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Paolo Pandolfo, solo viola da gambaHailed as "one of the world’s most imaginative musicians" (Boston Phoenix), Paolo Pandolfo has gained international acclaim for his superb interpretations of music from the Renaissance & Baroque. His extraordinary solo performances bring spontaneous and immediate life to the performance of renaissance, baroque, and contemporary music. This programme focuses on the suite, from the work of Sainte-Colombe and de Machy (French masters of the viol who first gave a shape to the suite) to the established form in the immortal suites by J.S. Bach - and more. These masterworks from the past alternate with original contemporary music, written and/or improvised by Pandolfo himself Paolo Pandolfo viola da gamba
Tickets for this performance at $35 (students & seniors $3 discount) can be ordered on-line via our secure connection. They can also be ordered by phone (604 732-1610) from the office of Early Music Vancouver. Tickets are also available at Sikora’s Classical Records. Rush Seats for Students with valid ID on sale for $10, at the door only, from 7:00 pm on the evening of the performance. This concert is included in our “Bring a Youth for Free” programme.
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Johan Geritsz. Cuyp (1594-1651/52): “Vanitas still life with an angel blowing bubbles”
Prélude| Programme Notes |
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Nowadays ever-deeper knowledge of the early music idiom, the result of half a century of scholars' and musicians' researches, is the starting point of a profound metamorphosis of our way of making and listening to music. Our ears are accustomed to ancient polyphonies, dance suites, frottole and saltarelli, madrigals and chamber sonatas, all rigorously performed on historical instruments and with the most accurate historical performance practice. Those who are producing and performing early music have achieved a level of instrumental and theoretical knowledge sufficient to interpret any newly discovered score emerging from a still-unexplored library.
But the musical interpreter was once also an author, and the rigid separation between composers and performers is in fact a relatively recent phenomenon, unthinkable for renaissance or baroque musicians. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries every good instrumentalist would have been able to compose music for his own use, or if commissioned.
I am convinced that such practice, together with the vital practice of improvisation, if reintroduced into everyday's life of today's musicians, would be crucial for the future of cultivated western music. This is why I propose in this as well as in other programmes to listen not only to early, but also to modern music, building bridges between past and present, making easier the comprehension of "today", thanks to the experience of "yesterday". The viola da gamba, thanks to its natural versatility, is capable of moving easily between disparate musical vocabularies and styles, making it the perfect instrument for building such bridges.
From the "written improvisations" of the master of all later French viol players, M. de Sainte-Colombe, to the unbelievable formal architectures of J.S. Bach (composed for the cello, but an inspiration for countless suites for viola da gamba), from the fragile notes of the last great viol player of the 18th century, C.F. Abel up to the improvised, jazzy notes of the modern pieces in the programme, the viola da gamba is perfectly at ease. Its unique voice often inclines to melancholy, but is also capable of unsuspected energy.
| The Artist |
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Paolo Pandolfo
Internationally acclaimed Italian viola da gamba player, composer and teacher Paolo Pandolfo began his studies as a double bass and guitar player, becoming a skilled performer of jazz and popular music. In the mid-to-late 70s he studied viola da gamba at the Rome Conservatory, and in 1979 he co-founded the early music ensemble La Stravaganza. He then moved to Basel, Switzerland in 1981 where he studied with Jordi Savall at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. From 1982 to 1990 Pandolfo was a member of Jordi Savall’s early music groups Hespèrion XX / Hespèrion XXI.
Since 1989 Pandolfo has served as professor of viola da gamba at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis — a position previously held by two masters of the instrument: August Wenzinger and Jordi Savall. He also directs, records, and performs regularly with the viola da gamba-oriented early music ensemble Labyrinto which he co-founded.
Pandolfo has recorded numerous CDs. For most of the 1980s he recorded primarily with Jordi Savall and others. His first recording as a soloist appeared in 1990 with the release of his highly acclaimed CD C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas for Viola da Gamba (Tactus). He has also recorded a viola da gamba interpretation of the cello suites of J. S. Bach. In his opinion these suites, though written for the cello, were conceived in the polyphonic style of the viola da gamba; furthermore, the dance suite was a common form for viola da gamba music, and playing the Bach suites on the gamba thus in a way reclaims this tradition for the viola da gamba.
Pandolfo has said that the patrimony of ancient music can be a powerful inspiration for the future of the Western musical tradition. Building bridges between past and present is therefore an important part of his work.