Gottfried Finger (ca.1660-1730) - Curiosa in D-Major from the Codex Sünchinger
Adagio-Presto-Presto-Adagio-Presto

Gottfried Finger, a Moravian viola da gamba virtuoso and composer, worked at the courts of James II of England, Queen Sophie Charlotte in Berlin, and Duke Charles Philipp in Innsbruck. Finger composed operas but is primarily remembered for his chamber music, surviving in collections from 1688, 1690, 1691 and 1701.Finger’s Intrada and Curiosa were likely written during his time in England before 1702 and were purchased by Joseph Franz von Seinsheim, Munich ambassador to electoral court at Mannheim, a court where Finger was employed. ViolMedium is performing from the first edition edited by Dr. Fred Flassig, Edition Walhall (edition-walhall.de) from the Codex Sünchinger held by the Archive of Castle Sünching near Regensburg, Germany.

Performed by @EricAMiller-1 & @PhillipWSerna February 3, 2019 at Emmanuel Episcopal Church of La Grange (www.emmanuel-lagrange.org) as part of @ViolMedium's program Façades & Duplicities - Beguiling Curiosities & Excursions for Dueling Gambas, Copyright © 2019 ViolMedium. https://youtu.be/ocASSUyJ5Gg

Founded by gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, the viol is the medium through which we bridge contemporary & historically-informed performance with experimental and innovative programming for violas da gamba – ViolMedium!

For more information on ViolMedium and gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, please visit www.violmedium.org.

Gottfried Finger (ca.1660-1730) - Curiosa in D-Major from the Codex Sünchinger

Béla Bartók (1881-1945) - Duos, Sz.98

Rutén Kolomejka.’ No.35 
Oláh Nóta ‘Wallachian Song,’ No.7
Tót Nóta ‘Slovakian Song,’ No.8
Szentivánéji ‘Midsummer Song,’ No.4
Gyermekrengetéskor ‘Cradle Song,’ No.11
Menetelö Nóta ‘Hungarian March,’ No.18
Minuetto, No.3
Mese ‘Fairy Tale’, No.19
Burleszk ‘Burlesque,’ No.16
Lakodalamas ‘Wedding Song,’ No.13
Magyar Nóta ‘Hungarian Song,’ No.25
Párnás Tánc ‘Pillow Dance,’ No.14

Commissioned by German violinist Erich Doflein, Béla Bartók composed his 44 Duos, Sz.98 in 1931 as a series of pedagogical pieces not unlike his Mikrokosmos (1926-1939). Bartók draws from a variety of Eastern European folk melodies & dances as per his youthful ethnomusicological travels with colleague and composer Zoltán Kodály, representing music of many eastern European oral traditions: Hungarian, Romanian, Ruthenian, Serbian, Slovak, Ukrainian, and more. The exquisite quality of the counterpoint, as well as the timbral contrasts, harmonies and melodies make these works ideal for translation to the transparent colors of violas da gamba.

Performed by @EricAMiller-1 & @PhillipWSerna February 3, 2019 at Emmanuel Episcopal Church of La Grange (www.emmanuel-lagrange.org) as part of @ViolMedium's program Façades & Duplicities - Beguiling Curiosities & Excursions for Dueling Gambas, Copyright © 2019 ViolMedium. https://youtu.be/Yh7eUGARp_o

Founded by gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, the viol is the medium through which we bridge contemporary & historically-informed performance with experimental and innovative programming for violas da gamba – ViolMedium!

For more information on ViolMedium and gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, please visit www.violmedium.org.

Béla Bartók (1881-1945) - Duos, Sz.98

Christoph Schaffrath (1709-1763) - Duetto in D-Minor
Poco Allegro
Adagio
Allegro

Among the composers at the so-called “Berlin School,”serving as harpsichordist at the court of Frederick the Great of Prussia, Christoph Schaffrath (1709-1763) spent the majority of his career in the service of the king’s sister Anna Amalia, Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg. A portion of the manuscript Schaffrath’s duo is in the hand of virtuoso gambist Ludwig Christian Hesse (1716-1772), a virtuoso gambist employed by Frederick the Great in 1741 and later by the king’s nephew, Crown Prince Frederick William (1744-1797). The duo may have been written for Hesse and Prince Frederick William to perform or with Frederick William’s father August Wilhelm (1722-1758). 

Performed by @EricAMiller-1 & @PhillipWSerna February 3, 2019 at Emmanuel Episcopal Church of La Grange (www.emmanuel-lagrange.org) as part of @ViolMedium's program Façades & Duplicities - Beguiling Curiosities & Excursions for Dueling Gambas, Copyright © 2019 ViolMedium. https://youtu.be/ruqVntgn9Gc

Founded by gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, the viol is the medium through which we bridge contemporary & historically-informed performance with experimental and innovative programming for violas da gamba – ViolMedium!

For more information on ViolMedium and gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, please visit www.violmedium.org.

Christoph Schaffrath (1709-1763) - Duetto in D-Minor

Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787) - Duetto in G-Major, A3:5A from the Maltzan Collection
Vivace
Siciliano
Tempo di Minuet

Often labelled as ‘the last gambist‘ and a 3rd-generation viol performer, Carl Friederich Abel was son of Christian Ferdinand Abel, viol performer in court ensembles led by Johann Sebastian Bach. After studies in Leipzig and a post to Johann Adolf Hasse’s court orchestra in Dresden, Abel joined the London court of Queen Charlotte where he befriended Bach’s son, Johann Christian with whom he established the Bach-Abel Concerts. ViolMedium is performing the Duetto in G-Major, A3:5A from the first edition first edition edited by Sonia Wronkowska, Edition Güntersberg (www.guentersberg.de) from sources owned by Count Joachim Carl Maltzan (1733-1817) held by the Library of the Adam Mickiewicz, University in Poznań, Poland, discovered alongside twenty-seven sonatas by Abel and two previously unknown sonatas by Johann Christian Bach and Andreas Lidl.

Performed by @EricAMiller-1 & @PhillipWSerna February 3, 2019 at Emmanuel Episcopal Church of La Grange (www.emmanuel-lagrange.org) as part of @ViolMedium's program Façades & Duplicities - Beguiling Curiosities & Excursions for Dueling Gambas, Copyright © 2019 ViolMedium. https://youtu.be/V6W7bdiuxDQ

Founded by gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, the viol is the medium through which we bridge contemporary & historically-informed performance with experimental and innovative programming for violas da gamba – ViolMedium!

For more information on ViolMedium and gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, please visit www.violmedium.org.

Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787) - Duetto in G-Major, A3:5A from the Maltzan Collection

Gottfried Finger (ca.1660-1730) - Intrada in A-Major from the Codex Sünchinger
Adagio-[Allegro]-Adagio-[Andante]

Gottfried Finger, a Moravian viola da gamba virtuoso and composer, worked at the courts of James II of England, Queen Sophie Charlotte in Berlin, and Duke Charles Philipp in Innsbruck. Finger composed operas but is primarily remembered for his chamber music, surviving in collections from 1688, 1690, 1691 and 1701.Finger’s Intrada and Curiosa were likely written during his time in England before 1702 and were purchased by Joseph Franz von Seinsheim, Munich ambassador to electoral court at Mannheim, a court where Finger was employed. ViolMedium is performing from the first edition edited by Dr. Fred Flassig, Edition Walhall (edition-walhall.de) from the Codex Sünchinger held by the Archive of Castle Sünching near Regensburg, Germany. 

Performed by @EricAMiller-1 & @PhillipWSerna February 3, 2019 at Emmanuel Episcopal Church of La Grange (www.emmanuel-lagrange.org) as part of @ViolMedium's program Façades & Duplicities - Beguiling Curiosities & Excursions for Dueling Gambas, Copyright © 2019 ViolMedium. https://youtu.be/0w9e1nlwcSw

Founded by gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, the viol is the medium through which we bridge contemporary & historically-informed performance with experimental and innovative programming for violas da gamba – ViolMedium!

For more information on ViolMedium and gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, please visit www.violmedium.org.

Gottfried Finger (ca.1660-1730) - Intrada in A-Major from the Codex Sünchinger

Marin Marais (1656-1728) - Tombeau de Mr. Meliton from Pièces a Deux Violes du Premier Livre (1686)

Marin Marais, among the most famous French viola da gamba virtuosi and composition student of Jean-Baptiste Lully, Marais held the title of ordinaire de la chambre du roy pour la viole at the royal court of Versailles. In addition to his 5 volumes of his Pièces de viole (1686-1725), he composed chamber music in the form of his Pièces en trio (1692) and four operas (1693-1709). His viol teacher, the Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, for which little is known,  composed sixty-seven Concerts à deux violes esgales, and over 170 pieces for solo seven-string viol. In addition to Marais, Sainte-Colombe's students also included the Sieur de Danoville, Jean Desfontaines, Pierre Méliton, Jean Rousseau and two women known only as Mlle Rougevillle and Mlle Vignon.

Performed by @EricAMiller-1 & @PhillipWSerna February 2, 2019 at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Madison, WI (www.standrews-madison.org) as part of @ViolMedium's program Façades & Duplicities - Beguiling Curiosities & Excursions for Dueling Gambas, Copyright © 2019 ViolMedium.

Founded by gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, the viol is the medium through which we bridge contemporary & historically-informed performance with experimental and innovative programming for violas da gamba – ViolMedium!

For more information on ViolMedium and gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, please visit www.violmedium.org.

Marin Marais (1656-1728) - Tombeau de Mr. Meliton from Pièces a Deux Violes du Premier Livre (1686)

Marin Marais (1656-1728) - Chaconne from Pièces a Deux Violes du Premier Livre (1686)

Marin Marais, among the most famous French viola da gamba virtuosi and composition student of Jean-Baptiste Lully, Marais held the title of ordinaire de la chambre du roy pour la viole at the royal court of Versailles. In addition to his 5 volumes of his Pièces de viole (1686-1725), he composed chamber music in the form of his Pièces en trio (1692) and four operas (1693-1709). His viol teacher, the Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, for which little is known,  composed sixty-seven Concerts à deux violes esgales, and over 170 pieces for solo seven-string viol. In addition to Marais, Sainte-Colombe's students also included the Sieur de Danoville, Jean Desfontaines, Pierre Méliton, Jean Rousseau and two women known only as Mlle Rougevillle and Mlle Vignon.

Performed by @EricAMiller-1 & @PhillipWSerna February 2, 2019 at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Madison, WI (www.standrews-madison.org) as part of @ViolMedium's program Façades & Duplicities - Beguiling Curiosities & Excursions for Dueling Gambas, Copyright © 2019 ViolMedium.

Founded by gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, the viol is the medium through which we bridge contemporary & historically-informed performance with experimental and innovative programming for violas da gamba – ViolMedium!

For more information on ViolMedium and gambists Eric Miller & Phillip Serna, please visit www.violmedium.org.

Marin Marais (1656-1728) - Chaconne from Pièces a Deux Violes du Premier Livre (1686)

Founded by gambists @EricAMiller-1 & @PhillipWSerna, the viol is the medium through which we bridge contemporary & historically-informed performance with experimental and innovative programming for violas da gamba - ViolMedium!

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