Johann Gotlieb Graun - Konzertante Musik Mit Viola Da Gamba (1998)

1	Concerto for violin & viola da gamba (or viola da braccio) in C minor: Allegro con spirito	
2	Concerto for violin & viola da gamba (or viola da braccio) in C minor: Adagio con sordini
3	Concerto for violin & viola da gamba (or viola da braccio) in C minor: Allegro			
4	Trio for 2 violas da gambe & continuo in G major: Adagio (andante)			
5	Trio for 2 violas da gambe & continuo in G major: Allegro			
6	Trio for 2 violas da gambe & continuo in G major: Allegro (Minuetto)	
		
7	Concerto for viola da gamba in A minor: Allegro moderato			
8	Concerto for viola da gamba in A minor: Adagio			
9	Concerto for viola da gamba in A minor: Allegro		
	
10	Trio Sonata for violin, viola da gamba, pardessus de viol & bass cembalo in A major: Adagio
11	Trio Sonata for violin, viola da gamba, pardessus de viol & bass cembalo in A major: Allegro
12	Trio Sonata for violin, viola da gamba, pardessus de viol & bass cembalo in A major: Allegro

Christophe Coin (Viola da gamba)
Gilles Colliard (Violin)
Bruno Cocset (Cello)
Vittorio Ghielmi (Viola da gamba)
Jan-Willem Jansen (Harpsichord)
Limoges Baroque Ensemble
Christophe Coin – conductor

Johann Gottlieb Graun (1702/3 - 1771) began his musical studies at the famous Kreuzschule in Dresden. Subsequently he acquired his legendary prowess on the violin from two of the most excellent teachers of the time: the Vivaldi disciple, Johann Georg Pisendel in Dresden and Giuseppe Tartini in Padova. Very early in his career, during his service as concertmaster in Merseburg, Graun got acquainted with Johann Christian Hertel (1697-1754), an outstanding viola da gamba virtuoso; they remained friends throughout their lives, corresponding frequently. This may be the reason for Graun's apparent knowledge of the technical possibilities of the viol: his compositions for this instrument - not less than 22 large-scale works are extant - bear witness to this.

Frederick II summoned Johann Gottlieb Graun as concertmaster - and with a handsome salary - in 1732 to his orchestra in Ruppin, later in Potsdam: indeed, Graun was the first musician to be appointed by His Majesty, which shows the high esteem this virtuoso enjoyed even at this early date. In 1766 Johann Adam Hiller wrote the following:

The concertmaster's great strength on the violin and his excellence in composition are universally known. In both these fields he had much to thank the tutelage of the famous Mr. Johann Georg Pisendel, the former concertmaster of the Prince Elector of Saxony in Dresden. He had also seen Italy and had got acquainted with the playing style of the famous Tartini directly from the master, although he considered it inappropriate to incorporate (into his own playing) the personal aspects of Tartini's art. The compositions of Mr. Graun consist of unusually fiery concertos for one and two violins, of double concertos for other instruments; of concertos for violoncello, viola da gamba, etc., of very many magnificent symphonies , some with many concertante instruments, and of several overtures, of beautiful trios an quartets for divers instruments, of many solos and also a few cantatas, etc.

Graun composed at least 8 concertos for the viola da gamba, which would most certainly have never been written, had it not been for the presence of a highly gifted musical personality at the court, namely, the excellent violist da gamba, Ludwig Christian Hesse (1716-1772). Hiller (1766) apparently knew him, too:

As musicians in the service of his Highness, the Prince of Prussia are:

Mr. Christian Ludwig Hesse, Viola da gambist, from Darmstadt: the son of the formerly so famous violist da gamba and subsequently Chancellor of War, Mr. Hesse from Darmstadt, and his wife, formerly a famous singer of the German Theatre. The technical accomplishment, the exactness and the fire in performance which Mr. Hesse possesses to such a high degree make him in our times indisputably the greatest violist da gamba in Europe. ---orpheon.org

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