We may wonder whether the violin was a northern Italian invention, for the instrument was also to be heard in the great cities of southern Italy at an early stage, from the beginning of the 17th century onwards. Certain southern Italian composers had clearly understood that the instrument was unequalled in it’s ability to express emotion allied to virtuosity, including Montalbano in Palermo, Pandolfi in Messina, Falconieri and Trabaci in Naples, and Leoni in Rome. They wasted no time in channeling the freedom and expressivity of the violin into rare, fascinating and original works, some of them recorded here for the first time.
Andrea Falconieri: Fantasia Echa Para El Muy Reverendo Padre Falla
Bartolomeo Montalbano: Sinfonia Marescotti A Due Violini
Sinfonia Sghemma A Violino Solo
Sinfonia Bargellini A Due Violini
Andrea Falconieri: La Suave Melodia
Canciona Dicha La Preciosa, Echa Para Don Enrico Butler
Su Gallarda
Bartolomeo Montalbano: Sinfonia Geloso A Violino Solo
Giovanni Maria Trabaci: Toccata Seconda E Ligature Per Arpa
Canzona Francesca A 4 “per Concerto Di Violini”
Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi: Il Falvetti. Capriccetto Quarto à 3
Il Mauritio. Capriccetto à Violino Solo