Henricus Albicastro (pseudonym of Johann Heinrich Weissenburg, c.1660–1730), one of the most enigmatic yet musically capable violinist-composers of his era, succeeded in marrying the polyphonic art of the south German violin school with the melodic and structural innovations of the Italians. The present work belongs to a group of four violin sonatas by Albicastro included in a manuscript anthology by at least 15 different composers copied c.1705 in England. It consists of four movements in the tempo-sequence slow – fast – slow – fast: the ‘classic’ structure associated especially with Corelli. The slow movements are lyrical, the fast movements brilliant, and clearly of Corellian inspiration (the second movement recalls the third of Sonata I from Corelli’s Op. 5). Especially characteristic of Albicastro is the extended third movement where there are modulations to various keys and prominent Neapolitan chords.

 Music example (pdf)