Program:
An elegant concert of works written for the French seven string bass viola da gamba during its heyday of the Baroque period. Featured are two of the Rogue Valley's most celebrated and accomplished musicians, Pat O'Scannell & Michal Palzewicz. Presented will be virtuosic works for this rarely heard instrument, popularized in the Renaissance as a consort instrument played in four sizes, with a huge repertoire by England's most famous 16th C. composers. It had a second heyday in France in the 17th C. as a solo instrument, before the cello replaced it, with its increased capacity for volume to balance with larger and larger orchestras. Pat and Michal will play in both a standard and lyra styles, the lyra style including chords. This practice harkens back to the instrument's roots being the lute and the guitar, both fretted to capacitate playing chords. The gamba is played with an under-hand bow grip, unlike the violin and cello. This grip gives rise to a nuanced approach to the attack of the bow, which is something akin to plucking. The gamba is a much quieter instrument, and unrelated to the violin, viola or cello. The upright bass is the only remaining member of the viola da gamba family still existent in our orchestra, and some players still us the old underhand grip.
BIO DUO JETTÉ
DUO JETTÉ was founded in 2016, becoming one of the first groups on the MUSICA MATRIX roster. From the beginning, its purpose was to bring the Baroque repertoire of the seven string bass gamba into the public view. Composers such as Monsieur Saint-Colombe, Marin Marais, Antoine Forqueray and many others have been highlighted in the ensemble's repertoire. The gamba was an important consort instrument in the Renaissance, and became a vital solo voice in the French Baroque. The instrument has frets and is bowed with an underhand grip, all contributing to its lighter, more detached sound, not surprising because of its roots in instruments such as the lute and guitar. The repertoire includes a style called 'Lyra' in which chords are either bowed or plucked. The instrument is not related to the cello, or to the violin family. Its roots lie with the fretted plucked instruments mentioned earlier.
~ DUO JETTÉ is in its tenth season of concerts. ~
