Hyperion Records

Here is the magnificent sonata for trumpet and two string choirs by Alessandro Stradella. This survives in an undated manuscript, but its polychoral scoring is similar to a number of his Roman works, so it was most likely written before he left his native city for good in 1675. An early date is also suggested by the fact that the string groups are of equal size (unlike the later concerto grosso) and use the layout of violin, two violas and bass, not the more modern two violins, viola and bass; the actual music, however, is extraordinarily modern in its harmonic and melodic language. Stradella’s lurid life (he was murdered following an intrigue with a girl from a prominent Genoese family) has unjustly overshadowed the merits of his music.

from notes by Peter Holman © 1988