Legrenzi: Sonate & balletti

Featuring

Clematis Ensemble
Giovanni Legrenzi
Bruno Maderna

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

Legrenzi's sonatas often feature a structure where the final movement is a shorter, new development of thematic material from the first movement.

Composition History

Giovanni Legrenzi included a sonata by his father, Gio. Maria Legrenzi, titled 'La Iustiniana', in his first collection of instrumental music (Opus 2) as a homage.

Composer Biography

Legrenzi's early career involved many applications for positions and numerous rejections, leading him to seek employment as far as Versailles, where he briefly served as a sous-maître of the Chapelle royale.

Composer Biography

Giovanni Legrenzi, a significant Italian composer of the second half of the 17th century, experienced a career marked by both important appointments and resounding failures.

Composer Biography

After multiple attempts, Giovanni Legrenzi finally achieved the highly coveted position of maestro di cappella at the prestigious Basilica di San Marco in Venice in 1685, though he held it for only five years before his death.

Compositional Technique

Many of Legrenzi's sonatas are identified by names, often referring to a town or, more frequently, to a person who may have been the dedicatee.

Recording & Production

Some pieces on this album were recorded in Molfetta, Italy, using an early 18th-century Italian organ with a particularly resonant Principale stop, chosen to replicate 17th-century church performance conditions.