Durante's Concertos for strings feature a variety of styles, with fugues and double canons alternating with minuets and presto sections that bring operatic drama into instrumental music.
Composer Biography
Francesco Durante, a key figure of the Neapolitan school in the early 1700s, taught many outstanding composers including Pergolesi, Jommelli, and Piccinni.
Critical Reception
Durante was highly esteemed by his contemporaries, with Jean Jacques Rousseau describing him in 1762 as 'the greatest harmonist in Italy, which is to say in the world'.
Recording & Production
This album is the first complete recording of Francesco Durante's Concertos for strings, including a Concerto in B flat major that was previously unrecorded.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Durante's influence helped establish features like contrapuntal skill, the 'galant' style, and a characteristic approach to harmonic and melodic development as hallmarks of the Neapolitan school.
Composer Biography
Unlike most of his fellow musicians in Naples, Francesco Durante primarily focused on sacred repertoire and did not write for the theatre.
Compositional Technique
Concerto No.8 by Durante is known as 'La Pazzia' ('The Folly') due to its inspirational flair and unexpected melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic leaps.
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