Life After Death: The Viola da Gamba in Britain from Purcell to Dolmetsch

New research throws light on the history of the viol after Purcell, including its revival in the late eighteenth century through Charles Frederick Abel.

It is normally thought that the bass viol or viola da gamba dropped out of British musical life in the 1690s, and that Henry Purcell was the last composer to write for it. Peter Holman shows how the gamba changed its role and function in the Restoration period under the influence of foreign music and musicians; how it was played and composed...