Soloist Rainer Zipperling presents two poles of French viol music: the complete surviving viola da gamba works of François Couperin – who was not a viol player himself, but rather France’s most famous harpsichordist and composer – and the monumental Fourth Sonata by the viol virtuoso Antoine Forqueray. Whereas Couperin’s sonatas radiate a beguiling charm, Forqueray goes to the very limits of what is possible on his instrument so that his music sometimes sounds brusque, sometimes imploring.

New is the arrangement for viola da gamba of Couperin’s piece “La Superbe ou la Forqueray” with which Rainer Zipperling (Ricercar Consort, among others) adds a particularly characteristic piece to Couperin’s viol canon. Sofia Diniz on second viol and Pieter-Jan Belder on the French harpsichord supplement the dark and velvety timbre in the low tuning of 392 Hz, which was captured by AEOLUS on SuperAudioCD in Stereo and Surround Sound.