Alongside well-known pieces of the Baroque era this trio regularly present lesser-known but interesting pieces, several of which they have found through their research activities in international libraries.
Coperario Suite in D minor
Born John Cooper, he began to use the Italianate surname by 1601. Cooper served at the English court from 1605 to 1626 as lutenist, gamba player and composer, and taught the future King Charles I and also Henry and William Lawes. His four consort suites, written for one or two violins with bass viol and organ are notable for their development of the concept of the suite: each consists of a Fancy, an Almane, and a Galliard.
Godfrey Finger Sonata in C
A Moravian Baroque composer, Godfrey Finger (also known as Gottfried!) was born in Olomouc, modern-day Czech Republic, and worked for the court of James II of England before becoming a freelance composer. Many of his compositions were for the viol.
William Lawes Sonata No 1 in G minor
Taught by John Coperario from the age of 10, William Lawes was appointed to the court of Charles I in 1635.
Faronell's division on a ground from 'The Division Violin'
The collection 'The Division Violin' was printed in 1684. It mostly contains so-called divisions, variations on a certain melody over a 'basso ostinato': a repeated bass pattern. This was an international genre, but was especially popular in 17th-century England. And it remained popular well into the 18th century, as the collection was often reprinted, the last time in the 1730s.
Nicola Matteis Ground after the Scottish Humour
Nicola Matteis travelled to England from Italy, ‘afoot with his violin on his back'. He played both violin and guitar and his sensational performances on the former created a furore in London in the 1670s where the violin had been little played since the Civil War. Described by Matteis in his fourth book as ‘A pretty Hard Ground after the Scotch Humour' this piece was originally written for 2 violins and continuo.
Roger North, in his old age, sketched Matteis' career in a memoire of musical life: ‘He was very poor, but inexpugnably proud and hardly prevailed with to play to anybody. At length... good councell and starving brought the man over, and he became the most debonaire and easy person living; he came to little meetings and did just what they would have him.'