Dall'abaco and the Art of Variation

Featuring

Elinor Frey
Federica Bianchi
Eva Lymenstull
Michele Pasotti
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde
Joseph-Marie-Clement Dall'Abaco

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Composer Biography

Giuseppe Clemente Dall'Abaco, the composer featured on this album, spent his childhood at the Bavarian court in Munich, where his father, Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco, was Kapellmeister.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Giuseppe Clemente Dall'Abaco's music shows the influence and artful integration of French, German, and Italian 'national' styles, reflecting the languages likely spoken in his family.

Composition History

The musical output of cellist-composer Giuseppe Clemente Dall'Abaco has only emerged in recent decades, with this recording presenting the premiere of five of his works.

Compositional Technique

This album explores 'the art of variation' through Dall'Abaco's written variations and new variations composed by Elinor Frey, the cellist on this recording, for two sonatas.

Instruments

The album features a cello by Karl Dennis (2017) after a 1708 Stradivari, an 18th-century English cello, and a Mario Gadda cello (1962) after Guadagnini.

Composer Biography

Giuseppe Clemente Dall'Abaco was recognized as an extraordinary musician, with a court attendant in 1751 calling another cello virtuoso 'the best in Europe after [Giuseppe Clemente Dall'] Abaco.'

Interpretation

The trios on this album feature three different players performing on three different Baroque cellos and bows, creating subtle changes of tone, phrasing, and texture.