Emanuele Barbella

Sonata in Sol maggiore

The series Italian music of the Baroque period for mandolin is intended to introduce Italian masters of the 18th century whose works have not been published for a long time. For this series, harpsichord player and leader of the Ensemble Baroque in Turin, Lino Totaro, discovered and selected pieces with a lively expression and inventive ideas. Emanuele Barbella (1718 - 1777) descended from a family of musicians in Naples. He became popular above all as a violin player. His compositions comprise works for strings, flute, organ and various pieces for mandolin. As a result of his friendship with the English musicologist Charles Burney, who had quite often mentioned Barbella's virtuoso qualities as well as his kindness, a lot of Barbella's works were published in England and France.