Costanzi - 6 Sonatas for Cello and Basso, Vol. 2 (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 1752, the service of Cardinal Albani. He was also maestro di cappella 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 Joseph Haydn. Costanzi wrote many chamber works for his own instrument, including sinfonias and sonatas. His sinfonias are basically sonatas. Our new edition includes 6 sonatas. This is the second volume of Costanzi's chamber works.

The first 4 sonatas in the volume were graciously provided by the Frank V. de Bellis Collection at the San Francisco State University. The last 2 sonatas were graciously provided by the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Münster.

Of the San Francisco manuscripts, the C-major sonata is written for two equal voices, and the other 3 are written with an accompanimental bass. The title page of the Münster manuscript reads "2 Sonate per il Due violoncelli o violino e violoncello." Our edition uses standard bass, tenor, and treble clefs instead of the 8vb treble clef.

The set comes with a playable cello-basso score, a separate cello part, and a basso (cello 2 part).