Alfonso Ferrabosco II: Complete Music for Solo Lyra Viol

For the past thirty years, Paolo Pandolfo has been one of the leading viola da gambists of his generation, researching and promoting the repertoire of his instrument in all directions. In 1989, he was appointed successor to Jordi Savall as professor of viola da gamba at his alma mater, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB), a position he holds to the present day. On this new recording in the SCB series on Glossa, Pandolfo presents the complete solo pieces for ‘lyra viol’ included in Alfonso Ferrabosco’s 1609 London publication Lessons for 1. 2. and 3. Viols. The lyra viol is a special type of viola da gamba that includes sympathetic resonant strings under the normal strings, thereby creating a fascinating sonority that often seems produced by more than one instrument. The playing is extremely virtuosistic as it implies, with special bowing techniques, to simulate polyphonic works written for a viol consort. Ferrabosco was in the service of Prince Henry, the heir to the throne, and was his music teacher. It is thought that these solo pieces were written for Henry himself, to be performed at the royal ‘Privy Chamber’.