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Along with the recorder and the lute, the viola da gamba is known to be a genuine historical instrument: that is, one that was never modified to cope with the public concert, large halls and changing taste. It used to be considered an instrument of the Renaissance and Baroque, and until recently the least explored part of its repertory was paradoxically the one closest to us in time: the music of the classical period. The most widely celebrated gambist, Carl Friedrich Abel, was also thought to be the last, both in his own lifetime and posthumously. On his death in 1787, his obituary observed that 'his favourite instrument was not in general use, and would probably die with him' (Walter Knape, 'Carl Friedrich Abel', Grove Music Online<www.grovemusic.com>). However, a whole range of music of the classical period has recently been rediscovered, published, performed and recorded. Simone Eckert, the performer and writer of liner notes for this disc, can therefore justly describe Franz Xaver Hammer as 'the last gambist', or, at least, the last member of a long line stretching back over three centuries of performer-composers for the instrument. Less than thirty years after Hammer's death, the early music revival had begun, and viols were again being used in London to play old music.
For many listeners, this may therefore be the first experience with the sound of classical music played on the viola da gamba. However, there is no intrinsic reason why the instrument cannot be used for post-baroque music; it lacks the aggressively accented bow strokes of instruments from the violin family, but its volume is quite sufficient for a chamber music venue. For a recording, considerations of volume or power are irrelevant: according to the canon of the 'historically informed' early music movement, the recording should merely try to capture a possible and credible performance scenario from the period of the music.
This recording, in which the solo viola da gamba of Simone Eckert is accompanied variously by a cellist, a theorbist and a keyboardist, certainly achieves this goal. Eckert compensates for any lack of variety in Hammer's music by using the resources of the continuo group in different combinations, all of them historically plausible...