Trio Legrenzi:
Vasco Magnolato, Giuliano Vio and
Michele Liuzzi

Although a nobleman by birth, Benedetto Marcello was also a serious amateur composer
whose influence reached long beyond his time. This compilation focuses on his 12 Sonatas
Op.2 for solo flute and basso continuo – a charming set of works which, first published
in 1712, dates from the early end of an extensive output that came to be dominated by
vocal music.

Marcello was a man with an array of artistic interests, and his entry into two of Italy’s
most esteemed intellectual establishments – the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna and
the Arcadian Academy in Rome – dates from around the same time his Op.2 sonatas first
appeared. Originally conceived for recorder, whose pastoral associations were very much
in vogue during that period, the works were later reprinted in London as Solos for a German
Flute or Violin. This change of title not only allowed for the possibility of alternative
instrumentation but also admitted the flute’s rising popularity as a vehicle for domestic
music making.

Though seemingly unambitious in lyricism and texture, the sonatas emphasise, through
melodic clarity, strongly directed harmony and solid contrapuntal grounding, the ‘noble
simplicity’ that Marcello wished music of his time to return to. They are quietly accomplished
models of their kind that, elegantly performed by the players of Trio Legrenzi, comprise a
fine addition to the Newton Classics catalogue.