Martino Bitti Dresden sonata 6

Martino Bitti – Dresden Sonata for violin and continuo N.6 in A major (Sinfonia)

Martino Bitti is one of the great virtuosos of the past who has fallen into oblivion. Few know his work today. However, a look at the works he has left us and his life as a musician reveals a great virtuoso who deserves to be rediscovered.

The relatively recent work done by Professor Talbot in his work: “A Thematic Catalogue of the Instrumental Music of Martino Bitti (1655/6–1743)” [ Michael Talbot (2015) A Thematic Catalogue of the Instrumental Music of Martino Bitti (1655/6–1743), Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle, 46:1, 46-94, DOI: 10.1080/14723808.2014.986256] has brought to light some of Bitti’s most interesting compositions. This is the case of this Sinfonia, listed as anonymous until that moment in the archives of the Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden (SLUB).

The only copy of this work is in the SLUB, as part of the Pisendel collection (Schrank II), the manuscript Mus. 2-R-8, 102, entirely copied by Pisendel. It is very probable that Pisendel copied the sonata during his trip to Italy and his passage through Florence in 1717, where he would meet the crème de la crème of the Florentine violinists: Fanfani and Bitti. Pisendel kept in his collection nine sonatas by Martino Bitti.

Bitti’s virtuosity is noted in this work. The large number of double stops and their use in the complex counterpoint of the second movement demand a high technical mastery from the performer.

Martino Bitti – Dresden Sonata for violin and continuo N.6 in A major (Sinfonia). Edition from Pisendel’s manuscript in the Schrank II includes preface, score and parts. It is part of The Cabinet II Project.