Bononcini: Cantate in soprano

Featuring

Gunar Letzbor
Radu Marian
Ars Antiqua Austria
Antonio Maria Bononcini

Did you know?

1/7

Critical Reception

The revered theorist Padre G.B. Martini praised Antonio Bononcini's style as 'lofty, vivacious, affecting and delightful,' distinguishing him from most composers of his era.

Compositional Technique

Antonio Bononcini's cantatas are notable for their unusually long arias, which often surpass those of his contemporaries in length and complexity.

Historical Context

Antonio Bononcini was part of a generation of Italian composers who introduced the late Baroque style to Vienna at the beginning of the 18th century.

Composer Biography

Antonio Bononcini's principal instrument was the cello, and his earliest dated composition, a Laudate pueri (1693), features an elaborate cello obbligato part.

Compositional Technique

Antonio Bononcini consistently used obbligato instruments in all his cantatas, unlike other Viennese composers who used them only occasionally.

Composition History

The Italian secular cantata, after nearly forty years of neglect, began to flourish again at the Habsburg court around 1700, partly due to Emperor Joseph I's liberal education.