There was music in the blood of the Knox family. As the youngest of four children, Garth Knox, who'd been born in Ireland but grew up in Scotland, followed his elder siblings in learning to play stringed instruments. It was the viola that particularly fascinated him and it quickly became apparent that he possessed a rare and special talent.
He studied at the London Royal College of Music where he won several prizes, accolades, and awards. He specialized in Baroque and chamber music, but also ventured into the contemporary field. In 1983, he was invited by Pierre Boulez to join the Ensemble Inter-Contemporain in Paris, which led to him regularly performing solo pieces. In 1990, he joined the Arditti String Quartet, with whom he played the world's major concert halls. He soon began working alongside many of today’s leading classical composers.
It's been ten years since he left the Quartet and in that time Garth Knox has been working almost constantly. He has explored numerous fields such as theatre, dance, film, improvisational experimentation, and has performed with preeminent classical figures.
Perhaps more significantly, though, Knox also began to focus on writing his own music. For this, he has built upon his love of the viola d’amore, playing old and contemporary pieces on this extraordinary instrument.
D’Amore is his first solo album for the ECM label. It contains an entire programme played on the viola d’amore and is described in the album notes as being "in a spirit of discovery and experiment rather than of historical reconstruction." Also in the notes, Knox comments on his enduring affection for the viola d’amore, saying, "I was quickly seduced by the gentle sweet sound of the seven playing strings, so rich in harmonics, and intrigued by the mysterious presence of seven sympathetic strings that add an intimate resonance that happens on the playing strings."
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