Still Alive - Orpheon Foundation

THE VÁZQUEZ COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL STRING INSTRUMENTS (1550 – 1800) ORPHEON FOUNDATION The collection now contains over 250 select viola da gamba, viola d’amore, violin, viola, violoncello, violone, special violins, barytons and historical bows dating mostly from 1570 to 1780, all restored to their original playing conditions and placed at the disposal of members of the Orpheon Orchestra, Orpheon Consort and professional musicians all over Europe for competitions, concerts, recordings and study purposes. It is the living acoustical heritage – the sounds that these instruments produce for those living today – that interests us, and not their mere decorative flair as objets trouvés from aristocratic residences from our distant past. We wish to hear what these instruments have to say, what they can teach us about the aesthetics of their musical heritage: the Renaissance, the Baroque, the Classical Period. In the service of a living tradition.