This album includes five world premiere recordings of Agostino Steffani's duets.
Composition History
Agostino Steffani, the composer, wrote these duets for Sophie Charlotte of Hanover, a thirteen-year-old princess at the Protestant court of Hanover, with whom he had a remarkably open and human relationship.
Composer Biography
Agostino Steffani, the composer, served as Director of Chamber Music at the Catholic court of Munich and also as an unofficial diplomat, travelling extensively across Europe.
Compositional Technique
The duets on this album showcase Steffani's attention to musical structure, with some works being through-composed like a madrigal, and others featuring refrains or arias.
Composition History
The composer Agostino Steffani used musical composition to cope with diplomatic failures, revising his duets and compiling them into a new manuscript collection.
Interpretation
While some duets were tailored for amateur singers like Sophie Charlotte, others on this album feature passages that would have been challenging for amateurs, suggesting they were conceived for professional singers.
Historical Context
Sophie Charlotte, the dedicatee of these duets, was the only daughter of Sophie of the Palatinate, a granddaughter of James I of England, and Ernst August, duke of Hanover; her oldest brother, Georg Ludwig, became King George I of Great Britain.
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