Ayres & Graces

About Christopher Simpsons life not much is known except that he was a seminal writer for the viol. Modern violists use his 17th c. manual as a guide to the practice of divisions, the improvised embellishments so fashionable during his time. Much of his music nevertheless goes unperformed; the present collection of Ayres here receives its first recording by Chelys, a British quartet of young violists, with the aid of Dan Tidhar and James Akers. By turns melancholy, lively and graceful, these Ayres are glowing examples from the tail end of the great English tradition of viol consort music.