Album Booklet

Tickle the Minikin Pieces in Harpe Sette Sharpe Pieces in Lancashire Pipes Tuning Thomas Mace (1612/13-c.1706) Anon. 1. Prelude [1:17] 11. Prelude and Lancashire Pipes [3:11] 17th-century lyra viol music Simon Ives (1600-1662) 12. Kate of Hardie, Piggies of 2. Allemande [2:20] Rumsey & Lancashire Pipes [1:40] Charles Coleman (1605-1664) 3. Courante [1:19] Pieces in French Sette Anon. Robert Smith 4. Carillon [4:16] John Jenkins Thomas Mace 13. Almaine [2:52] 5. Air [2:04] 14. Courante [1:58] John Taylor (dates unknown) & Anon. 15. Allemande [2:01] 6. Allemande & Sarabande [1:57] 16. Courante [1:25] Anon. 17. Courante [1:35] 7. Thumping Almaine [1:23] Pieces in High Harp Flat Pieces in ‘ededf’ Anon. John Jenkins (1592-1678) 18. Prelude [1:41] 8. Allemande [2:11] John Jenkins William Young (d. 1662) 19. Allemande [1:32] 9. Allemande [1:37] 20. Courante [1:37] 10. Sarabande [1:31] Dietrich Steffkins (c. 1600-1673) About Robert Smith: 21. Courante [1:36] 22. Sarabande [0:39] ‘Robert Smith thrillingly exploits the full expressive range of the viol’ John Jenkins Classical Ear 23. Allemande [2:40] ‘Robert Smith's plaintive expressive poise’ Dietrich Steffkins BBC Music Magazine 24. Courante [1:24] Anon. 25. Sarabande [1:19] Pieces in ‘fedef’ Anon. 26. Air [1:43] 27. Air [1:12] Alfonso Waye Tuning Anon. 28. Jemmye [5:39] Pieces in Harpe Sette Flat Anon. 29. Courante [1:09] John Esto (dates unknown) 30. Allemande [1:40] Simon Ives 31. Sarabande [0:32] John Esto/William Young 32. Allemande [1:23] John Esto/John Jenkins 33. Courante [1:13] John Esto 34. Sarabande [0:37] Anon. 35. Air [2:02] PH: ALEXGIACOMELLI GIACOMELLI Total playing time [64:34] PH: ALEX Robert Smith Tickle the Minikin: The differences between the two instruments collections from England and abroad. Almost Mysterious lyra-viol music from were so slight in fact that the prolific English a century of music still remains, for the most seventeenth-century Holland & England publisher, John Walsh, quickly dropped the part, unexplored. A small number of sources term ‘Lyra Viol’ in favour of ‘The Viol, have entered general circulation of viol players British Library Manuscript GB-Lbl, Mus. 249 Lyra-Way’, suggesting that it was as much such as the ‘Manchester’ and ‘Marsh’ lyra-viol Manchester Lyra-Viol Book, GB-Mp, BRm/832 Vu51 a style as an instrument. Players who had books as well as the publications by Tobias access to only one type of viol would most Hume and John Playford. While a handful The Lyra-Viol likely have played both repertoires on the of pieces presented in this recording originate one instrument. from the Manchester Lyra-Viol Book, the The lyra-viol was an instrument that majority of pieces come from the hitherto flourished in seventeenth-century England; It is, however, the style of the lyra-viol obscure British Library Manuscript: Mus. 249. popular with musicians and amateurs alike repertoire that provides the richest area it was practiced by distinguished gentlemen of interest. As with the lute, the numerous It’s possible to think of these various including such luminaries as the English strings and frets allow the viol to accompany manuscript collections as seventeenth-century diarist, Samuel Pepys. Despite three itself and it was therefore the perfect music-playlists, with players compiling their Anglo-Dutch wars the intense cultural instrument for a gentleman to play alone favourite pieces into one volume. The most exchange between England and Holland at home. Because of this feature, the writing popular pieces are found in many sources, during the century ensured the presence tended to be polyphonic albeit within the and each manuscript tends to contain a of lyra-viol repertoire in the low-countries, limitations of the instrument – one cannot number of rarer pieces, often unique. MS. with the influential Dutch poet Constantijn bow the top and bottom strings 249 contains sixty-two different pieces with Huygens among its more notable enthusiasts. simultaneously for example. Dozens of twenty-four of them unique to the manuscript. alternative tunings existed in order to In addition, transmission was not at all The lyra-viol’s association with playing achieve maximum sonority in certain keys, ‘digital’ and interesting differences occur chords suggests it was named after the and music was notated in tablature which between sources – often minor and lirone (see image right) – a many-stringed facilitated playing pieces in these different occasionally radical. instrument originating in Italy with several tunings. All sorts of ornaments were strings bowed at the same time to produce developed including, perhaps the most Manuscript 249 blocks of harmony. The lyra-viol can be striking, plucking the strings with the thought of as a bass-viol (or viola da left-hand – a ‘Thumpe’. Many years ago, in the Royal Library of The gamba) with some subtle modifications Hague, I discovered a photocopy simply to make chord playing easier such as Eighteen printed sources emerged in England titled ‘Manuscript for the Lyra-Viol c.1670'. a flatter bridge, smaller overall size and (photograph courtesy of between 1601 and 1682 and in addition to It contained works by John Jenkins, William occasionally sympathetic strings. Albert Comper Photography) this there exist over seventy-five manuscript Lawes and Thomas Mace, amongst others, and I made a copy for myself to explore with manuscript, a glance at another version someone who could identify work of quality – one remains extant. Working for the prince my instrument. At the time, as a relative often answers questions and resolves the manuscript is full of musically interesting would have given him daily access to a great newcomer to the viol, I failed to make ambiguities. How does one find and entertaining pieces. If the original owner many visitors from different lands, and surely much sense of the contents – the challenge concordances? By painstakingly trawling was indeed living in The Netherlands they a perfect opportunity to exchange music. of learning to read tablature and figure out through other indices and manuscripts and probably had access to a variety of sources the tunings was a little overwhelming. comparing the tablature to find matches. of lyra-viol music on the continent as well Or could it have been an Englishman, like I filed the manuscript away and forgot Performers were expected to embellish as in Britain. Perhaps tradesmen or diplomats Samuel Pepys, who travelled to The about it for a few years. their performances and although tables of passed through with their instruments, or Netherlands on political business, making ornaments and their symbols exist, the maybe the latest compositions were music on the sea-voyage along the way, ‘I went More recently, I looked again at the number of surviving scores and parts with exchanged by post with contacts in foreign to play two trebles [viols] in the great cabin manuscript, being better equipped to embellishments written in is few. With this lands. The person may have been more below, which my Lord hearing, after supper decipher it. The manuscript is often in mind, a good reason to play from MS. 249 interested in performing the works rather he called for our instruments, and played a unclear, with a sparing use of bar lines instead of a clearer version is the unique than collecting for posterity – the untidy set of [Matthew] Lock’s [sic], two trebles, and a and frequent absence of rhythmic notation embellishments notated in the pieces. notation points to the manuscript’s use base, and that being done, he fell to singing but, despite this, the high quality of the as a memory aid. of a song made upon the Rump [Parliament].’ music in the collection persuaded me to MS. 249 was quite possibly compiled in devote further study to the manuscript. Holland but it is not known by whom. Could it have been a professional musician The exact provenance of the manuscript may Correspondence with English music expert The paper originated in Basel at the such as Dietrich Steffkins? Steffkins spent never be discovered – and further details of Andrew Ashbee revealed that the beginning of the seventeenth-century while large amounts of time in England, Holland its journey to the collections of the British manuscript was now in the British Library the script and binding indicate that the and Germany, exchanged pieces with John Library are also scant. Most recently, it was and that he had indexed the collection manuscript was made around the1670s. Jenkins by post and was for a time the auctioned by Sotheby's in 1995 from an some years earlier. teacher of Constantijn Huygens. Huygens anonymous seller on ‘the continent’ – details Perhaps the most intriguing question raised wrote about him, ‘I have been told that of the purchase could not be provided owing Having an index was the key to understanding by this manuscript is to whom did it belong? the marvellous Stephkins performs more to reasons of confidentiality, further deepening and performing the works from the From studying and playing the manuscript miracles on the viola da gamba than any this tantalising mystery. manuscript. Although the manuscript itself it is possible to hypothesise as to the type man before.’ is largely unknown, many pieces contained of person. It was obviously someone who was Tablature and Scordatura within it often occur in other sources able on the viol as some of the pieces provide Could it have been somebody like Huygens (known as a concordance) and this is technical challenges. Not only that, this player himself, for whom music was a serious The issues of music notation and tuning where the detective work begins.

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