Notes and Editorial Reviews
EVIOLUTION
: Music for Vihuela de Arco, Lyra-Viol, and Viola da Gamba
•
Fernando Marín
•
QUARTZ QTZ 2075 (52:31).
ORTIZ
Tratado de Glossas.
CABEZÓN
Faberdon.
FERRABOSCO
Fantasia a 3; Lessons for the Lyra-Viol.
SAINT-COLOMBE
Pièces de Viole.
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DE MACHY
Pièces de Viole.
TELEMANN
Der Getreue Musikmeister:
Excerpts.
ABEL
Pièces de Viole
The section of Matthias Grünewald’s stunning Isenheim Altarpiece known as the
Concert of the Angels
features a group of cheerful angels playing three mysterious instruments. The instrument that appears in the forefront is most likely a viola da gamba, but I have always wondered what the other two were. I think I now know the answer: they are a vihuela de arco, a guitar-like instrument that also can be played with a bow, and a lyra-viol, an instrument that appears to be a cross between a viola da gamba and a lira de arco. If you wonder what these instruments must have sounded like—albeit when placed in the hands of men—this concept recording, which features Spanish musician Fernando Marín and is cleverly titled
eVIOLution
, is your chance to find out.
Marín has made a career out of researching the origins, methods of playing, and repertoire of various rediscovered instruments. On this recording, he plays modern reproductions of
a vihuela de arco
(tuned at 440 Hz), a lyra-viol (tuned at 415 Hz), and a viola da gamba (tuned at 390 Hz and 415 Hz). Keeping with tradition, Marín’s instruments also feature sheep-gut strings, Venice catline gut-roped bass strings, and black horsehair for the bows. The repertoire chosen by Marín to showcase these arcane instruments is, for the most part, equally obscure, but it too seems to attempt to illustrate an evolution of sorts, from the early essays of Spanish Renaissance composers Diego Ortíz and Antonio de Cabezón to the Baroque works of Georg Philipp Telemann and Carl Friedrich Abel. While I frankly do not know what a vihuela de arco and a lyra-viol are supposed to sound like, I have no doubt that Marín presents these buzzy instruments in the best light. As for the music itself, this recording is certain to invite debate: Can one really explain Bach (a contemporary of Telemann) and Mozart (a contemporary of Abel) using the theory of musical, rather than instrumental,
evolution
? Perhaps the naysayers are on to something.
The quality of the recorded sound is very good. There is a lot of reverb, but that is suitable to this music. A worthwhile release.
FANFARE: Radu A. Lelutiu
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Works on This Recording
4.
Fabordones y glosas del sexto tono by Antonio De Cabezón
Performer:
Fernando [Lyra Viol] Marin (Vihuela)
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; Spain
Length: 1 Minutes 51 Secs.
8.
Almaine I for lyra viol by Alfonso Ferrabosco
Performer:
Fernando [Lyra Viol] Marin ()
Period: Baroque
Written: England
Length: 4 Minutes 37 Secs.
9.
Coranto I by Alfonso Ferrabosco
Performer:
Fernando [Lyra Viol] Marin ()
Period: Baroque
Length: 1 Minutes 41 Secs.
10.
Galliard for lute by Alfonso Ferrabosco
Performer:
Fernando [Lyra Viol] Marin ()
Period: Renaissance
Length: 3 Minutes 23 Secs.
11.
Coranto II by Alfonso Ferrabosco
Performer:
Fernando [Lyra Viol] Marin ()
Period: Baroque
Length: 1 Minutes 19 Secs.
12.
Almaine II for lyra viol by Alfonso Ferrabosco
Performer:
Fernando [Lyra Viol] Marin ()
Written: 1906
Length: 3 Minutes 36 Secs.
13.
Coranto III for lyra viol by Alfonso Ferrabosco
Performer:
Fernando [Lyra Viol] Marin ()
Written: 1906
Length: 1 Minutes 29 Secs.
14.
Piéces de viole: Chaconne by Jean de Sainte-Colombe
Performer:
Fernando [Lyra Viol] Marin ()
Period: Baroque
Length: 3 Minutes 31 Secs.
15.
Piéces de viole: Prélude by Jean de Sainte-Colombe
Performer:
Fernando [Lyra Viol] Marin ()
Period: Baroque
Length: 2 Minutes 58 Secs.
16.
Piéces de viole: Allemande by Jean de Sainte-Colombe
Performer:
Fernando [Lyra Viol] Marin ()
Period: Baroque
Length: 3 Minutes 55 Secs.
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