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From the liner notes:

Lascivious Sounds and other amorous things

On April 14, 1550, the violin ensemble employed by the religious confraternity of San Rocco in Venice was criticized for "playing many songs and other sounds ... much more lascivious than devotional." If they continued to play such "songs and other amorous things," they would be dismissed. We have no idea if they complied. Over the years it has become more and more evident to us that early violinists lived on the edge between polite and impolite society. With the above citation we have confirmation. When we wanted to make a recording that reflected what violinists in the 16th century were playing, we knew that we had to fill it with the most lascivious, amorous, and devotional music we could find.

First, the arrangements of vocal music. "Anchor che col partire" and "Io canterei d'amor", are both songs about rising passions. "Angelus ad pastores" (an arrangement of "Anchor") has been endowed with some of the most exciting ornamentation from the 16th century. On the devotional side, the motet by Willaert, "O magnum mysterium", could not be more intimately passionate.

When we selected the purely instrumental music, we decided to look for pieces that had associations with love and lascivious behavior. Sometimes the connection is in the title, like the Gallaria d'amor or the saltarello Cor mio caro. Sometimes the pieces are connected in some way to an amorous event; the Aria del gran ducha originally came from a wedding, and the pavanne Belle qui tiens ma vie, has a very sensual text. Other pieces have a seductive character, such as the Gagliarda Principe di Venosa, the Ballets, and the Allemandes.

All of this music is reflective of the 16th century violin band repertory and gives us an idea of what upset the governors of San Rocco in Venice.

A Note on the Ornamentation

Early violinists used a significant amount of improvisation and ornamentation. Some of the musical decoration performed on this recording is written out ornamentation from the late renaissance, as in the Courante Wustrow and the Bassano and Bovicelli arrangements of Cipriano da Rore's madrigals. The ornament in the other dance music (the branles, the pavannes, and the galliards) is improvisational invention borrowed from the ornamentation treatises of Bassano, Rognoni, dalla Casa and others. In Belle qui tiens ma vie this sort of improvisation takes center stage in an impromptu dialogue.

A Note on the Instruments

Renaissance violins are altogether different from baroque, classical or modern violins. The instruments Ensemble Braccio play on this recording are all strung with high tension sheep gut from the highest treble string to the lowest bass string, without a trace of metal anywhere. The bows are curved outward and are made of light, soft woods. They are also strung with black horse hair, which gives the incisive attacks and lush sustains that the music requires. The original name of the violin family, viola da braccio, or viol of the arm, tells us that the treble instruments were played resting on the biceps of the arm, what one researcher calls the "breast position." When the violin is played in this manner the arms of the player are relaxed, giving the instrument a full and resonant tone, ideal for vocal music, as well as the possibility for the split-second articulation necessary for ornaments. The bass instrument is played standing, which gives the player the same energy of movement as his colleagues in the band.