The story of the rivalry began with the advent of public concerts which became widespread in the eighteenth century. The Concert Spirituel in France began in 1725. Fifteen years later Hubert Le Blanc wrote his Defense de La Basse de Viole, upholding the viol against the pretence of the violin to superiority. While members of the nobility played the viol early on in the eighteenth century, only a handful of players - professional musicians -  played the viol at the turn of the nineteenth century. Soon the viol left the scene almost altogether and the rivalry between the two instruments was quickly forgotten. 

Since the revival of early music the general perception has been that the two instruments do not work well together. But well before Le Blanc's Defense, viol and cello had played side by side as can be seen in the works of Buxtehude, Ruhe, Charpentier, Handel and even J.S. Bach. Around the period of the Defense, composers began to produce music that can be played on either instrument. This programme aims to show that the viol and the cello could form an amiable partnership when their different characters are sensitively expressed by the composer and the player.