February 08 Early · Baroque · Classical · Contemporary music Some recent bestsellers Balli per Cembalo Early Italian keyboard music This volume presents four of the earliest Italian manuscript collections of keyboard dances and dance songs, dating from about 1540 to c.1620 and vividly demonstrates the development of early keyboard writing from the pre-existing repertoire of the lute. The majority of these short and expressive pieces are transcribed into modern notation here for the first time, and their origins fully documented with concordances. Such repertoire is suitable for any keyboard instrument and (apart from the "lost" piece by Facoli which ends the volume) are of slight technical difficulty and suitable for students and beginners, as well as for use by early music ensembles. ed. Christopher Hogwood Sonata in C minor Anton Eberl Anton Eberl, nine years younger than Mozart, also began life as a prodigy, and became a friend of Mozart and probably also a pupil; his compositions show such an acquaintance with Mozart’s style that misattributions were inevitable. This dramatic sonata was first published by Artaria as Mozart’s Op. 31 in 1794, but reissued with revisions, as Eberl’s Op. 1 four years later. ed. Christopher Hogwood Six Flute Quintets (Vol. 1) Six Flute Quintets (Vol. 2) Luigi Boccherini It was during Boccherini's time in Spain that he wrote this present set of 6 quintets for flute and strings, listed by the composer in his autograph catalogue as Op. 17, "opera piccola", and dated 1773. Boccherini's use of the diminutive reflects the intimate and small-scale nature of these works, each quintet being cast in two movements, in contrast to the more usual four-movement structure favoured by Boccherini's north European contemporaries. ed. Jennifer Caesar Sonata in B flat major for clarinet and keyboard François Devienne Francois Devienne's music has long been highly rated for its grace and balance. As examples of the classical sonata for clarinet they represent probably the finest sonatas of the period and are faithfullly reproduced with editorial notes and commentary. The original articulation is retained to enable the developing player of both classical and modern clarinet to develop their own understanding of the articulated style of the period. Recommended for about AB Grades 7 or 8 onwards. ed. Nicholas Cox Short Score Stephen Pratt Short Score is in four short movements, which reflect the traditional layout of a sonata. The first is characterised by clarinet arabesques, which once or twice stray into the piano; the second is a brief scherzo, which begins and ends in with the lowest note of the instrument; the third, a somewhat restless slow movement; and the final movement, marked with abandon, brings things to a brisk conclusion, hinting at moments from the three previous movements along the way. Flute quartet No. 3 in D major/No. 4 in G major Alessandro Rolla Alessandro Rolla was a viola and violin virtuoso and a composer, predominantly of chamber music.The present quartets reveal not only his first-hand understanding of string technique and his proficiency in writing effectively for strings, but also a clear familiarity with the flute of his day. They feature a number of attractive solos for all four instruments without recourse to gratuitous displays of virtuosity for its own sake. ed. Michael Elphinstone Giuseppe Tartini: The art of bowing Baroque violin technique These 50 variations are based on a Gavotte by Arcangelo Corelli. Each variation is a small étude developing an important element of violin technique. Without doubt written for pedagogical reasons, these variations represent the summit of baroque violin technique and are invaluable as a source for teaching. They can be played either by violin alone or with the basso continuo accompaniment which is reproduced at the bottom of every page. ed. Per Hartmann John Dowland Keyobard Music Early keyboard transcriptions The music of John Dowland, the greatest English lute composer of that Golden Age, circulated widely in keyboard adaptations during his lifetime, suitable for performance on harpsichord, virginals or clavichord. Thirty such arrangements and intabulations made by his contemporaries in England and mainland Europe including Byrd, Peter Philips, Ferdinando Richardson, Scheidt, Schildt, Scheidemann, Sweelinck and many anonymous settings from tablatures in Lüneburg, Krakow, Stockholm, Florence, Turin, Copenhagen and elsewhere are gathered together for the first time in this collection. ed. Christopher Hogwood