Sonate Accademiche

The Florentian Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1786) was regarded as one of the greatest violin virtuosos of his time. Stays in London, Düsseldorf, Venice and Dresden helped the eccentric musician acquire international fame. Of his many works, his Sonate Accademiche op. 2 (London / Florence 1744) for violin and basso continuo is by far the best known today. The character of the Sonate Accademiche is characterized by a peculiar combination of intellectuality, virtuosity and expressivity. Despite the technically demanding violin part, the virtuosity flows with natural ease and playfulness thanks to Veracini's masterful idiomatic handling of his own instrument. The collection Sonate Accademiche is very extensive, both in length and in variety. The sonatas do not conform to the standard forms of the time, such as the Italian sonata da camera or sonata da chiesa. Veracini himself writes in his preface: "... two or even three movements, chosen as desired, suffice to form a sonata of reasonable length". Eva Saladin has applied Veracini's approach to the entire book, which enables her to select contrasting movements from the sonatas and highlight the most interesting features of the music by combining the individual movements into a flowing programme with connecting keys and a clear dramaturgy.