Giovanni Paolo Cima: Sonata for violin and cello; Voices of Music, Blumenstock and Reed, soloists

The early 17th century violin sonata of Giovanni Paolo Cima, from his collection Concerti Ecclesiastici (Milano, 1610). Performed on original instruments by the San Francisco early music ensemble Voices of Music. Cima’s sonata is remarkable in that it demonstrates that the technique of motivic development was fully established by the first decade of the 17th century. Cima draws upon contemporaneous styles of of vocal sacred music but recasts these forms in a manner idiomatic for instruments. The violin and the cello exchange ideas in the form of a dialog, with each instrument introducing new melodic ideas, as opposed to a simple echo. Featuring Elizabeth Blumenstock, baroque violin; Elisabeth Reed, baroque cello; Hanneke van Proosdij, baroque organ and David Tayler, Theorbo. Pitch: 466Hz; temperament: meantone.