Giuseppe Torelli

Concertino (Sonata) in A minor TV 51

Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709) was the leading composer of instrumental music in a flourishing school of composers active in Bologna in the second half of the seventeenth century and the opening decades of the eighteenth. This highly interesting work, published here for the first time, exists in two versions, both authentic. The original version, entitled 'Concertino', is a sonata for two violins with concerto-like elements. The later version turns the work into a full-blown concerto for four solo violins and orchestral strings. The present edition is of the chamber version, which must rank among the most exhilarating examples of Italian chamber music before Vivaldi.