ABSTRACT
Jean-Baptiste Forqueray's Pieces de viole avec la Basse Continue occupies a unique position in the viol repertoire: it comes near the end of a long tradition of French solo viol music and also challenges the player in entirely novel ways. The author investigates the background to Jean-Baptiste Forqueray's decision to publish the two prints and what if any responsibility his father, Antoine Forqueray, may have had as composer of the music. The author also investigates two alternative performance possibilities: as solos for the pardessus de viole and as accompanied keyboard music with the basse de viole. The application of notes inegales in Forqueray's music also raises some interpretive questions. Jean-Baptiste Forqueray was one of a small number of professional players who were able to keep the basse de viole from dying out altogether, allowing the instrument to retain an unbroken tradition in France until the beginning of its modern revival.
