Philippe Pierlot (born 1958) is a Belgian

viola da gamba The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

player and a conductor in

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

. He is also an academic teacher at the royal conservatories of The Hague and Brussels.

Career

Born in

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

, Pierlot learned to play the recorder, the guitar and the lute at the age of twelve. He studied playing the viola da gamba with

Wieland Kuijken Wieland Kuijken (; born Dilbeek, 31 August 1938) is a Belgium, Belgian musician and player of the viola da gamba and baroque cello. Biography Kuijken started his career in music in 1952 with the Brussels Alariusensemble of which he formed part un ...

. In 1980, he founded the ensemble

Ricercar Consort The Ricercar Consort is a Belgian instrumental ensemble founded in 1980 together with the Ricercar record label of Jérôme Lejeune. The founding members were violinist François Fernandez, organist Bernard Foccroulle, and viola da gamba player ...

, with the violinist

François Fernandez François Fernandez (born 22 February 1960) is a French classical violinist who specializes in historically informed performance. Career Born in Rouen in a family of musicians, Fernandez began learning the classical violin at the age of twelve ...

and the keyboard player

Bernard Foccroulle Bernard Charles M. E. T. H. Foccroulle (born 23 November 1953) is a Belgian Organ (music), organist, composer, conductor and opera director. Biography He was born in Liège and studied at the Conservatoire de Liège. Initially, he became known ...

, focusing on the performance and recording of little-known music in

. Several contemporary compositions were dedicated to him. He also plays the

baryton The baryton is a bowed string instrument similar to the viol, but distinguished by an extra set of sympathetic but also pluckable strings. It was in regular use in Europe until the end of the 18th century. Design The baryton can be viewed as a ...

, for which

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

composed around 150 works. In 1999, he revived Marais's opera ''

Sémélé is an opera by Marin Marais with a libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte first performed on 9 April 1709, by the Paris Opera at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. The opera is in the form of a ''tragédie en musique'' with a prologue and five acts. ...

'', which had not been performed for 300 years, after composing some missing parts. Until 2006, Pierlot was professor for viola da gamba at the . He has been a teacher at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherl ...

and the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Provid ...

Recording

Pierlot led series of recordings such as ''Deutsche Barockmusik'' and ''Deutsche Barockkantaten'', recorded the vocal works by

Nicolaus Bruhns Nicolaus Bruhns (also ''Nikolaus'', ''Nicholas''; late 1665 – in Husum) was a Danish-German organist, violinist, and composer. He was one of the most prominent organists and composers of his generation. Biography Bruhns was born in Schwabste ...

, the complete works by

Matthias Weckmann Matthias Weckmann (''Weckman'') (''c''.1616 24 February 1674) was a German musician and composer of the Baroque period. He was born in Niederdorla (Thuringia) and died in Hamburg. Life His musical training took place in Dresden (as a chorister a ...

and the works for viola da gamba by

Marin Marais Marin Marais (; 31 May 1656, in Paris – 15 August 1728, in Paris) was a French composer and viol player. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colomb ...

. His recording of three

Christmas cantata A Christmas cantata or Nativity cantata is a cantata, music for voice or voices in several movements, for Christmas. The importance of the feast inspired many composers to write cantatas for the occasion, some designed to be performed in church ser ...

s by Bach, in an approach with one voice on a part, was commented by a critic: "Pierlot conducts all three cantatas with a beat that pulses with life, and his speeds are judged just right – neither too fast nor too slow."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierlot, Philippe Viol players Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels 1958 births Living people Musicians from Liège