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The twelve ‘Cambridge’ sonatas, presented to Cardinal Ottoboni, represent the ‘late’, galant Bitti, full of lovingly sculpted ornamental detail for the violin but with the same resourceful harmony and perfectly proportioned forms as before. The eleventh sonata, in five movements, is one of the most elaborate in the set. Its first movement (A tempo giusto) is very ornate and makes attractive use of syncopation. The second movement (Vivace) is good-humoured and alludes slyly to academic counterpoint. There follow two movements resembling, respectively, a sarabanda and a giga. The sonata ends with variations on a minuet theme – in the 1720s a newly fashionable way to close a sonata.
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Descriptive leaflet (pdf)