Draft talk:Trio sonata

The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of three or four movements with contrasting two melody instruments and a continuo (Boer, pg.466). Originating in the early seventeenth-century, the trio sonata was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era.

Basic Structure
The trio sonata typically consisted of three parts, two violins and a continuo. However, the two violins could be substituted for pairs of flutes, recorders, or oboes. The second part, the basso continuo, has two parts. First, it includes the bass line, which most commonly was provided with a bass viol, violone, violoncello, or bassoon. Second, it includes a harmony-producing instrument, such as a small organ, a harpsichord, or a theorbo. The (basso) continuo could be performed by two or more performers; a cellist to play the bass line and a harpsichordist or organist to focus on the harmonies. Because there could be two people playing the continuo part, there could be as many as four players playing. This can be misleading to some as the “trio” of the trio sonata refers to the three parts and not the number of players. Sonatas could be placed into two categories: sonata da camera (chamber sonata) and sonata da chiesa (church sonata). The chamber sonata was considered a group of stylized dances and church sonatas were much more serious and typically arranged into a slow-fast-slow-fast sequence.

Arcangelo Corelli
Italian composer, Arcangelo Corelli, was one of most influential composers of the trio sonata and this is where most of his fame came from. This is because he known for developing the model for the trio sonata. One of his most famous works are the four volumes of trio sonatas for two violins and continuo (Opus 1, Opus 2, Opus 3, and Opus 4). These trio sonatas were classified as sonata da chiesas or church sonatas, however, the last two movements do resemble stylized dances.

Other works of his collection are Twelve Trio-Sonatas created in 1683 (dedicated to Queen Christina of Sweden), Twelve Chamber Sonatas (1685-dedicated to Cardinal Panfili), Twelve Trio-Sonatas (1694-dedicated to Cardinal Ottoboni), Twelve Sonatas for Violin and Bass (1700-dedicated to Sophia Charlotte, Electress of Brandenburg), and Twelve Conerti Grossi (1712-dedicated to the Elector of the Palatinate) (Stewart, 1953).

Johann Sebastian Bach
German composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, is another notable composer of the trio sonata, but he was known for shying away from the traditional structure of the sonata. He typically played the three parts with less than three instruments. An example of this is one part would be played by the violin and the other two parts could be played by a keyboard. He also experimented with playing all three parts on the organ. An example of this is Bach’s Trio Sonata for organ, BMV 525-530.

Other trio sonatas by Bach include:
 * Trio Sonatas for organ, BWV 525–530, combining all three parts on one instrument: typically the right hand, left hand and pedals will each take a different part thus creating the same texture as in a trio.
 * A further innovation by Bach was the trio sonatas involving a concertante (obbligato) right-hand harpsichord part in addition to the bass line, plus one melodic instrument, thus for two players . Examples are the Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1014–1019, three sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord, BWV 1027–1029, and three sonatas for flute and harpsichord, BWV 1030–1032; BWV 1031 is doubtful.
 * Sonata in G major for two flutes and basso continuo, BWV 1039, variant version for two flutes and basso continuo of BWV 1027
 * BWV 1036–1038: Trio Sonatas for basso continuo and two violins. The attribution of these works to Bach is doubtful, but all are typical of baroque chamber music.
 * The mid-18th-century manuscript D-B Mus. ms. Bach St 345 contains a Concerto (or: Trio Sonata) in C major for violin, cello and continuo, arranged from (or: earlier version of) BWV 525/1, 1032/2 and 525/3 respectively . The 1998 edition of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis lists this version as BWV 525a, and considers the attribution of the arrangement to Bach doubtful . Based on the New Bach Edition, the Bach Digital website gives "BWV deest" instead of the BWV number 525a for this chamber music version.

Other composers

 * Tomaso Albinoni, 12 sonatas da chiesa Op. 1, twelve balletti a tre Op. 3, twelve Trattenimenti armonici per camera, for violin, viola, and continuo, Op.6, six sonatas da camera as part of Op. 8, six unpublished trio sonatas Op. 11, and a further six trio sonatas without opus number in a manuscript in Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Musiksammlung.
 * William Boyce, 12 Trio Sonatas for two violins and continuo (1747)
 * Dieterich Buxtehude, Op. 1, six sonatas, and Op. 2, seven sonatas, scored for violin, viola da gamba and basso continuo. These were the only works by Buxtehude that were published during his lifetime. Though real trio texture does occur from time to time, these are really sonate a due for violin and viola da gamba, with the continuo often being a simplification of the gamba part. There are however four genuine trio sonatas by Buxtehude surviving in manuscript, two for two violins, viola da gamba and continuo in C and G major (BuxWV 266 and 271), one for two violins and continuo in F major (BuxWV 270, fragmentary), and one for viola da gamba, viola, and continuo in D major (BuxWV 267).
 * George Frideric Handel, trio sonatas Opp. 2 and 5, all in sonata da chiesa form. The attribution to Handel of a set of trios for two oboes and continuo is false, and the authenticity of the three trios HWV 393, 394, and 395 is doubtful or uncertain. A trio sonata in F for two recorders and continuo, HWV 405, appears to be authentic.
 * Pietro Antonio Locatelli, six Trio Sonatas, Op. 5, for two violins or two traversos and continuo (1736)
 * Johann Pachelbel, Musikalische Ergötzung ("Musical Delight"), containing six suites for two violins and basso continuo, each commencing with a sonata, followed by a succession of dances. The violin parts use scordatura tuning. The sonatas are of two types. Nos. 1 and 3 are marked Allegro, and are fughettas. The remaining four are Adagio movements and are similar to French overtures, in two sections.
 * Henry Purcell, Twelve sonatas of three parts, 1683, ten sonatas in four parts, 1697, but both sets are scored for two violins, bass viol, and organ or harpsichord. In terms of style, Purcell's trio sonatas are conservative, modeled on the older generation of Italians (Giovanni Legrenzi, Lelio Colista, and Giovanni Battista Vitali) rather than Corelli or Giovanni Battista Bassani.
 * Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, over 25 extant trio sonatas, including two for solo organ. Others for continuo (sometimes indicated as harpsichord) and diverse combinations of flute(s), violin(s), oboes or unspecified instruments
 * Georg Philipp Telemann, around 150 trio sonatas . The earliest sonatas exhibit the Corelli style most clearly, while later works anticipate the mid-century Empfindsamkeit and galant styles, or mix Italian, French, and Polish styles.
 * Antonio Vivaldi, 12 trio sonatas da camera Op. 1, two trio sonatas mixed with solo sonatas in Op. 5, and thirteen unpublished trios. One further trio sonata, RV 80, in G major, for two flutes and continuo, is attributed to Vivaldi but is probably spurious.
 * Jan Dismas Zelenka,, ZWV 181, composed around 1721–1722.
 * Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach, a composer of a Trio Sonata, had his world premiere at the New York Public Library in 1923. His version of the Trio Sonata consisted of a flute, viola, and piano.