J S Bach’s sonatas for viola da gamba or bass viol with harpsichord are among the greatest works for the instrument, though they are probably all arrangements: the Sonata in G major BWV1027 exists in an earlier version for two flutes and continuo while the Sonata in G minor BWV1029 was probably originally written for two violins. The Sonata in G minor BWV1030 is better known as a flute sonata in B minor, though it seems to have been originally written in G minor and its solo part is ideally suited to the viol. Steven Devine plays two complementary but contrasted solos, published together in the second part of Bach’s Clavier-Übung (1735). They both feature innovative and imaginative ways of transferring orchestral idioms to the two-manual harpsichord. The Italian Concerto pays tribute to the concertos of Albinoni and Vivaldi, while the Overture in the French Style borrows from the tradition of orchestral music deriving from Lully.

Mark Caudle played in the very first Festival and has returned many times over the years as a soloist or as a member of chamber ensembles. He now divides his time between Britain and Poland and is one of Europe’s leading soloists on the bass viol, with many recordings to his credit. He plays a bass viol made by Petter Holmstedt in Sweden in 1765. Steven Devine is one of the most eminent harpsichordists of his generation and has appeared regularly at the Suffolk Villages Festival in recent years, most recently in his very successful performance of the Goldberg Variations in the 2012 Festival. He plays a large two-manual harpsichord by Colin Booth (2000) after J.C. Fleischer (Hamburg, 1710).