Modus Phantasticus
Viol Music from 18th Century Germany

charivari agréable

Susanne Heinrich - Viols
Kah-Ming Ng - Organ & Harpsichord
Lynda Sayce - Theorbo, Lute & Baroque Guitar

with

Reiko Ichise - Bass Viol
Asako Morikawa - Bass Viol
Susanna Pell - Viols

Signum Records is delighted to release charivari agréable's ninth CD on the Signum label.

Modus Phantasticus presents a unique collection of German viol music, transcribed and arranged in charivari’s individual and historically-informed manner.

Germany was never blessed with the same solo viol traditions that flourished in England and France. The viol took a back seat in favour of the keyboard and the violin which provided a vehicle for the elaborate technical display found in "stylus phantasticus" music.

However the viol came into to its own within a consort of instruments, gaining a reputation for providing special effects alluding to mortality and the supernatural. The ability of the viol to enrich the texture and enhance sonority of vocal and sacred music meant that it could often dominate the scoring in music of this type.

The profile of the viol in Germany was raised considerably with the arrival, during the late 16th century and the first half of the 17th century, of elite violists from England. This disc follows the development of German viol repertoire and its English influences. The pieces are chosen for their beauty, their uniqueness or their suitability for charivari agréable’s speciality – wonderfully inventive arrangements and transcriptions.