Garth Knox is one of the most versatile and audacious string players today, a member of the famous Arditti Quartet for eight years and a virtuoso viola soloist, he is now a leading exponent of the viola d’amore (the rare instrument from the Baroque era with seven playing and another seven resonating strings that allow for a particularly full and warm sound). On Saltarello he plays both instruments, as well as the fiddle, in an astonishing range of music spanning 1000 years.
From opposite ends of this timescale are Hildegard of Bingen’s Ave, generosa, a song of praise to the Virgin Mary, and Vent Nocturne, pieces for viola and electronics written for Knox by Kaija Saariaho. The adventurous programme also brings in Guillaume de Machaut, John Dowland and Purcell, a concerto for viola d’amore by Vivaldi, and a new work for solo viola by Garth himself, plus his captivating arrangements of 14th century dances and traditional Celtic tunes (he was born in Ireland and raised in Scotland). Sounds and feelings resonate across the centuries…
Knox comments: “Each of my instruments – medieval fiddle, viola d’amore and viola – brings its own perspective and sound world to the chosen pieces, and is complemented by its corresponding partner (fiddle/percussion, viola d’amore/cello and viola/electronics). The aim was to ‘bring back’ the pieces to the present day and to explore them here and now without destroying their inherent qualities.”
He is joined for different pieces by percussionist Sylvain Lemêtre or French cellist Agnès Vesterman. She also contributed to his previous “hypnotic” recital for ECM, D’Amore (4766369), named as Gramophone’s ‘Disc of the Month’ in September, 2008.
Johnny Cunningham, Traditional: Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair - arr. for viola d'amore and cello
Black Brittany
Henry Purcell: Oedipus - arr. for viola d'amore and cello
Music for a while
Antonio Vivaldi: Viola d'amore Concerto in D minor, R.393 - arr. for viola d'amore and cello
Allegro
Largo
Presto
Garth Knox: Fuga libre
Fuga libre
Hildegard von Bingen: Ave, generosa - arr. for fiddle and percussion
Ave, generosa - Complainte "Tels rit au main qui au soir pleure"
Kaija Saariaho: Vent Nocturne
I. Sombres miroirs (Dark Mirrors)
John Dowland: Second Booke of Songes, 1600 - arr. for viola d'amore and cello
Flow my tears
Kaija Saariaho: Vent Nocturne
II. Soupirs de l'obscur (Breaths of the Obscure)
Traditional: Three Dances: Saltarello I - Ghaetta - Saltarello II
Three Dances: Saltarello I - Ghaetta - Saltarello II
Traditional: Pipe, harp and fiddle
Pipe, harp and fiddle
25th March 2012
“The viola is emerging from the shadows: Garth Knox's utterly original recital combines its dusky tones in new music...with music for the larger viola d'amore and medieval fiddle...all unified by Knox's clear-sighted vision and superb, earthy playing.”
22nd April 2012
“Knox’s recital trades on the comparisons to be made between the delicious melancholic tints of the viola, the more silvery tones of the viola d’amore and the biting honesty of the fiddle.”
September 2012
“Bringing all this music seamlessly together are the remarkable sonic possibilities offered by the combination of cello and viola or viola d'amore. A fiddle and electronics are added for good measure but it's the massive range and depth of beauty of just these two instruments playing together that is at the heart of the recording.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
Black Brittany
