Sheet music
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BPA1791
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edited by Michael Jappe
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Alessandro Rolla was born in Pavia on 6th April 1757. At the age of fourteen, he was already hailed as an exceptional viola player, playing concertos of his own in Milan. In 1782 he entered the court orchestra of the Duke of Parma, where he was successively violinist, solo violist and, after 1792, leader. In 1795 he supposedly gave the young Niccolò Paganini some lessons. Returning to Milan in 1803, Rolla was appointed Direttore d'Orchestra at the Scala. In this post he did great things, including conducting numerous premieres of operas by Rossini and Donizetti, for which, as noted by Louis Spohr in his autobiography, he was greatly admired by his contemporaries. He held this post for three decades, besides teaching at the Conservatoire (from 1808).
He founded the Lombard School of violin playing, which produced musicians such as B. Ferrara, E. Cavallini, C. Pugni, his son Antonio and above all Antonio Bazzini. Held in universal respect and admiration, Alessandro Rolla died at the ripe age of 84 on 15 September 1841 in Milan. Rolla composed almost exclusively for instruments, in particular the viola, previously rather neglected as a solo instrument. He has gone down in music history as the composer responsible for putting the viola on an equal footing with the violin technically, in performance and in expressive power. 12 concertos and some 100 works of chamber music (Sonatas, Duos, Trios, Quartets) treat the viola and cello lovingly, brilliantly amd effectively. It is high time that many of these once sought-after works, remarkable for their sense of form, originality and melodic richness, are reprinted and played again.
Over a 40-year period, Rolla wrote 56 Duos for violin and viola, which were printed during his lifetime. They are a very special legacy, revealing as they do his artistic intention of reducing the concertante performance culture to two instruments while achieving maximum impact, and also applying this in teaching (3 Duos op. 12, Amadeus ; 3 Duos op. 18). Rolla, however, composed only a few sonatas for viola, 2 with violin accompaniment, 2 single ones with a bass, unpublished during his lifetime, and the sonatas we present here, according to the 1803/04 first print in parts, titled: The flawless first print required only a few articulatory additions, dynamics - as usual in an instrumetal solo of the period - being open to individual interpretation.
Composer(s):
Publisher(s):
Publishernumber:
BPA1791
Instrument(s):
ISBN:
Number:
204177
Overige informatie:
edited by Michael Jappe
