The Last Rose: English viol and Venetian archlute

Through a delicate programme featuring Purcell, Hume, and revived anonymous works, this new release from the Musée de la musique weaves together archives and emotions. Recorded on historical instruments from its collection, The Last Rose elegantly explores the nuanced secrets of 17th-century England. An interview with Mathilde Vialle, on bass viol, and Thibaut Roussel, on archlute.

Your project originated from the discovery of two exceptional instruments at the Musée de la musique: a bass viol by John Pitts (1679) and an archlute by Christoph Koch (1654). Could you share what this discovery evoked for you and how these instruments influenced your interpretation of this 17th-century English repertoire?

Mathilde Vialle: The two instruments we chose to highlight in this recording were both revelations for us, even 350 years after their creation. For me, the Pitts viol truly guided my approach to this repertoire: the ease with which it speaks, and the agility afforded by its dimensions, allow the hand to dance along the fingerboard and the bow to glide over the strings, serving the virtuosic diminutions characteristic of English music from that era. The coherence between the repertoire and the instrument becomes complete!  

Thibaut Roussel: It’s absolutely exhilarating to hear an instrument resonate for the first time after centuries of silence! The very first notes filled us with incredible emotion—especially with the small Pitts viol, which felt like awakening a beautiful sleeper from a long slumber. We know that instruments need time for all the wooden fibres in their bodies to vibrate optimally again. In the case of this viol, the awakening was magnificent. Within just a few minutes, it filled our rehearsal room with its magical and generous tone. We truly fell in love with it!  

The programme of The Last Rose blends emblematic works by Purcell, Hume, and Blow with anonymous pieces from little-known manuscripts. How did you select these works, and what was your approach to reviving these forgotten pieces? 

M. V.: The heart of our project is an unpublished manuscript housed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France [RES VM7-703 et RES VM7-697]. This manuscript contains hundreds of pages written by English viol players in the 1660s–1680s for the viol with basso continuo—a true treasure awaiting rediscovery. Most pieces in this manuscript are anonymous—or rather, unattributed to date—but several are by a violist who deserves recognition: Anthony Poole. We then built our project around pieces from this manuscript (notably those by Poole), adding vocal works and solo archlute pieces by other, more well-known composers.  

T. R.: It immediately seemed important to us to reimagine all the experiences these instruments might have had in their early years. To consider what our illustrious predecessors might have played on these marvellous instruments—music stemming from a “popular” imagination linked to dance, what we might now call contemporary music, as well as songs that were truly fashionable in London salons during the latter half of the 17th century. The centrepiece of our project remains the spotlight on this mysterious manuscript, copied in St-Omer, where the creative genius of 11 English composers penned sublime pages for the viola da gamba!  

The combination of your four instruments and voices creates a unique sonic texture. How did you work together to balance these timbres and achieve coherence?

M. V.: We paired the two marvellous instruments from the Musée de la musique with a virginal—a key instrument of the Elizabethan period that endured into the 17th century in England—to recreate a small ensemble of musicians akin to those depicted in period paintings. Finally, we chose to enrich our palette by including songs popular in England at the time. We were keen to present a wide variety of colours while maintaining the intimate setting of a salon or chamber.  

T. R.: The blending of different timbres then happened quite naturally. We always took care not to impose our own identities on these instruments but rather to receive what they had to offer us. Our two sound engineers, Alban Moraud and Alexandra Evrard, ensured this. It’s also fascinating to hear what results from the meeting of two instruments that historically never crossed paths. The archlute spent its life in Venice and likely interacted, from its inception, with emblematic composers of the Baroque period. As for the viol, we like to imagine it once crossed paths with Henry Purcell or John Blow in a London theatre or salon. Two such beautiful objects claiming such historicity! It’s a dream to slip into the role of observers listening to this precious dialogue between two ambassadors, as a testament to their styles and eras.