Violoncello & basso
continuo/ two violoncelli
SKU: HH.HH521-FSP
Composed by Gaetano
Francone. Edited by
Giovanna Barbati and
Guido Olivieri. Full
score and parts. Edition
HH Music Publishers
#HH521-FSP. Published by
Edition HH Music
Publishers
(HH.HH521-FSP).
ISBN
9790708185321.
This
remarkable collection of
10 Passagagli, the only
known composition by the
Neapolitan string teacher
Gaetano Francone (fl.
1688–1717), is a
unique example of a
virtuoso school for the
cello, as well as an
extraordinary source of
knowledge on
improvisation for
scholars and for
performers, on both
baroque and modern
instruments. Although the
term
‘violoncelloâ€â„
¢ appears in the
work’s title, the
music indicates that the
composer was writing for
a non-standard
instrument, one tuned a
tone lower than the
modern cello. To perform
these works with the
original left-hand
position, today’s
players should either
adopt the
Bb1–F–cââ‚
¬â€œg tuning or transpose
each work one tone
higher. Francone’s
method stands as precious
testimony to the advanced
technical level of cello
playing in 17th-century
Naples.