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Research over the past twenty years has revealed Giuseppe Valentini (1681–1753) to be a figure of considerable importance in early-eighteenth- century Italian music. As both a violinist and a composer (of operas, oratorios and cantatas, as well as instrumental pieces), he was evidently one of the most prominent musicians active in Rome from around 1700, achieving substantial success there with his sonatas and concertos even before the death in 1713 of Arcangelo Corelli. Besides his several published collections issued in the period 1701–24, numerous instrumental works survive in manuscript, including nine preserved in Manchester (in a collection described below), twelve in the archive of the Scuole Pie di S. Pantaleo, Rome, and six in Dresden. Working often in a freelance capacity, Valentini received patronage in Rome from various churches and important persons, many of whom were connected with the Arcadian Academy. Most pertinent to the concertos presented here is his association, notably in the 1720s, with the court of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667–1740).
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