's String Quartet No. 4, which attempts to create a 128-string viola da gamba.

[Mark]

Pandolfo's take on the Six Suites for Solo Cello by JS Bach is also well worth a listen. I found his instrument provided a different texture and depth to the music, which made me hear it afresh.

[FideLeo]

Pandolfo's take on the Six Suites for Solo Cello by JS Bach is also well worth a listen. I found his instrument provided a different texture and depth to the music, which made me hear it afresh.

Yes that's one of his hit albums and a best-seller for the label Glossa.  If you like a similar "new instrument" approach to these suites and have access to Japanese providers, the baroque violinist Ryo Terakado's new recording, played on the reconstructed Violoncello da Spalla (which looks and sounds like a viola with a deep extension in the bass), may please you as well:



(a video showing him play the prelude to the G major suite)

Unlike Pandolfo though, Terakado didn't have to make his own "arrangements" because there is no transposition (or other kinds of change) involved; the music is played in the original keys and, as far as I can tell, registers.

[Mark]

Interesting. Thanks for the tip-off.

[The new erato]

The Holbrooke and Lawes discs by Savall on Alia Vox is wondeful.

Also the Walther disc on Zig-Zag.

[FideLeo]

The Holbrooke and Lawes discs by Savall on Alia Vox is wondeful.
Also the Walther disc on Zig-Zag.

Did you mean (Anthony) Holborne rather than Holbrooke?  Also I thought the Walter disc on Zig-Zag features a lead on the baroque violin.   

Anyway, Savall's one true solo gamba recording (senza basso) on Alia Vox is the album devoted to the collection Musicall Humors by English soldier-gambist, Tobias Hume.  Savall fans would love the recording but I actually thought the performance a bit too self-indulgent.