FRANZ BENDA (1709-1786)
Violin Sonatas
Ornamented versions from a Berlin manuscript

1-3
Sonata XI in D major
Allegro - Adagio - Presto

4-6
Sonata XXIII in C minor
Adagio - Allegro moderato - Allegro

7
from: Sonata VII in A major
Adagio poco andante

8-10
Sonata XIII in G minor
Adagio poco andante - Allegro - Allegro

11-13
Sonata XXXII in E major
Allegro - Adagio ò Arioso - Allegro moderato e cantabile

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About this CD

“When [Franz] Benda [...] plays an Adagio, one has the impression that eternal wisdom is speaking down to us from heaven.” Thus the description, written in 1798, by violinist Johann Peter Salomon – a pupil of Benda’s and a good friend of Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven – of the playing of the “magician”, the “great genius”. His interpretation was in a singing, unpretentious, and obviously very touching style, whereby, in accordance with the custom of the time, he always richly ornamented the violin part.

The works on this recording were selected from a unique manuscript collection preserved in the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. What makes it a rarity are the written-out ornaments, for all of the movements, even the quick ones, are complemented by one or, in some cases, even two ornamented versions on separate staves. Even if this Berlin manuscript does not stem from Benda’s own hand, there is much to indicate that it is a very careful and, in terms of ornamentation technique, authentic version.

For this new release in Glossa’s Schola Cantorum Basiliensis series, the Swiss violinist Leila Schayegh (the successor, together with Amandine Beyer, of Chiara Banchini at the SCB) and her continuo partners Václav Luks and Felix Knecht recover a selection of Benda’s beautiful, ornamented sonatas, of course including some of those legendary Adagios mentioned by Salomon...