Sophie Watillon
Encyclopedia
Sophie Watillon was born in Namur
, Belgium
to a musical family. During her young life, the viola da gamba-soloist gained international fame with refined and sensitive solo interpretations of Early Music
and Baroque
compositions for viola da gamba.
At the age of sixteen, she began studying music with Philippe Pierlot in Maastricht
, and then further with Wieland Kuijken
in Brussels
and with Paolo Pandolfo at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
, Basel
.
Beside her solo career, Watillon was a permanent member of Hesperion XXI
, La Capella Reial de Catalunya
and Le Concert des Nations
of Jordi Savall
. She played with various ensembles such as Il Seminario Musicale, Cantus Cölln, Le Poème Harmonique, Ricercar Consort, Stylus Phantasticus.
Namur (city)
Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
to a musical family. During her young life, the viola da gamba-soloist gained international fame with refined and sensitive solo interpretations of Early Music
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
and Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
compositions for viola da gamba.
At the age of sixteen, she began studying music with Philippe Pierlot in Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
, and then further with Wieland Kuijken
Kuijken
Kuijken is a Dutch surname. It may refer to:A Belgian family of musicians:* Barthold Kuijken - player of the baroque flute* Sigiswald Kuijken - conductor and player of the baroque violin* Wieland Kuijken - viol and cello player...
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and with Paolo Pandolfo at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, and focusing on early music and historically informed performance....
, Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
.
Beside her solo career, Watillon was a permanent member of Hesperion XXI
Hespèrion XXI
Hespèrion XXI is an international early music ensemble. The group was formed in Basel, Switzerland in 1974 as Hespèrion XX by Spanish musical director Jordi Savall , Montserrat Figueras , Lorenzo Alpert , and Hopkinson Smith...
, La Capella Reial de Catalunya
La Capella Reial de Catalunya
La Capella Reial de Catalunya was created in Barcelona in 1987 by its conductor Jordi Savall as a group of soloist singers whose aim is to make the repertoire of Catalan historical music and, by extension, that of Spanish and other music widely known throughout the world...
and Le Concert des Nations
Le Concert des Nations
Le Concert des Nations is an orchestra with period instruments, able to perform the orchestral and symphonic repertoire from the Baroque to Romanticism: 1600 - 1850. The orchestra was created in 1989, the youngest of the groups conducted by the Catalan maestro and viola da gamba virtuoso Jordi Savall...
of Jordi Savall
Jordi Savall
Jordi Savall i Bernadet is a Catalan viol player, conductor and composer. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for bringing the viol back to life on the stage...
. She played with various ensembles such as Il Seminario Musicale, Cantus Cölln, Le Poème Harmonique, Ricercar Consort, Stylus Phantasticus.
Academic career
- Professor viola da gamba Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya, BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
Recordings
(labels: Alpha - Summit records - Ligia Digital - Ricercar - Cyprès)- Recordings with Philippe HerreweghePhilippe HerreweghePhilippe Herreweghe is a Flemish conductor.In his school years at the University of Ghent, Herreweghe combined studies in medical science and psychiatry with a musical education at the Ghent Conservatory, where Marcel Gazelle, Yehudi Menuhin's accompanist, was his piano teacher...
- Numerous recordings with Hesperion XXIHespèrion XXIHespèrion XXI is an international early music ensemble. The group was formed in Basel, Switzerland in 1974 as Hespèrion XX by Spanish musical director Jordi Savall , Montserrat Figueras , Lorenzo Alpert , and Hopkinson Smith...
, La Capella Reial de CatalunyaLa Capella Reial de CatalunyaLa Capella Reial de Catalunya was created in Barcelona in 1987 by its conductor Jordi Savall as a group of soloist singers whose aim is to make the repertoire of Catalan historical music and, by extension, that of Spanish and other music widely known throughout the world...
and Le Concert des NationsLe Concert des NationsLe Concert des Nations is an orchestra with period instruments, able to perform the orchestral and symphonic repertoire from the Baroque to Romanticism: 1600 - 1850. The orchestra was created in 1989, the youngest of the groups conducted by the Catalan maestro and viola da gamba virtuoso Jordi Savall...
, Jordi SavallJordi SavallJordi Savall i Bernadet is a Catalan viol player, conductor and composer. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for bringing the viol back to life on the stage...
Recordings with Ricercar Consort
- 1988 : Deutsche Barock Kantaten (III) (Schein, Tunder, Buxtehude)
- 1989 : Deutsche Barock Kantaten (V) (Hammerschmidt, Selle Schein, Schütz, Tunder, Weckmann, Lübeck)
- 1989 : Motets à deux voix of Henri Dumont
- 1992 : Die familie Bach (with Collegium Vocale and Capella Sancti Michaelis)
- 1995 : Matthäus Passion (1672) of Johann Sebastiani (Deutsche Barock Kantaten XI)
Recordings done under the direction of Sophie Watillon
- 1994 : The Art of the Viola bastardaViola bastardaViola bastarda refers to a highly virtuosic style of composition or extemporaneous performance, as well as to the altered viols created to maximize players' ability to play in this style. In the viola bastarda style, a polyphonic composition is reduced to a single line, while maintaining the same...
, song and dance in music for violViolThe viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
in ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
- OrtizOrtizOrtiz is a city in Venezuela's Guárico State, located in the country's central plains.It serves as the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of the same name.The city was founded as a Roman Catholic mission in the late 16th century....
: Improvisations and Recercadas on La Folia, Doulce mémoire, The Passamezzo Antico, The Passamezzo Moderno - SandrinSandrinSandrin was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was a prolific composer of chansons in the middle of the 16th century, some of which were extremely popular and widely distributed.-Life:...
: Doulce mémoire - Ruffa: La Danza, La Piva, La Gamba
- RoreCipriano de RoreCipriano de Rore was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy...
: Ancor che co'l partire - Dalla Casa: Rognoni
- Bassani: Cosi le chiome
- Bonizzi: Hellas comment
- Selma Y Salaverde: Vestiva i colli
- CorelliArcangelo CorelliArcangelo Corelli was an Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music.-Biography:Corelli was born at Fusignano, in the current-day province of Ravenna, although at the time it was in the province of Ferrara. Little is known about his early life...
: Sonata La Follia, op. 5, no. 12
- Ortiz
- 2000 : Pièces de viole - Pièces de Théorbe of Nicolas Hotman
- 2003 : Marin Marais - La Rêveuse, & Autres Pièces de Viole
Recordings with Le Poème Harmonique
- 1999 : L'Humaine Comédie of Estienne Moulinié
- 2002 : Le Consert des Consorts of Pierre Guédron
Recordings with Stylus Phantasticus
- 2001 : Zeichen im Himmel of Philipp Heinrich Erlebach