La bellezza: The Beauty of 17th Century Violin Music

Featuring

Lina Tur Bonet
Musica Alchemica
Nicola Matteis Jr.
Romanus Weichlein
Biagio Marini
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer

Andrea Falconieri
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber
Antonio Bertali
Johann Paul von Westhoff
Dietrich Buxtehude
Marco Uccellini
Giovanni Paolo Cima

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Instruments

Instrument-building techniques in Cremona and other Northern Italian centers encouraged virtuoso violinists to experiment in composition and improvisation.

Historical Context

The 17th century, also known as the 'Iron Century', was marked by famine, epidemics, wars, and perceived chaos, yet it also saw significant cultural and scientific development.

Historical Context

By the end of the 17th century, Europeans had made major scientific advancements, including understanding electricity, universal gravitation, and atmospheric pressure, and had invented telescopes, microscopes, and mechanical calculators.

Composer's Artistic Vision

In 17th-century art, there was a search for the new, surprising, and original, with a strong intellectual component and a taste for the ingenious and even the 'occult'.

Compositional Technique

Pure instrumental music triumphed in the 17th century, evolving from its role as mere accompaniment due to significant advancements in instruments and the skill of instrumentalists.

Compositional Technique

The basso continuo, a new innovation of the turn of the 17th century, allowed harmony to achieve its supreme expressive capacity, considered the latest result of counterpoint above a figured bass.