Sunday 9th May 2021, Waalse Kerk, Den Haag

Program

Fortunato Chelleri (1690-1757)
Trio Sonata in G minor

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Violin Sonata, op.5

Nicola Francesco Haym (1678-1729)
Sonata for Cello and Continuo in A minor

Giuseppe Sammartini (1695-1750)
Sonata in G minor n.6

Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759)
Trio Sonata in G minor

Notes to the Program

This program is inspired by the international connections between the great opera composer George Frederick Handel and the numerous Italian instrumentalists and composers present in London working there at that time. The output of these composers was mostly focused on chamber music, and besides some sonatas written for the instrument that they were playing (oboe, violin and cello), the genre of the trio sonata was by far the most popular and successful kind of entertainment throughout Europe at that time.

On stage, two instruments, like two actors, are in constant dialogue with each other, their musical interaction bringing to mind the emotional intensity of a story without words. The style of Handel, grand and lyrical but at times hectic and sparkling, has been the reference point for many composers who came from all over Europe to London to listen, discover and practice this kind of music. It is very interesting to note that the greatest spring of inspiration for Handel himself was Italian music (he went to Rome to meet Corelli and Pasquini in 1706) and soon afterwards his music became the great canvas on which generations of Italian composers wrote their music.

Waalse Kerk, The Hague (map)
H. 17.00 and 19.00