“Mea opinio. Ich halts das Kein Instrument sey Der Menschen stim mit melodey So ecnlich/gleichsam die Geigen Sing drein/so hörstus eigen”

Martin Agricola, 1529

In the same way that a good musician plays Early Music as if it was his own, adorning his melodies or improvising to the basso continuo, the historically informed instrument maker makes the viol he creates also his own, and cannot limit himself to the mere literal copy of past models: nor two woods will ever be identical, neither is the hand of the viol maker, nor that of the musician who will play the instrument.

Imbued with the knowledge of historical methods and models, handling the very same tools and materials, I try to find my ways among those of the artisans of that time, sometimes following closely the touch and measure, sometimes looking for my own way, from a rigorous investigation of the legacy of past schools and the assumption of their artistic language. Standing on the shoulders of giants, I try to look a little farther in search of a voice, so that others will raise it with the breath of their affections.

Paul Fernandez Rosemary, luthier, Seville, Spain