Joseph Bodin de Boismortier: 6 Sonatas, Op. 7 for Three Flutes - Volume 1

SKU: HH.HH372-FSP

ISBN 9790708092971.

While one tends to associate the trio sonata for two violins and continuo with Italy, the trio sonata for flute, violin and continuo was largely the province of German composers (including Telemann, J.S. Bach, Handel, and then later Quantz, C.Ph.E. Bach, C.H. Graun and other musicians attached to the court of Frederick the Great). It is therefore surprising to discover that one of the very first collections of trio sonatas for this particular scoring was composed by the Frenchman Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689-1755), whose sonatas were moreover intentionally written in the ‘Italian style’.

SKU: FZ.50512

ISBN 9790049505123. 24.00 x 33.00 cm inches.

This facsimile of an original by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier is part of our French classical music collection. Sonates a deux flutes traversieres sans basse. Oeuvre huitieme. Edition : Paris, l'Auteur, Boivin, Le Clerc, 1725. Presentation: Composition - Phrasing - Ornamentation. These six sonatas, technically fairly easy, make a useful approach to that particular style, a mixture of Italian writing and French ornamentation, often known as Les Gouts Reunis.
Collection supervised by the musicologist Jean Saint-Arroman, professor at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse of Paris and at the CEFEDEM Ile de France (Training Centre for Music Teachers). He is the author of the majority of our prefaces and has also been involved in library searches.
Facsimile of a copy in the National Library of Paris (France). Anne Fuzeau Classique propose period copies of classical music scores.

SKU: HH.HH364-FSP

ISBN 9790708092940.

Partly on account of their instrumentation, the Op. 18 sonatas are closely modelled on Corelli's Opp. 1aEUR4, both in terms of style and violin technique. Each consists of four or five movements, at least one being a dance; most of the slow movements feature the familiar Corellian walking bass, while one of the fast movements in each sonata is fugal or based on imitative entries. In spite of their adherence to Italian models, however, the sonatas do display certain French elements, along with characteristics of Boismortier's individual style. The harmonic language is particularly rich, with a marked predilection for chords of the seventh, and two of the sonatas feature the composer's own version of a (loosely constructed) double fugue.

SKU: HH.HH380-FSP

ISBN 9790708041085.

Boismortier has imbued his Op. 28 sonatas with the same elegance, melodic and harmonic interest, and contrapuntal ability that characterise his other ‘Italian’ trio sonatas, and the works are technically accessible to competent players. As with Op. 41, these compositions are simply unlike similar trio sonatas for the same instrumental combination; it is hoped they will be welcomed enthusiastically by baroque and modern oboists.

SKU: HH.HH557-FSP

ISBN 9790708185727.

The first instrumental compositions Boismortier published were sonatas for two transverse flutes without bass, of which he wrote eight sets. They document both his development as a composer and the early evolution of the genre itself. The Six Sonates pour II Flutes traversieres Sans Baße Op. 47 (1733) — his last surviving set of such works — are ostensibly in the ‘Italian’ style. The dance-heavy format of the earlier ‘French’ sonatas has been abandoned, and structurally they reflect the influence of Telemann’s Sonates sans Basse à deux Flutes traveres [sic] (the second of their four movements is always a fugue). Set in tonalities comfortable for the baroque flute, these virtually unknown duets are expertly written for the one-keyed instrument and are richly rewarding to perform.

SKU: HH.HH464-FSP

ISBN 9790708146735.

The individual works are expertly crafted, and collectively they contain much charming music, including two excellent three-part fugues and several dances that surely typify popular music heard in the French capital in the late 1730s. Since they were evidently written for amateur musicians, the Op. 78 sonatas are technically accessible and set in comfortable tonalites for the one-keyed flute; this makes them particularly attractive for today’s students of the instrument.

SKU: KU.GM-715

For Two Flutes