Gambaro / Mercadante: Wind Quartets

Featuring

Andrea Griminelli
Corrado Giuffredi
Danilo Marchello
Rino Vernizzi
Rossini Quartet
Vincenzo Gambaro

Saverio Mercadante

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Composer Biography

Saverio Mercadante, a more famous composer, married Sofia Gambaro in 1832, whose sister Adelaide was a pupil of Mercadante.

Compositional Technique

Gambaro's quartets feature a refined use of veiled asymmetry, such as the return of a theme with measures left out, which creates a continuously renewing melodic idea.

Compositional Technique

Vincenzo Gambaro's quartets are structured in three movements, with the first movement interpreting the sonata form in a way that is never fully respected.

Compositional Technique

Mercadante's quartets are described as "works in the making," where he only wrote the melodic parts, leaving the rest for performers to complete, resulting in less developed harmony and counterpoint.

Composer Biography

Vincenzo Gambaro was influenced by Friederich Berr, second clarinet at the "Théâtre Italien", in using the twelve-key clarinet developed by Ivan Mueller around 1810.

Composer Biography

Vincenzo Gambaro died young from a chest ailment and was often confused with his presumed brother, Giovanni Battista Gambaro, also a composer and clarinetist.