Another madrigal with a dance feel, the rhythms are clearly based on the text.
Skill Builders
Musicality: The irregular phrases require bow distribution planning. When it gets more fragmented in the second half, remember to keep singing the songs.
Left Hand: We don’t have to change positions, giving us a chance to work on getting up speed on the scalar passages.
Right Hand: We’ll look at coordination with the right hand for the fast parts, but the smooth execution of the syncopations (displaced beats) is the real challenge.
This is one of the earliest pieces that we will be looking at in this course, written by a blind organist in fourteenth-century Italy.
Skill Builders
Musicality: Despite the unfamiliar rhythmic placements, we need to make it sound sweet and playful, not panicky.
Left Hand: We’ll be shifting between first and half positions, but we’ll have to concentrate on coordination with the bow for the tricky rhythms.
Right Hand: The bow will have to be at its most alert for the syncopations, the triplets and the eighth-note pairs. Think of getting a good sound when you go low on the G string.
Another hymn from the “Brockes” Passion, this time in a setting by Handel. Strophic and rhythmically simple, the text adds another layer of meaning.
Skill Builders
Musicality: Although this is not a challenging piece, it’s our first exposure to alto clef. TIP: write in fingerings, even if you think you know it, ESPECIALLY after a jump or a shift!
Left Hand: We’ll be shifting back and forth from first to second positions. Keep your hand centered on the 2nd finger-thumb circle.
Right Hand: The constant 1/4 notes give us a chance to sing the text; be careful after the rests so that if you lift the bow, you set it down gently.
One of the top ten hits of the Renaissance, this beautiful melody is perfectly wedded to its melancholy text.
Skill Builders
Musicality: The text placement alternates from syllabic to melismatic so we need to be aware of the lyrics at all times.
Left Hand: We’ll get more practice alternating between half, first and extended positions. Make the pivots as smooth as possible.
Right Hand: The syncopations within a melisma should be smoother than those with syllabic text; avoid too many accents.
This is the instrumental version of a song by Dowland; the rhythmic spice added in the dance version makes it extra fun to play.
Skill Builders
Musicality: Complex rhythms and syncopations can overwhelm the song feeling; try to combine the different factors.
Left Hand: We’ll have to pull out all the stops for this one; shifting and extensions mean there are few places to let your guard down.
Right Hand: The constant shifts between duple and triple time pose extra challenges for strong beats on weak downbows.
A short instrumental piece from Purcell's seminal work Dido and Aeneas.
Skill Builders
Musicality: A chance to keep working on mastering alto clef.
Left Hand: Lots of open A's and D's mean we can experiment with open strings vs. 4th fingers.
Right Hand: The rhythms work beautifully on a stringed instrument with a few hooked exceptions.
Another air de cour by the great master Pierre Guédron, this melody became popular all over Europe.
Skill Builders
Musicality: Although the changing meter looks complex, the rhythms follow the word accents perfectly.
Left Hand: Frequent shifts between first and half positions, while the many open A's give you the option of playing an open string or a 4th finger for a difference in sound.
Right Hand: The written-out ornaments require a lightness and delicacy in timing and articulation.
A 14th-century virelai by the great French master Guillaume de Machaut, this rhythmically intense song illustrates the transition from the medieval troubadours and the later Ars Nova.
Skill Builders
Musicality: The syncopations add a rhythmic liveliness but should not overwhelm the sweetness of the text.
Left Hand: The shift up to second position is made after an open string, but shifting back down to first position needs to be just as effortless.
Right Hand: The runs of 8th-notes on a backwards bowing need to be flowing and smooth, as do the syncopations throughout.
A Renaissance dance published in 1507 for solo lute, this mesmerizing moto perpetuo has some surprisingly modern dissonances.
Skill Builders
Musicality: The melody is often unaligned with the bar lines and with irregular length phrases.
Left Hand: There are a few shifts up to second position, but mostly we will be pivoting from first to extended positions.
Right Hand: Because this was written for lute, the bowing is often backwards in the runs. You can decide if you prefer to play it as it comes or sneak in a retake so that it lies better for the bow, but make sure to be on time for the next beat!
A Flemish Christmas song from the 17th century, this sweet lullaby is still sung in the Netherlands.
Skill Builders
Musicality: The 6/4 time signature hints at the hemiolas hidden in the cadences.
Left Hand: We'll have to feel very comfortable sliding back and forth between first and second positions.
Right Hand: The first beat of each bar is not necessarily the strongest one; analyze the stresses in the text and try to make your bow stroke match.
A street song purportedly composed by Henry Purcell, it became popular as a revolutionary resistance anthem.
Skill Builders
Musicality: The "Scotch snap" rhythm as well as the opening figure need to be very precise, while contrasting with the more melodic motives.
Left Hand: Chordal fingerings and position shifts add a few challenges to the approachable key of G Major.
Right Hand: The uneven rhythms mean that we have to be attentive to playing extremely light downbows.
Johan Schenck is, without doubt, the greatest Dutch composer for the viol. This movement is from his surprisingly creative collection of duets, Le Nymphe di Reno.
Skill Builders
Musicality: The slow pulse and harmonic motion mean we have to focus on creating legato lines without rushing.
Left Hand: Plenty of practice for chordal fingerings and accurate placement behind the frets.
Right Hand: Long lines and no sudden accents are always a challenge in triple meter.
The last movement of Buxtehude’s complete cantata based on the chorale melody “Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin.,” it was purportedly written for his own father’s funeral.
Skill Builders
Musicality: We need to capture the strictness within the expressive Early German style.
Left Hand: There are a few chordal fingerings and a shift up to the high A.
Right Hand: The slurs don't always seem to make sense within the bar but follow the text placement perfectly. Try to make them sound organic.
My personal favorite of all the pieces we will look at in this course, this 15th century courtly love song has a graceful, elegant beauty.
Skill Builders
Musicality: The lute intro and outro can have a slightly more jaunty quality compared to the lilting melody of the vocal line.
Left Hand: We'll go up beyond the frets for the first time and shift within a melisma.
Right Hand: There are a few hooked bowings which need to sound just as flowing and smooth as the rest of the melody.
There is no other composer more closely associated with the viola da gamba than Marin Marais. His five books for viol and continuo represent the pinnacle of our repertoire.
Skill Builders
Musicality: Although this small menuet is only 20 bars long, it is a perfect example of a French menuet and is a great introduction to Marais' language.
Left Hand: We will embark on the journey of French ornamentation, with trills, mordents and vibrato.
Right Hand: This is also our introduction to notes inegales as well as adding chords to our toolbox.