English tenor viol, Dolmetsch, 1993

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This young tenor viol with a string length of 48.1 cm, which was made in the year 1993, hails from the legendary and tradition-rich company Dolmetsch in the British city of Haslemere, Surrey. The Dolmetsch name is familiar to almost everyone in the United Kingdom who ever held a musical instrument in their hands. This is especially true of the recorder, which French immigrant Arnold Dolmetsch (1858-1940) revived along with many other historic instruments. In addition to the harpsichord, the founder of the famous International Dolmetsch Early Music Festival most notably focussed his attention on the gamba family. To this day, his successors continue to create quality stringed instruments which are patterned after historic models. These works represent of a branch of the historic-music movement that may be whimsical at times but is nevertheless unprecedented in terms of its influence. This particular tenor viol is an instrument with exceedingly lovely ornamentation, and the open carving of its filigree scroll creates a thoroughly modern accent. The purfling on the back is fancifully embellished and serves as a wonderful complement to the deep flames of the maple - an outstanding choice of tone wood, as was the moderately-grained spruce of the top. The light golden-brown varnish rounds out the aesthetic of this tenor viol, which still has the original Dolmetsch label in the body. The body has no cracks, but the back seam is open in the lower part of the back