Suites for Viol

Carolus (Carel) Hacquart is one of the most important composers of the Low Countries of the 17th c. Born ca. 1640 in Bruges, he relocated to Amsterdam in the early 1670's, earning a living as a musician and instructor. His twelve Viol Suites, op.3, adopt the classical French arrangement with the four standard dance movements, preceded by a free prelude or fantasy. The Sarabandes have ornamented repeats as practiced by French composers of keyboard music, but the typical French agreements are absent. Instead, Hacquart preferred the highly developed diminution art of Dutch and English musicians.