The Last Rose - songs, tunes and dances from a mysterious manuscript. © 2025 Harmonia Mundi Musique sas

Spotlight

Something of a Miracle

GERALD FENECH strongly recommends music from a mysterious manuscript, played by Mathilde Vialle, Thibaut Roussel, Ronan Khalil and Zachary Wilder

'... an absolute delight ...'

 

This marvellous CD is, more than anything else, a voyage of discovery that takes us back some four hundred years. It is the fruit of the meeting between a 21st century musician and an instrument crafted four centuries ago. Such a meeting is bound to be emotionally charged, and what Mathilde and Thibaut experienced upon first encountering the two instruments from Paris's Museum of Music collection, which they played for this recording, was something of a miracle.

Listen — Francis Withy: Divisions in G minor
(HMM 902505 track 20, 0:01-0:56) ℗ 2025 Harmonia Mundi Musique sas :

This is the series of events that unfolded in Mathilde's own account that finally led to the finished product:

June 5th 2023 ... Cité de la Musique ... We are about to discover three magnificent instruments liberated from their display cases for the occasion. The archlute made by Christoph Koch in 1654 is an absolute wonder at first glance ... Of the two violas da gamba ... the small English viol made by John Pitts in London in 1679 is a revelation ...

'... the magic begins to operate from the very first moment. The beauty of the craftsmanship, the quality of the timbre, the rapport with this viol are so evident that there is no longer a shadow of a doubt. It is around this instrument that a cohesive programme must be constructed ...

Our initial research quickly leads us to the Bibliothèque nationale de France, on the trail of a certain Anthony Poole, an English violist and Catholic, who had taken refuge in Saint-Omer ... Then another encounter, truly providential, awaits us ... we are handed the manuscript ... discover nearly two hundred pages of music written for the viol and basso continuo ... Only a few pieces can be attributed to Poole ...

Listen — Anthony Poole: Chaconne (prima)
(HMM 902505 track 17, 0:00-0:56) ℗ 2025 Harmonia Mundi Musique sas :

... we do not know, except for some dozen pieces, the identity of the mysterious creators hiding behind these pages of music ... To hear the music that had been long forgotten but is now played on instruments that remained silent for centuries ... It is this unique journey that we invite you to take while listening to this recording, and enjoy two hundred pages of music for the viol like so many petals of a rose: a last blossom of a once-flourishing summer.

This issue, apart from four anonymous pieces, includes music by some of the greatest viol composers of the time, both famous ones such as Tobias Hume, Henry Purcell and John Blow, and lesser known names such as Frank Withy, Benjamin Hely and Pietro Reggio.

Listen — Pietro Reggio: To Corinna
(HMM 902505 track 19, 1:32-2:13) ℗ 2025 Harmonia Mundi Musique sas :

Performances are an absolute delight, always clear and passionate, with superbly judged tempi and a joyous expressiveness that falls like balm on the ears. Do add this part of musical history to your collection. You will have no regrets. Sound, annotations and presentation are first-rate.

Copyright © 4 April 2025 Gerald Fenech,
Gzira, Malta

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Follow the links in this box for more information about Harmonia Mundi and this release, The Last Rose - songs, tunes and dances from a mysterious manuscript.

There are more articles here about archlute music, viol music, vocal music, chamber music, string music, France, UK, early music, seventeenth century, there's a list of other recent reviews of recordings here, and there are details of other recent albums here.

The background image on this page has been derived from the early seventeenth century painting A description of the fall of Atlantis by 'Monsù Desiderio' (a pseudonym of French painters François de Nomé and Didier Barra, and a third, unknown artist).

 

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