I recently decided to get back into playing music, after a long absence. I thought about different instruments, and considered playing the cello, but there is not much solo music I really like for that instrument, since I prefer early music and baroque music.
So, I decided to try and learn the viol.
It may seem to be an anachronism, making music by rubbing horse-hairs impregnated with tree resin against bits of animal intestine stretched over a wooden box, especially in this hypermodern era. But that is part of its charm: there is something quite relaxing about the viol that comes from another, perhaps simpler age. It has a soft, velvety sound that is not found in other string instruments, and the music written for it has an intensely meditative quality. Its sound is the closest of all instruments to the human voice.
These pages are my contribution to the world of viol players and music. Together with Jonathan Dunford, a Real viol player, I have tried to organize some of the resources available both on and off the Internet.
Like all web sites, this is always under construction, so come back from time to time to see what we have added.
Kirk Mcelhearn "
... si ADAM avoit voulu faire un Instrument, il auroit fait une Viole..."
"... if Adam had wanted to make an Instrument, he would have made a Viol..."
Jean Rousseau, Traité de la Viole, Paris 1687
Full length feature article about the viol by Jonathan Dunford for Goldberg Magazine
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What it is and how it got that way.
Who wrote for it.
A discography of viol music.
Music and software for the viol.
What to read about the viol.
Articles and liner notes.
Links to Viol Societies.
Those who make the viols we play.
Links to other early music sites, and performers' pages.
