Search - Tobias Hume, Hesperion XX, Jordi Savall :: Hume: Poeticall Musicke

Captain Hume Was an Amusing Gent!

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 11/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The immediate impression this music makes is of a Falstaffian wit and zest. A slightly longer acquaintance makes one aware that Tobias Hume had all the arts of a major composer except scope; thus he remained and remains today a composer of eccentric and sometimes gaudy miniatures, one of a batallion of English 'gentlemen' who played and wrote for the viola da gamba with no concern for audiences, concerts, and such. I'd love to have old Toby in my salon some evening, sawing at his fiddle while we shared a bottle of madeira.



I've had that privilege with Jordi Savall, a man of wonderful, gentle Catalan fellowship as well as the very best gambist on the planet. Savall plays Hume as if Hume-ish were his native language, with such command of musical inflection as no other gambist can approach. His solo playing is the most attractive feature of this CD, though there's Humor aplenty in the words of Hume's songs. For a gambist or cellist of any skill, just listening to Jordi can teach you more about bowing than most lessons you might pay for. How to play the gamba? Play it like this!

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