Jonathan Talbott

In the early 17th century a number of now forgotten violin soloists toured Europe, commanding enormous salaries and following ever more prestigeous offers of employment. Some were so valued for their playing that they were granted nobility, and more than one was described as "the most famous artist for the violin that the world has yet produced."

Courts and cities would hire these superstars in order to have them astonish and awe their guests with their performances. One of the more astonishing pieces on this disc is the unaccompanied Fantasia by Étienne Nau, which is found in a manuscript now in Berlin. Composed around 1620, the Fantasia begins with an imitation of an organ tremulant and then goes on to sample almost every color on the violin's palette.

Another première recording on this disc, the anonymous Ruggiero, explores the potential of the violin, asking the player to climb from one end of the fingerboard to the other. The Coral attributed to William Brade, an English violinist who worked in Denmark and Germany, is a set of variations played at high velocity over a repeated bass pattern. Biagio Marini's Romanesca is somewhat calmer and includes the only dance music recorded here. Another set of variations on a well-known ground bass comes from Thomas Baltzar, who was once asked to improvise upon the song "John come kiss me now" (pasamezzo moderno) in a contest with the best violinist in England. The audience was astounded by Baltzar. Johan Schop's Pavan d'Espagne (pavaniglia) and the anonymous Bergamasca show the hands of master improvisers at work.

The madrigal arrangements by Schop, Richardo Rognonio and Francesco Rognoni have similarities to jazz and modern popular music.  Instrumentalists have always borrowed from vocal repertoire to create their showpieces; Stephane Grapelli's version of "Summertime" and Jimi Hendrix' arrangement of "The Star Spangled Banner" are examples. The versions of "Anchor che col partire" and "Io son ferito" recorded here share the same spirit of swooping and swirling around the original melody, while Schop's arrangement of the madrigal "Nasce la pena mia," is particularly engaging for the mysterious opening, the trills in double stops, and the echo effects.

The two sonatas by Dario Castello are often heralded as the first truly great instrumental solos. While the beauty and virtuosity of these pieces cannot be debated, they certainly are not the first virtuoso solo repertoire; they are part of a vast literature of virtuoso violin music, much of which has been forgotten but is now being rediscovered. These sonatas awe with their effects (including imitation of the same kind of organ stop as in the Fantasia by Nau,) and astonish with elaborate passage work.

A note on the violin

The late renaissance/early-baroque style violin played on this recording was built by Richard Earle in 2004, following several years of scholarly research. The form of the instrument is based on several pictures, including a painting from aorund 1590 by Cornelis van Haarlem and the discant violin in Michael Praetorius' Syntagmum Musicum (1620).  It is strung in high, equal tension sheep gut, and is played on the arm (rather than on the shoulder) as can be seen in many images from the time, including the cover of this disc.