Viola and Piano

SKU: BT.YE0009

For Violone. Composed by Giovannino. Classical. Book Only. Yorke Edition #YE0009. Published by Yorke Edition (BT.YE0009).

Very little is known about the two sonatas which appear here in their original keys. They were placed in the library of the Music School in Oxford at the end of the seventeenth century in a form convenient for playing (i.e.unbound). The library was catalogued by Hake between 1850 and 1855 and the sonatas were eventually bound in 1855 with other instrumental and vocal manuscripts of the same period, some of which are dated 1698.

The sonatasare both inscribed on the title page Sonata Violone Solo. Col Basso per l'Organo, o Cembalo. A third sonata bears the words Sonata Violino e Violoncino â?¦ di Giovannino del Violone. Giovannino (=Little, or Young John)musthave been a performer, and although the third sonata has been copied by a different hand, it is conceivable that Giovannino is a connecting link between the three. He cannot, however, be assumed to be theirauthor.

The Violone was a six-stringed instrument with frets, and there is evidence to suggest that the Contrabasso of the same period was similar but probably a little larger; the Violoncino (=Little Violone, orVioloncello) must have been smaller. The word 'Violone' was also used as a collective term embracing all members of the Viol family, which means that the sonatas might well have been written for a tenor or a bass Viol, and notnecessarily a Violone as such. Indeed, when they are played on a Violone, or Double Bass the continuo bass line must be played at a lower pitch than the solo instrument, to prevent inversion of the intended harmony. (The use ofa Violone/Double Bass continuo or 16' organ tone would overcome this problem.)

The editor has added no ornaments or embellishments to the solo part as it appears in the original manuscript. It is open to debate whether aViolone player, owing to the very nature of his instrument, would have used any but the simplest melodic decorations. Nevertheless, the performer should acquaint himself thoroughly with those seventeenth century traditions thatare known today (see Dart.

Solo flute, 2 horn, 2 violin, viola, cello/bass, basso continuo

SKU: CA.3840414

Flotenkonzert in D. Composed by Johann Christian Bach. Edited by Ulrich Leisinger. Stuttgart Urtext Edition: Bach vocal. Violoncello/double bass. Single Part, Cello/Double Bass. Composed 1768. Warb C 79. 12 pages. Duration 20 minutes. Carus Verlag #CV 38.404/14. Published by Carus Verlag (CA.3840414).

ISBN 9790007215224. Key: D major. Language: all languages.

Johann Christian Bach was - as his father before him - only very seldom satisfied with the compositions that he put down on paper. Thus did this concerto too undergo many corrections/revisions by the composer and today consists of three movements of similar length. Although they were initially handed down separately at different locations, the motivic relationship as well as the melodic and figurative references among themselves clearly reveals the common identity of the three movements. Not only the final rondo is characterized by highly virtuoso passages, but both the slow, second movement as well as the introductory movement testify to youngest Bach son's compositional greatness, whose works later generations unjustly let almost fall into desuetude. Score and part available separately - see item CA.3840400.