Works
Simpson made a small contribution to John Playford's work A Brief Introduction to the Skill of Musick but is best known for his own book, The Division Viol, or the Art of Playing upon a Ground (published 1659) which is a set of practical instructions, organised into three sections: Of the Viol it self, with Instructions how to Play upon it; Use of the Concords, or a Compendium of Descant; and The Method of ordering Division to a Ground. The second edition (published in 1665) is a parallel text in English and Latin, thus addressing both the British and continental European markets. It was a highly successful publication and continued to appear in new editions for sixty years after the death of its author. With the revival of early music during the 20th century, and renewed interest in the viol, Simpson's book was read with renewed interest by those who sought to rediscover the "authentic" technique for playing the instrument.
The accompanying portrait of Simpson appears in The Division Viol. In the first edition, he is depicted wearing a hat but, in later editions, the picture has been modified to show him bare-headed, as here. The picture also illustrates some of the characteristic techniques of viol-playing. For instance, it is clear that the bow is held underhand (with the palm upwards), unlike the technique used for the modern cello or violin. It can also be clearly seen that the second and third finger of the right hand rest on the bow-hair, allowing them to be used to vary the tension of the bow during playing.
Simpson wrote a short guide to musical composition in 1665: The Principles of Practical Musick (dedicated to Sir John St Barbe, another of his pupils) and expanded this into his 1667 publication A Compendium of Practical Musick.
Very few of Simpson's musical compositions appeared in print during his lifetime, except those included as examples in his books. Some of his compositions survive in manuscript form. For example, he composed two sets of fantasias entitled The Monthes and The Seasons, which both consist of one treble and two bass viol parts, with continuo.
All his surviving instrumental works are for viol ensembles or for the solo viol, an instrument about which he wrote that "a viol in the hands of an excellent violist may (no doubt) be reckon'd amongst the best of musical instruments. To play extempore to a ground is the highest perfection of it".
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