I've been meaning to post this for a few weeks now, but never got around to it.

On my way to Axiom earlier this month, I listened to a piece of music on CBC2 that really caught my attention. It was:

Folies D'Espagne from the disk, Folies - Les Voix Humaines

The piece is played by two bass Violas (didn't know there was such an instrument). I really love the sound of violas.

Does anyone here own this disk? Any comments on the rest of the Disk?

Fred

I'd like to be submerged listlessly in a salty hot tub located in a sandy, dark beach bar with a bottle of bourbon in my left hand, a fried chicken in the other, a cuban hanging from my lower lip while my feet are being pampered with a pedicure and my auditory centers are kept entertained by Koko Taylor belting out blues to the rhythm of island girls fanning my face with fragrant bouquets of flowers while native females shamelessly undulate their glistening bodies under the light of the silvery moon and flickering flames surrender their glowing embers to the salty ether.

Could those be Bass Viola di Gamba by any chance?

Don't know Eric. Hey, the site where I found a review of the disk is the Australian Viola Da Gamba Society. Whatever they are, they sure sounded good.

Mojo.... where do I start... Madness? Should I change the post to HOW I would like to be listening tonight?

Well, I did mention Koko Taylor did I not? I like to be complete in my responses .

Okay, that makes more sense. I was intrigued by "bass viola" and had to do some research, which turned out nothing. Bass viola da Gamba (if you're interested) is somewhere between a cello and a double-bass. The Bass viola da gamba sure sounds beautiful. It has a wide range and is capable of playing in a very lyric manner and has also strong attacks. As the XVIIIth century progressed, lack of "sustain" of the Viola da Gamba family and their large sizes compared to the violin family made it less and less used.

Hmm. Cool. So what makes it different from a cello? To go low like that I would think it needs a rather large body.

Funny, it didn't even sink in until this morning. I was reading bass viola and thinking bass cello. My daughter actually plays viola (in preference over the violin).

A couple of years ago I had an old violin that belonged to my mother refurbished. It was in rough shape and I had no idea what sort of instrument it was, but I thought it might be better than the school instruments my daughter was playing. Turns out it is a very nice violin (not quite concert quality), but my daughter much preferred to stick with the viola.

Anyway, I think I'm going to pick this disk up.

Violon, viola, barytone and cello are part of a more "modern" family that has 4 tight strings (which were quickly made out of steel) and can play "louder" on sustained notes, thus making them ideal for orchestra applications. The double-bass (or contre-bass) is actually a descendant of the Contre-Bass Viola Da Gamba and not a complementary instruments of the violon family.

The "viola da gamba" family is also called "viol" came in many sizes (usually with 6 strings): "pardessus de viole" (the composers Marin Marais and Francois Couperain are one of the few to have composed for it), "treble" (rough equivalent to violon), "alto" (rough equilvalent to viola), "tenor" (rough equivalent to barytone), "bass" (rought equivalent to cello) and "contre-bass" (very close to modern double-bass).

You can also access the following link if you are interested (I just hope it does not contradict what I just typed!!)

http://vdgsa.org/