Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Sanmartini - Sinfonie A Due Violini, e Liuto e Basso Di Viola Op 2 - Ensemble Alamire






Sanmartini - Sinfonie A Due Violini, e Liuto e Basso Di Viola Op 2 -
Ensemble Alamire

Baroque | Eac, Ape, cue | log, cover | 1 CD, 304 MB
released 1996 | Florentia Musicae | RapidShare



The famous Giambattista Martini wrote of Sanmartini for the Catalogue of the Members of the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna: "Pietro Sanmartini, Bolognese priest (but born in Florence on the 18th of september 1636), Maestro di Cappella of the Florentine cathedral. For his well-grounded ability in music he was, without difficulty, associated as Composer in one of our Congregations and this was in 1692 [...j We can ascertain the valour of this worthy man from many of his manuscript works and particularly from one of no little consequence printed in Florence in the year 1685: that is the Motetti a voce sola Op. I. Iii the year 1699 God called him to a better life; [...] the usual funeral was held in the Church of S. Giovanni in Monte on March 14th." Previously to the year 1659 Sanmartini had lived in Rome, in Arezzo and in Bologna, but in that same year, at the death of Giovan Battista Comparini, formerly his teacher and Maestro di Cappella in the cathedral of S. Maria del Fiore, he returned to Florence to flank in that same office the successor of Comparini, Bonaventura Cerri, to whom he himself would succeed in 1686, holding this post until his death. Pietro Sanmartini was Maestro di Cappella of the Compagnia della Scala from 1666 to 1674. His other offices took place at the Medici court specifically as "Private Player" of lute, harpsichord and organ. He was a very active composer of secular and sacred music however publishing only two works: the "Partitura de Mottetti a voce sola con il basso continuo, Op. I...", and the "Sinfonie, a due Violini, e liuto, e basso di viola" (Florence, 1688) dedicated to Prince Ferdinando, the first son of Cosimo III, on the occasion of his marriage to Violante Beatrice of Bavaria.

The Sinfonie Op. II have the double quality of church and chamber sonatas (in Sanmartini's music the term sinfonia is a synonym of sonata). If we analyse, for example, the first sinfonia we find the following succession of movements: Adagio-Canzone-Adagio-Gigue, in which we find the inclusion of a secular element (the gigue) in the sacred context (adagio-canzone-adagio). In this sonata, as in all the others, the strict structure softens itself in the final section which is always a dance movement. Out of ten sonatas, in fact, five end with a saltarello, two with an allegro, one with a gigue and two do not specify any dance rythm but they are obviously a saltarello and a gigue. On the whole it seems that Sanmartini concentrated all his ideas and need for expression in the first two movements (adagio-allegro) to then release the tension in the two following movements. The general proportions of Op. II are small, obviously conforming with the dedication to Prince Ferdinand who used the Sinfonie as chamber entertainment. Because of their purpose the use of the organ for the continuo is not to be considered the only choice. On the other hand the general specifications on the use of instruments are ambiguous since from the part books we desume the addition of an extra viol for the sonatas VI-VII-VIII and IX which therefore become sonate a quattro instead of sonate a tre.


CD Content


Sinfonie a due Violini, e Liuto, e Basso di Viola op. 2

Sinfonia I
Sinfonia II
Sinfonia III
Sinfonia IV
Sinfonia V
Sinfonia VI
Sinfonia VII
Sinfonia VIII
Sinfonia IX
Sinfonia X

Total time 67'01




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