Antonio Montanari
The three 'Dresden' Sonatas
Violin · basso continuo
ed. Michael Talbot
Few of Montanari's compositions survive, but they suffice to show that he was a composer of rare ability and originality. Among them are three short violin sonatas brought back to Dresden in 1717 by the German violinist Johann Georg Pisendel, who had briefly taken lessons with him. These are loosely describable as chamber sonatas, but make technical and expressive demands well beyond the average. One sonata even ends with an unaccompanied gigue that is a rare example of its kind for Italy. Clearly, Montanari deserves to be rescued from his present neglect. The three 'Dresden' sonatas published together in this volume are believed to be the first-ever modern edition of any of his chamber music.
The edition comes complete with a preface, textual notes, a realization of the continuo part, and separate parts for violin and bass (with figuring).
The first two movements of the sonata in D minor is on the exam syllabus of the Associated Board (grade 7).
“The presentation of the edition itself is of a very high quality. It is clean and uncluttered, with minimal editorial intervention: where present, this is most often in the interests of clarity and consistency. Articulation and dynamic markings are left almost entirely to the performer’s discretion in the score, with some advice in the Preface and Textual Notes. A definite strength of this edition is the presence of a detailed preface (in both English and German), which includes details of the manuscripts themselves and valuable and succinct textual notes. Also, the editor has added figures, completely absent from the source, and provided a basic, sample continuo realisation, with scope for further elaboration. In addition there are very clearly presented separate parts for violin and bass (with figuring), avoiding any awkward page turns.” (The Consort)
Descriptive leaflet (pdf)