A genuine viola da gamba repertoire in "Viennese Classic"? From 1785, Franz Xaver Hammer worked as a viola da gamba and cello virtuoso at the court of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which resided in the idyllic baroque palace of Ludwigslust. Thanks to his surviving scores, we are in possession of a unique classical viola da gamba repertoire in the truest sense of the word. Some of these works were composed by himself, and on the other hand, he copied and possibly also arranged works by highly regarded colleagues, including Andreas Lidl, Joseph Fiala and Carl Stamitz. This precious collection, carefully curated by gamba virtuoso Juliane Laake, forms the foundation of this recording. The splendid interpretations with the Ensemble Art d'Echo show how naturally the viola da gamba fits into the instrumentarium and style of the classical era.