Six Sonatas Op. 16

Abstract

The origins of the sonata with a fully writ-ten-out keyboard part and a subsidiary part for a violin or some other high pitched instrument have not yet been fully investigated. In the baro¬que period the usual role of the keyboard was to do the accompanying, by "realising"' the figured bass. In the much rarer type of sonata with fully written-out keyboard part, like Johann Sebasti¬an Bach's works for harpsichord and violin, flute or viola da gamba, the right-hand tended to function as a second solo voice of equal impor-tance to the ether instrumentalist, creating the texture of a ba'oque trio sonata. There are in fact short passages in those Bach sonatas where the keyboard dominates, but the first composer to tip the balance totally in its favour appears to have been Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mordonville (1711 -1772) in his Pieces de Clavecin en sona-tes avec accampagnement de violon, op.3 of 1734. The form seems to have developed chiefly in Paris over the next few years, but Parisian prin¬ting presses and itinerant composers soon ensu¬red that 'he fashion spread throughout Europe. Many, probably most, of these accompanied sonatcs were written with amateur performers in mind. Their attractions were obvious.