Niccolò Jommelli
Trio Sonata in G Major for two violins or flutes and bass
edited by Carmela Bongiovanni

(Instrumental music, 8)

XXXIV, 12 pp.; ill.; 3 parts (3, 3, 3 pp.); 21 x 29 cm
Introduction and Apparatus in Italian and English

The Trio Sonata in G for two violins or flutes and bass is one of the few such pieces written by Nicolò Jommelli (1714-1774). The four available sources are from mid-18th century; a manuscript copy, originally from the collection of the violinist and composer, Pierre Baillot, and now sitting at US-Wc, is dated 1749. The only (anonymous) printed source, issued by Longman & Co., London and later than all manuscripts, has been dated 1768. Jommelli’s instrumental work enjoyed then a widespread popularity in print and especially in manuscript. This proves the amateurs’ appreciation and interest for such side of his opus, which is “minor” only in quantity, vis-à-vis his overwhelming sacred and theatrical production. The Trio Sonata in G, with its four markedly different versions, is a miniature example of the circulation and fortune of Jommelli’s instrumental chamber music in Europe.
The Trio Sonata in G is a nice sample of mid-18th-century stile galante. It is cast in three movements, the first two sporting two sections each, between repeat markings, the finale in rondo form with a single repeat at the end—then a common mold in the genre. Other typical features of period Italian chamber music are the detailed embellishments, a marked rhythm, and the simplified melodic fabric, with its uncluttered dialog among the instruments, the largely homorhythmic voicing of the upper parts, and the sparse interventions of the bass, either in dialogue or in counterpoint. The bass is figured in two sources and is clearly given a subordinate role, despite such hints of dialogue.

Carmela Bongiovanni is librarian and professor of Musical Bibliography at the Paganini Conservatory, Genoa, and also professor of Musical Bibliography at the Pisa University (Genoa University from 2007 to 2012). In 2012 she held a seminar on music manuscripts for the Liguria section of the Associazione Italiana Biblioteche. She is board member of the review, «Fonti musicali italiane», published studies on Italian music between 17th and 19th century, took part in many meetings, and wrote entries for Italian and international dictionaries and encyclopaedias. Her essay on Jommelli’s quartets held in unica manuscript copies at the Genoa Conservatory (on which she gave a paper in Lisbon in 2014) is awaiting publication.