about this recording:

An exemplar of Jacob Richmann’s viola da gamba sonatas op. 1 is housed in the Bibliotèque Nationale in Paris. The title page – “dedicated in French” (Walther) – specifies “Six Sonates à une Viole de Gambe & Basse continue”. This collection was therefore the first published work of a highly talented twenty-five- to thirty-year-old musician, of a viola da gambist who at this point of time was presumably still in the services of the princess of Orange. The House of Orange-Nassau was at this time the hereditary stadtholder in the Netherlands and willingly employed Dutch artists.

In his opus 1, we count six viola da gamba sonatas with the movements Preludio – Allemanda – Corrente – Sarabanda – Giga. The Italian titles of the opening pieces and dances were surely not chosen accidently, and are sometimes very programmatic in terms of content.

reviews: