Martino Bitti

Nel 1685 Martino Bitti prese servizio presso la corte di Firenze, dove per molti anni fu molto apprezzato come violinista e compositore. Scrisse numerose sonate per violino e basso continuo, oltre a p...

Typically for Bitti's earlier sonatas, the Sonata in B flat major that heads the London group features four movements in the standard configuration for chamber sonatas of the time: a prelude-like slow...

Typically for Bitti's earlier sonatas, the Sonata in C minor belonging to the London group features four movements in the standard configuration for chamber sonatas of the time: a prelude-like slow op...

Unusually for Bitti's earlier sonatas, the Sonata in G minor belonging to the London group features only three movements: a prelude-like slow opening movement full of melodic eloquence, followed by a...

This Sonata in A major belonging to the 'London' group was published by John Walsh in January 1704 as the opening work in a series of violin sonatas by different composers delivered to subscribers in...

The sonata in D minor captures the traditional mood of this key: serious-minded and a little plaintive. The second of its four movements, a corrente-like fast movement in triple metre, reminds one of...

In A minor, the seventh London sonata is serious and noble in tone, while displaying a dance-like character in its final three movements. It constitutes the perfect marriage between energetic and lyri...

This Sonata in A major, clearly belonging to the 'London' group but not preserved in the British Library manuscript containing seven similar works, was published by John Walsh in April 1704 as the sec...

This sonata by Bitti is unusual in having only three movements - all of them quick or quickish movements in C major. However, the movements are nicely contrasted. The first is a euphonious dialogue be...

This expressive four-movement sonata in G minor opens with an Adagio in the style of a slow cantata aria, complete with an introductory ritornello for the continuo. There follow an Allegro in perpetuu...

This A major sonata could be regarded as a summation of Bitti's craft as a composer of violin sonatas. It is also a sonata that comes particularly close to Corelli's musical language. A long, eloquent...

The twelve 'Cambridge' sonatas, presented to Cardinal Ottoboni, represent the 'late', galant Bitti, full of lovingly sculpted ornamental detail for the violin but with the same resourceful harmony and...

The twelve 'Cambridge' sonatas, presented to Cardinal Ottoboni, represent the 'late', galant Bitti, full of lovingly sculpted ornamental detail for the violin but with the same resourceful harmony and...

The twelve 'Cambridge' sonatas, presented to Cardinal Ottoboni, represent the 'late', galant Bitti, full of lovingly sculpted ornamental detail for the violin but with the same resourceful harmony and...

Bitti's twelve 'Cambridge'sonatas, presented to Cardinal Ottoboni, represent the 'late', galant Bitti, full of lovingly sculpted ornamental detail for the violin but with the same resourceful harmony...