Here's an essentially all-German production -- music, performers, label -- of viola da gamba music, not an instrument usually so much associated with Germany. And, as gambist Holger Faust-Peters points out in his booklet notes (in German and English), there isn't really a German gamba style. Instead, gamba music in Germany was international, with Italian, French, and sometimes even English viol elements. This album is a little tour through the gamba-and-keyboard repertory of Germany in the late 17th century, showcasing ...
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Here's an essentially all-German production -- music, performers, label -- of viola da gamba music, not an instrument usually so much associated with Germany. And, as gambist Holger Faust-Peters points out in his booklet notes (in German and English), there isn't really a German gamba style. Instead, gamba music in Germany was international, with Italian, French, and sometimes even English viol elements. This album is a little tour through the gamba-and-keyboard repertory of Germany in the late 17th century, showcasing composers who are mostly unknown outside of serious early music circles. Faust-Peters points out that the music, although quite various in style, was all composed within a single decade, about 1687 to 1697. Those sampling the album may wish to note that it gets better as it goes along. The opening Sonata for viola da gamba and keyboard in A major of Godfrey Finger (or Gottfried Finger) is a pleasant enough example of the early Italian sonata, but the gamba is less suited to this idiom...
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