Ralph Rousseau

Versatility, drive, talent and charm, character traits Ralph Rousseau possesses in overabundance. Ralph’s taste in music cannot be pigeonholed. For him, there are only two kinds of music: good and bad. He played in rock and jazz bands, and in classical orchestras. He studied physics, combining it after the first year with a conservatory education in the double bass. He completed both cum laude, and not long after got his doctorate in physics. Still, he chose music. It was as a double bass player with the Concertgebouw Orchestra that he got to know the viola da gamba. Everything suddenly fell into place. “I was struck by the sound, the possibilities, the chords.” Ralph has become a veritable ambassador for the instrument. He has arranged many pieces for it. His affinity with the instrument also has a precedent in his name. “Rousseau is my mother’s last name. Her family traces back to 18th century France, around the time that the famous musicologist Jean Rousseau wrote a method for the viola da gamba. His book, from 1687, is a standard work that is reprinted and used even today. The name Rousseau and the viola da gamba are thus interlinked.”