Francesco Maria Veracini: Sonatas
John Holloway
- Sonata No.1 in g Minor
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- 2Aria. Affetuoso04:40
- 3Paesana. Allegro01:51
- 4Minuet. Allegro01:19
- 5Giga "Postiglione". Allegro04:28
- Sonata No.5 in C Major
- 6Largo02:18
- 7Allegro02:17
- 8Largo02:53
- 9Allegro03:16
- Sonata No.1 in D Major (Dissertazioni)
- 10Grave - Allegro03:12
- 11Allegro02:41
- 12Allegro01:02
- 13Adagio02:52
- 14Allegro02:06
- Sonata No.5 in C Major
- 15Siciliana. Larghetto03:06
- Sonata No.6 in A Major
- 16Capriccio. Allegro, e con affetto05:03
- 17Andante moderato03:27
- 18Largo05:37
- 19Allegro assai03:31
In his liner notes, Holloway says of Veracini: “With his combination of brilliant technical and compositional innovation firmly rooted in the best music of the previous generation, Veracini earns an honoured place in the short list of truly great violinist-composers which includes Biber and - from a much later generation – Ysaÿe .... and, of course, Bach”.
That the Italian was one of the outstanding virtuosi of the 18th century was clear enough to his contemporaries. There are numerous reports of the clarity and forcefulness of his playing cutting through the sound of an orchestra. Even the great violinist Giuseppe Tartini is said to have been so overwhelmed by Veracini’s playing that he took time off from public performance to hone his own skills.
Veracini was one of the first musicians of his time to prefer the existence of a freelance soloist to a career as an employed court musician. From 1714 on, he enjoyed his success in London as well as in various other musical centers of Europe. He was a ‘star’ par excellence, brilliant eccentric, with no doubts about his own abilities, frequently asserting that there was only one God, and one Veracini!
Although he wrote secular and spiritual cantatas, concertos, oratorios and operas, Veracini’s significance as a composer rests on his four collections of violin sonatas, which, composed or published in 1716, 1721, 1744 and the late 1750s, span virtually his whole creative career. For the present CD, John Holloway has chosen one characteristic example of each – music that speaks for itself while allowing us to trace Veracini’s development as an artist.
The twelve "Sonate a violino, o flauto solo" with their strict use of four-movement sequences follow the sonata da chiesa form, but have no fugues. Yet the twelve sonatas published as Opus I in Dresden in 1721 represent a significant step forward, coming closer to the ambitiously contrapuntal German style. The first sonata on the present CD begins with a French overture in dotted rhythms, revealing ‘experimental’ traits in sound and technique.
But his grip on his craft was very firm. Some of his pieces, including the Sonate accademiche, were orginally composed not for the general public but for learned societies of music lovers. This was highly erudite music reminiscent of late Bach, but formal concerns and a “wild and flighty” quality coexist in the best of Veracini’s music.
“It is tempting to look for the bizarre in Veracini’s music and over-emphasise it", John Holloway remarks. "I think this would be to underestimate him. The quality of his music lies not only in the learned counterpoint, or in the outstanding writing for the violin: there is throughout a feeling for melody and harmony which display a remarkable and very personal expressivity.”
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