Castello: Sonata Ottavi

Leading baroque violinist John Holloway turns to Dario Castello and Giovanni Battista Fontana, two Italian composers from the turn of the 17th century, for his latest journey into undiscovered territory on the early music map, taking along with him two distinguished musicians, Danish harpsichordist Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Jane Gower, a leading player of the dulcian.

Musical scholarship doesn’t have much to tell of either composer. As little is known about Castello, who was leading an ensemble at St. Mark’s around 1629, as about the exact birth and death dates of Fontana, who came from Brescia and probably perished during the 1630 outbreak of plague in Padua. Yet there are a number of surviving works by both men that reveal them to have been remarkable composers for the violin.

Two books by Castello of sonate concertate in one to four parts, in stil moderno with continuo, were printed during the composer’s lifetime. Holloway has selected a number of sonatas from this collection to couple with similar works by Fontana, some originally for violin as well as some conceived for other string or wind instruments. Along with solo violin sonatas, he has chosen six of these sonatas for violin and basso continuo that can be regarded as precursors of the later trio sonata or even as early examples of that genre.

“The joys of performing this music are many and various: its mood changes and improvisatory character demand – and reward – a willingness to take risks, to live, dangerously, in the moment” says Holloway. John Holloway has toured extensively as soloist and with the Academy of Ancient Music, the Taverner Consort, Freiberger Barockorchester and other ensembles. For many years he led both the internationally-renowned London Classical Players and the Taverner Players.

In 1999 he was appointed Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden, Germany. His previous, much acclaimed, recordings for ECM include discs of Schmelzer, Leclair, Veracini, two volumes of sonatas by Biber, and Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin.

Several of the composers presented on this CD were employed by the Basilica of San Marco in Venice, often working as both singers as well as instrumentalists. Dario Castello worked in Venice during the first half of the 17th century. He produced two collections of sonatas which were published in Venice in 1621 and 1629, and some of these are performed here by the specialist period music group Caecilia-Concert. The recording also includes pieces by Castello’s contemporaries Frescobaldi, Bertoli, Scarani, Picchi and Marini.

Dario Castello’s sonatas are a reflection of the “stilo moderno” style of composing, with varying tempi and dramatic changes of affect. They also contain virtuosic passagework for each instrument. There were numerous reprints of Castello’s music, including one in Antwerp, indicating the popularity and continuing influence of his compositions.

Caecilia-Concert is a versatile instrumental ensemble specialising in the research and performance of 17th century music for instruments and voices. Its individual members hold prominent positions in several of the leading period instrument ensembles, including the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and The English Baroque Soloists. The groups previous recordings for Challenge Classics include the CDs “Treasury of a Saint” (CC72161), and “Buxtehude & Co.” (CC72179).

The popular and resourceful Leupold Trio have produced a CD which recreates what they believe would have been regular practice in the smaller performance venues between the early renaissance and baroque periods. This involves the incorporation of a chittarrone rather than the more usual harpsichord as the accompanying instrument. The music ranges from Frescobaldi and Dowland to Corelli and Vivaldi.

The Leupold Trio made its debut in 2003 at the International Guitar Festival ‘SaitenSprünge’ in Bad Aibling (Germany) and was an immediate hit. The trio is made up of members from the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam. The trio believe that it has discovered a gaping hole in harpsichord-dominated early music practice, in the performance of sonatas for violin or cello incorporating a chitarrone accompaniment. It is likely that at noble courts, and the wealthier estates there would have been an excellent harpsichord. It would therefore seem just as likely that at the coffeehouses and hostelries of the time, where there was either no keyboard or it was in disrepair, an alternative would have been needed for the purpose. Obviously the chitarrone or the lute may well have been the instrument of choice.