"Superb" - Alex Ross, The Rest is Noise | "Fine young New York viol group" - The New Yorker
Ensemble photography by Paula Lobo © 2018 and Teju Cole © 2016
2018–2019 season
2018–2019 Ensemble in Residence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sonnambula performs rare old music written for the viola da gamba (viol) and similar instruments.
Those of us who grew up playing music are likely more familiar with what music historians call "violin family" instruments—violins, violas, and cellos—in a modern setup, with innovations that have evolved over the last two hundred years to fill modern concert halls with sound: steel strings, end pins, chin rests, and modern bows.
Viols possess none of these artifacts of industrialization. Their delicate bodies are made with thin slabs of wood, strung with gut strings and frets, and are played da gamba, or 'on the leg'. In short, these instruments are meant for the court, for the domestic interior, and for the cultivation of a quiet beauty, the sort of which is difficult to come by in today's loud and fast-paced world.
2017–2018 season highlights
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Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665–1729): Musician in Paris |
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Listen to excerpts from this program on SoundCloud, hear some spots on Performance Today, and read a review.
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Live at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Audience looks on at The Hispanic Society of America, New York City
