This is the first of a set of twelve Sonatas for Flute and Continuo by Thomas Roseingrave published in 1728. This edition of the work has been edited and realised by Richard Platt.

Four Sonatas comprises: BWV 1034-1035 for Flute and Basso Continuo and; BWV 1030 and 1032 for Flute and obbligato Harpsichord.Bach’s preferred instrument for chamber music after the violin was the traverse flute. Yet today it is impossible to determine exactly how much music he wrote for this instrument or the genesis of those compositions that survive. The elegance and fluency of the flute writing reflects Bach’s understanding and love of the instrument.This Urtext edition provides you with an accurate realisation of the composer’s original intentions with thoroughly detailed editorial markings and suggestions as editedby Hans-Peter Schmitz and more recently revised by Ulrich Leisinger. The solo flute and cello/viola (continuo) parts are also included on separate inserts.

for Flute or Violin and Continuo-?Methodical? was how Telemann?s six sonatas were described when they were published in 1732 because they included a second ornamented version of the simple melody line of the solo instrument for the slow opening movements andfor the second movement of the c-minor sonata. This is music that is both instructive and also a delight to play and G. Henle Publishers can highly recommend it to the flautists and violinists of today. This lavishly appointednew edition has separate solo and bass continuo parts that contain the other part in each case for orientation purposes. There is also an additional part featuring only the figured bass line. This edition includes the score whichalso features a historically faithful realisation of the figured bass. The first volume of ?Methodical Sonatas? has already been published (HN 1266); this means that all twelve of Telemann?s sonatas are now available as HenleUrtext editions.

In Sonata 7 in D major Balicourt opens with a suave intricately rhythmic Adagio. The following Presto with its delightful interplay between flute and bass including both octave doubling and stretto imitation is the most skittish movement to emerge from the composer’s pen. The finale is a ‘sandwich’ movement in which a Minuetto encloses a duple-metre Cantabile in D minor. Although the minuet could be said to exemplify one of those ‘easy’ movements referred to in Balicourt’s prospectus for subscribers its complex prescribed ornamentation requires sensitive handling. Sonata 8 in E minor is strategically placed as the final work inthe set being one of the longest as well as the most conservative; adopting the traditional four-movement configuration it continually harks back to the grand Handelian style. An eloquent Andante ushers in a Presto containing many slightly academic contrapuntal touches and much chromaticism. The subsequent Largo is only five bars long: its plain melodic line in minims and crotchets is the skeleton around which the flautist is expected to weave an elaborate embroidery. For the finale Balicourt introduces in effect a new version in triple metre of the second movement. The fact that all four movements are in E minor heightens the sense of unity which is expressed very concretely through their sharing of some thematic material.