Emergence et rayonnement des violons au temps de Michel-Ange
Ensemble Les Sonadori
65:00
Exordium EX20250005
This CD takes us back to the emergence of the violin in the period from the late 15th century to the mid 16th century in a milieu shaped by the Valois Dukes of Burgundy. Various sizes of early violin blend with earlier stringed instruments such as the rebec, hurdy-gurdy as well as the lute and Renaissance guitar to produce a startlingly new sound which already points in the direction of the early Baroque. I can remember the startling effect when a number of viol consorts replaced their treble viols with early violins, and this lovely, bright sound recalls that moment. Playing consort music by Attaignant, Milano, Susato, Moderne, Obrecht, Ghiselin and Vicenzo Capirola as well as instrumental accounts of chansons by de la Rue, Johannes Stokhem, Crequillon, Tinctoris, Ghizeghem and Clemens, and sacred music by Festa, Morales and others, the consort vividly evoke the courts of Charles the Bold and Charles V. The slightly vague date of the ‘birth of the violin’ is shrouded to an extend in terminology – the first mention of ‘vyollons’ is as late as 1523 in Savoy (interestingly the original home of ‘Davie the fiddler’, David Rizzio) but illustrations show that instruments which were essentially violins had existed before that, while proto and neo violins continued to crop up throughout the transition period from viols to violins proper. What is striking about this recording is the distinctive and attractive sound produced by an ensemble of these early members of the violin family and how appropriate they sound in this early repertoire. Les Sonadari play with an appropriate complete lack of vibrato and a direct sound, with a clean attack and a very pure sense of ensemble.
D. James Ross