Chelys Consort of Viols: Les Âges du Monde

The Strad Issue: February 2026

Description: A viol journey through the ages provides much delight

Musicians: Chelys Consort of Viols, James Akers (theorbo, Baroque guitar)

Works: Music by Campion, Caroubel, Charpentier, Couperin, Du Caurroy, Du Mont Le Jeune, Lully, Lupi Second, Métru and Moulinié

Catalogue number: BIS BIS-2733 (SACD)

Les Âges du Monde

The Chelys Consort’s programme comprises snapshots of 16th- and 17th-century French consort music for viols and demonstrates the gamba’s (and these performers’) versatility in negotiating popular song arrangements, dances and, most significantly, fantaisies, which were then predominant in the medium in France.

These players revel in the contrapuntal interplay of Moulinié’s Third Fantaisie à 4, five Fantaisies on ‘Une jeune fillette’ for various settings and combinations à 3–5 by Du Caurroy and two à 5 by Louis Couperin. They also accomplish their shoulder-to-shoulder comparison of Didier Lupi Second’s plain and Le Jeune’s more intricate versions of the chanson ‘Susanne un jour’ with poignant lyricism. Invigorated by telling guitar rhythms, they also execute various dances from Caroubel’s Terpsichore and three pieces from Du Mont’s Meslanges with striking cohesion and aplomb.

The gamba’s ‘golden age’ in France is represented by stylish accounts of three two-part fantaisies by Métru, which reflect organological developments c.1630–50, Lully’s Chaconne des Scaramouches and Charpentier’s dance suite Concert à 4, with its two contrasting gigues. The emotive, reedy timbres of the consort’s gut-strung instruments are captured with exemplary voicing and blend. Guest guitarist James Akers’ accounts of a Prélude and two dances from Campion’s Nouvelles découvertes demonstrate more patently his technical and artistic prowess and provide welcome contrast.

ROBIN STOWELL