As chamber music trio Da Camera perform in Richmond, Ruth Addicott talks to viol player Susanna Pell about the lure of 18th Century music.

RICHMOND will be filled with the sound of early 18th Century music, this month, when top chamber musical group Da Camera make a rare appearance at the Georgian Theatre Royal.

The trio includes viol player Susanna Pell from Richmond, who teamed up with recorder player Emma Murphy and harpsichordist Steven Devine to form the group ten years ago.

Susanna has been a professional viol player for 25 years. The instrument, also known as the viola da gamba, is used mainly in chamber music from the 16th to 18th Century.

She started playing in 1981, after struggling with the violin. Her teacher gave her a viol to try instead.

“I was completely captivated by the sound,” she says. “The viol is very comfortable to hold. You rest it between your knees. It was a huge relief to put the violin back in its case.”

Susanna has five viols in her house (all of which get played) and she practises for at least an hour and a half a day. Married to Americanborn lutenist Jacob Heringman, she admits there can be quite a clamour at times.

“Fortunately, we’ve got a big house so we don’t disturb each other too much,” she says. “I love practising, it’s one of my favourite things.

It’s lovely to have something so dear to you to be your profession.”

Da Camera play a combination of early, folk and contemporary music, ranging from the passamezzi of the 15th Century to traditional Celtic and English music, to baroque and newly-commissioned works.

Susanna’s interest in early music was inspired by her parents (her mother is a church organist) and she went on to do a degree in music at the University of York.

In 1987, she moved to London, turned professional and spent 20 years performing with two pioneering groups, Fretwork and The Dufay Collective. They played at a number of major venues and festivals in the UK as well as in India, Egypt, Yemen and Brazil.

One performance that stands out was the concert in south Yemen with The Dufay Collective. “We played at a sultan’s palace and were told we were the first Western group to play there. It was an extraordinary opportunity,”

she says. “There was an outdoor concert and pretty much the whole town turned up. It was an audience of 2,000, which was much bigger than we were used to, and they were all men. I was the only woman there.”

At first, the group were disconcerted when the audience started talking during the performance.

“We thought they weren’t interested, but we were told they don’t sit silently in Yemen and the more they talk the more they’re enjoying it because they’re discussing it. Then suddenly they started doing this incredibly rhythmic clapping and we were carried along on a wave of rhythmic impetus of music. It was one of the most unforgettable moments of my life.”

Susanna has made more than 60 recordings for radio, TV and film, including The Da Vinci Code and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as well as appearing in concerts in Japan, Australia, South America and the US. But as much as she’s enjoyed touring, it is something she now wants to cut back on to try to reduce her carbon footprint.

She also did a recording for singer Kate Bush on her album Aerial, released in 2005. “It was a song called Bertie, about her son,” she says. “She was lovely, very unassuming. She made the tea as soon as we arrived.”

Susanna moved to Richmond in 2007 with Jacob and her six-year-old daughter Edie, after falling in love with Swaledale in the mid-1980s when she was a student at the University of York. “I performed at the Swaledale Festival and thought it was a glorious place,” she says.

BOTH Susanna and Jacob teach instruments at the University of York and one thing experience has taught her is how important it is to find the right instrument.

“I wasn’t cut out to be a violinist and it got to the point where I wasn’t motivated,” she says. “So if your child is struggling, it might be a good idea to try a different instrument which may capture their imagination a little more.”

Susanna recorded her final disc with Fretwork this spring and now plans to concentrate on teaching as well as the upcoming concert in Richmond.

“Some people might expect the music to be dry and dusty, but it is incredibly vibrant and upbeat,” she says. “It makes you feel good – it cheers me up. The combination of the three instruments is really special and it’s a combination you don’t get to hear so much these days. Eighteenth Century music in an 18th Century theatre, what could be better?”

• Bach Trio Sonatas, Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond, Monday, July 18, 7.30pm. Tickets £7-£16 (concessions £5-£14) Box Office (01748-825252).