The viola d'amore, or viol of love, is a violin-like instrument with six or seven played strings and a set of sympathethic strings underneath those, lending it an oddly resonant sound often described as sweet. The instrument was popular during the Baroque, but unlike most instruments distinctive to that time it remained in use during the Classical era, and even Beethoven's contemporary Eybler wrote for it. It was one of the first Baroque instruments to be revived in the 20th century, and Paul Hindemith himself was an ...
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The viola d'amore, or viol of love, is a violin-like instrument with six or seven played strings and a set of sympathethic strings underneath those, lending it an oddly resonant sound often described as sweet. The instrument was popular during the Baroque, but unlike most instruments distinctive to that time it remained in use during the Classical era, and even Beethoven's contemporary Eybler wrote for it. It was one of the first Baroque instruments to be revived in the 20th century, and Paul Hindemith himself was an enthusiastic player. You may wonder why this release bears the title Paul Hindemith: Works for Viola d'Amore when well over half of it is by earlier composers. The answer is that Hindemith himself wrote the continuo realizations for the Partita for two viole d'amore and continuo of Biber and the Sonata in D major for viola d'amore and continuo of Carl Stamitz. German violist Gunter Teuffel plays Hindemith's own viola d'amore, and the album as a whole serves as a little re-creation of part...
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