Short Tales for a Viol is an aptly titled collection of English solo viol music of the seventeenth century: it offers 25 short pieces (many under a minute long) that are vivid, virtuosic, and for the most part unusually programmatic. A few are pavans, preludes, or dances. These works offer examples of unusual stringed-instrument techniques such as col legno (with the wood) and scordatura (retuning) that are generally associated with the violin a century later. Some of the various tunings employed have their own individual ...
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Short Tales for a Viol is an aptly titled collection of English solo viol music of the seventeenth century: it offers 25 short pieces (many under a minute long) that are vivid, virtuosic, and for the most part unusually programmatic. A few are pavans, preludes, or dances. These works offer examples of unusual stringed-instrument techniques such as col legno (with the wood) and scordatura (retuning) that are generally associated with the violin a century later. Some of the various tunings employed have their own individual names, and Italian viol player Vittorio Ghielmi, a student of Wieland Kuijken, Roberto Gini, and Christophe Coin, expertly handles four viols of various sizes in all their tunings. The little viol pieces themselves are highly individual and a lot of fun. Their composers -- Thomas Mace, John Jenkins, Tobias Hume, William Corkine, and others, several anonymous -- are mostly unknown to the general listener. The music might be classed as semi-popular; it's certainly fun.Although this disc...
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