Edition for Violoncello-Like his father Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote three sonatas for Viola Da Gamba. They were written during his time at the Berlin court of Frederick the Great and gave the excellent Viola Da Gamba player in the courtorchestra a chance to show his virtuosic skills. While the two Sonatas Wq 136 and 137 have a basso continuo Bach followed his father’s example as far as the Sonata in g minor Wq 88 wasconcerned: the right and left hands of the Harpsichord compete with the solo instrument in three equal parts. These sonatas can also be played very effectively on the Cello; the fingerings in the marked copies provide helpfulsuggestions.

It was a chance visit to a second hand bookshop in Nottingham that set me on the trail of Rossini's now well-known Duetto for cello and double bass. But the story begins earlier than that. In the 1960s I was studying the double bass at the Royal College of Music with Adrian Beers who was at that time principal of the English Chamber Orchestra on the front desk of the Philharmonia Orchestra and a member of the Melos Ensemble of London (then one of the leading ensembles of the world). I was working on the 'Dragonetti Concerto' as most young players do and I wanted to find out a bit about it. My teacher said he thought the autograph manuscript might be in the British Library which was all the encouragement I needed to secure a pass to the Reading Room so I could go and see for myself. There sure enough I found a large collection of Dragonetti's autograph manuscripts together with other bound volumes relating to his life. The papers had been lovingly collated and annotated by Vincent Novello one of Dragonetti's closest friends then deposited in the library before his departure to Italy in 1848 two years after Dragonetti's death. One of the volumes included a lot of letters about various engagements and music festivals copies of orders for strings Dragonetti wanted from Italy details about paintings he wanted to buy and numerous invitations to private functions. The manuscript of the 'Dragonetti Concerto' of course wasn't among the papers we now know it to have been written by Edouard Nanny a century or so later. One name that came up regularly in the documents was that of Sir George Smart. Smart had been a violinist in Salomon's orchestra and had played for Haydn at his London concerts in the 1790s. As a child he had learnt much about music from his father who had in turn been present at many of Handel's rehearsals when he was preparing some of his major works for the first time. Smart was also a fine keyboard player becoming organist of the Chapel Royal in 1822. As a conductor

13 pieces of easy to intermediate standard ideal for lessons and concerts. As well as popular Baroque sonatas by the likes of Vivaldi and de Fesch, there are also some charming, lesser-known compositions by Lanzetti and Zocarini. Also included are Classical sonatas by J. C. F. Bach, Stephen Paxton and Beethoven alongside pieces from the Romantic era including Mendelssohn's Song Without Words Op. 109, Fauré's Sicilienne Op. 79 as well as two little pieces by Goltermann. / Violoncelle Et Basse Continue