French and English LUTE Music

Though variant tunings having already appeared during the first years of the sixteenth century, the first part of the seventeenth century saw a great number of tunings emerge, the most successful being those occurring in Pierre Ballard’s 1631 and 1638 publications of Tablatures de Luth de Differents Autheurs sur les Accords Nouveaux. Three out of these four accords nouveaux produce a superb resonance, but all share the disadvantage of being restricted to certain keys, modulation being often accompanied by a distinct deterioration in tone quality. 

It was no doubt this factor which contributed to their decline in popularity and the subsequent acceptance of the fourth one, the d minor tuning, which was less susceptible to this problem and remained the standard lute tuning until the instrument’s demise in the late eighteenth century.

The accords nouveaux gained widespread acceptance and inspired players to produce some of the most sublime music ever created for the lute – some of which can be heard on this recording, played by the great English lutenist Anthony Bailes.

ANTHONY BAILES first studied guitar, through which he developed a love of lute music. A chance meeting with Diana Poulton resulted in buying a lute and studying with her. In 1971 he was awarded a grant by the Arts Council of Great Britain to further his studies with Eugen Dombois at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland.
Since completing his studies he has toured Europe playing at most major festivals. Of his various recordings, several are considered »milestones« and his interpretations of seventeenth century French and German music are particularly esteemed and have been awarded several prizes. Besides performing and teaching, Anthony Bailes has published music editions and monographs on the lute and its music.

BORN To Be Mild

Hille Perl transforms the viola da gamba into a truly timeless instruments: for the first time on record Hille Perl, her daughter Marthe Perl and Lutenist Lee Santana (playing electric guitar) are using electro-acoustic instruments to explore an excitingly divergent repertoire ranging across some seven centuries in stunning new sound and instrumental colours.
Release date: 5th May 2015

Hille Perl es una de las artistas más exitosas de la viola da gamba y una músico brillante y original que no teme descubrir nuevos mundos de sonidos y territorios musicales. Después de experimentar como parte de la banda de rock de Lee Santanas, “Dead Poets”, Hille Perl y su hija Martha Perl ahora tocan la viola da gamba electro-acústica por primera vez en un disco junto al laudista Lee Santana (que toca la guitarra eléctrica).

Los artistas exploran un repertorio original que incluye composiciones e improvisaciones de piezas de los periodos renacentista y barroco de Diego Ortiz, Marin Marais, Tobias Hume, Antoine Forqueray al igual que del propio Lee Santana y legendas del jazz como Charlie Haden, entre otros.

Un repertorio que abarca siete siglos, aportando nuevos y espectaculares sonidos y colores instrumentales, Hille Perl transforma la viola da gamba en un instrumento auténticamente atemporal.

BIRDS in Baroque Music

The first album of soprano Dorothee Mields and the South African recorder player Stefan Temmingh titled Inspired by Song was equally and highly praised by audiences and critics alike and convinced with "considerable artistic value". Bird voices in the Baroque music are the focal point of the new common CD. With works by Couperin, Fedeli, Rameau, Keiser, and famous Concerto "Il Gardel Lino" (The Goldfinch), Mields together with Temmingh, the gentleman's band, and musicians of the La Folia magnificent Baroque Orchestra produce stunning musical bird songs of a nightingale, goldfinch, cuckoo, chickens, pigeons and various other birds.

Release date: 6th Nov 2015

TOUS les Matins du Monde

Whether or not you saw the film Tous les matins du monde, you owe it to yourself to either discover or revisit its soundtrack, which features the music of two great figures of 17th-century France: Saint Colombe and his pupil Marin Marais. Saint Colombe, about whom little is known, was a great viol player who was acclaimed for his improvisations. Marais became a member of the famed court orchestra under Lully (some of whose music also appears on the disc) at a very young age. One of the joys of this recording is the sound of the bass viol, an instrument rarely played by itself, especially in such a virtuoso manner. 

Jordi Savall is the undisputed modern master of the instrument, and he shows us why on this program. As an added bonus, two outstanding vocal pieces are sung with endearing purity, flawless technique, and impeccable intonation by two perfectly matched sopranos. --David Vernier

On the Trail of MARCO POLO

Marco Polo (1254-1321) is remembered for his adventurous visits to China and Mongolia, visits that he recorded for posterity in a series of colourful and expansive travelogues.

Together with Wu Wei, who is the best-known virtuoso on the Chinese sheng, lautten compagney set out on the trail of the famous Venetian explorer, resulting in a fascinating combination of traditional Chinese sounds and European Baroque music.
Release Date: November 13, 2015