Meineke van der velden marin marais biography

Viol player

Mieneke Van der Welden is a Dutch viol da gamba player. In the world of viola da gamba performers, it is difficult to avoid comparisons with Jordi Savall, whom many consider the great master of the viola da gamba. Thus, Bob Neill, in his Positive Feedback review of Van der Welden's 2002 release François Couperin: Piès de viole, measured her playing against what some have regarded as the canonical performance of François Couperin's (1668-1733) magisterial Pièces de viole, Savall's performance of the work. However, while describing Van der Velden's approach to Couperin as "considerably more forceful and less overtly warm and rich," he conceded that she opens up the instrument and expands its expressive power. Indeed, there is much energy in her playing, but there is, as Dutch reviewers have remarked, extraordinary refinement, poetry, and beauty in her interpretation of Couperin's music. In his discussion of Couperin's harpsichord music in French Baroque Music, James R. Anthony remarked that the music cannot be separated from its instrument, which means that the creative miracle emerges as a dialogue between soloist and his or her instrument. It could be said that Couperin, who was not at all familiar with the viol, approached the