Costanzi - 11 Sinfonias and Sonatas for Cello and Basso, Vol. 1 (Urtext Edition)

Giovanni Battista Costanzi (1704-1778) was an Italian composer and cello virtuoso. He entered the service of the famous Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni in 1721. In 1722, Costanzi was appointed to the post of violoncellist at S. Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. In 1740 he entered the service of Cardinal Trojano Acquaviva d'Aragona and, on the latter's death in

Giovanni Battista Costanzi (1704-1778) was an Italian composer and cello virtuoso. He entered the service of the famous Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni in 1721. In 1722, Costanzi was appointed to the post of violoncellist at S. Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. In 1740 he entered the service of Cardinal Trojano Acquaviva d'Aragona and, on the latter's death in 1752, the service of Cardinal Albani. He was also maestro di capella at various churches in Rome: Madonna di Loreto in 1742, and S. Marco e S. Maria in Vallicella the following year. In 1754 he was named assistant to Pietro Paolo Bencini, succeeding him as maestro di cappella of the Cappella Giulia at his death in 1755.

Costanzi's most noted work is the D-major cello concerto, once attributed to Haydn. Costanzi wrote many chamber works for his own instrument, including sinfonias and sonatas. His sinfonias are basically sonatas as well. Our new edition includes 11 of Costanzi's works for cello, 5 sinfonias and 6 sonatas. The sinfonias and the G-major sonata come from the Schönborn collection (MSS 548-553). The C-major and G-minor sonatas come from the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde collection (MSS 23 and 43). The C-minor sonata comes from Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (Mus. MS 4204). The F-major sonata comes from the Alströmer collection (MS 150:18). The Sonata da camera in F-major comes from Universitetsbibliotek, Uppsala (Gimo 79). The Sonata da camera is in the style of Corni da caccia and may be played in the first position by both cellists.

For more information on each piece, see our article at this link: https://yuriyleonovich.com/blogs/musings/posts/7178762/critical-notes-series-costanzi-s-sinfonias-and-sonatas

We would like to thank the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for putting the manuscripts at our disposal. The set comes with a playable cello-basso score, a separate cello part, and a basso (cello 2 part).