Cécile Dolmetsch became Cécile Dolmetsch Ward (22 March 1904 – 9 August 1997) was a British

pardessus de viole The pardessus de viole is the highest-pitched member of the viol family of instruments. It is a bowed string instrument, bowed string instrument with either five or six strings and a fretted neck. The pardessus first appeared in the early 18th c ...

player.

Biography

Dolmetsch was born in

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

, on 22 March 1904. She was the first child born to (Eugène)

Arnold Dolmetsch Eugène Arnold Dolmetsch (24 February 185828 February 1940), was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey. He was a leading figu ...

and his third wife Mabel (born Johnston). Her family moved abroad shortly after her birth and her father had to make a special trip to collect her in June. They spent seven years in the United States and three years in France where her father worked as a musical instrument maker. She had three siblings and a half-sister but she and her father were estranged. The family would always speak French at home and the family's interest in early musical instruments resulted in a family concert every evening where they would all try different instruments and they would be joined by friends. This led to the formation of a family concert group. In 1917, the whole family moved to their new home at Hazlemore at a house called "Jesses". They were moved as a favour by the French-Canadian army as they had befriended them as fellow francophones. The Haslemere Festival began in 1925 and Cécile would play each year until the 1990s. Everyone in the family could play several instruments but she was the only one known for her singing. In 1930, she sang

John Dowland John Dowland ( – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", " Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", " N ...

's "Awake Sweet Love" from 1575 on Columbia's first volume of their "History of Music" edited by

Percy Scholes Percy Alfred Scholes (pronounced ''skolz''; 24 July 1877 – 31 July 1958) was an English musician, journalist, vegetarianism activist and prolific writer, whose best-known achievement was his compilation of the first edition of the '' Oxford Co ...

. She was accompanied by a viol and a lute. In 1948, she was a founder of the Viola da Gamba Society and her sister, Nathalie, served for many years as President. Cecile took over from her when she died in 1989. She became an advocate for the

which is the descant member of the viol family. In some years she was the only professional musician to play the pardessus de viole. Dolmetsch also used her time to find lost music for the pardessus de viole in French libraries. The music collection she curated included solo compositions by

Jean-Baptiste Barrière Jean-Baptiste Barrière (2 May 1707 – 6 June 1747) was a French people, French cello, cellist and composer. He was born in Bordeaux and died in Paris, at 40 years of age. Musical career Barrière first studied the viol, and published a set of vi ...

, Thomas Marc and Caix d'Hervelois. Dolmetsch died on 9 August 1997, aged 93, in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolmetsch, Cecile 1904 births 1997 deaths People from Dorking British musicians Viol players Francophone people