Six Trio Sonatas

While one tends to associate the trio sonata for two violins and continuo with Italy, the trio sonata for flute, violin and continuo was largely the province of German composers (including Telemann, J.S. Bach, Handel, and then later Quantz, C.Ph.E. Bach, C.H. Graun and other musicians attached to the court of Frederick the Great). It is therefore surprising to discover that one of the very first collections of trio sonatas for this particular scoring was composed by the Frenchman Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689-1755), whose sonatas were moreover intentionally written in the ‘Italian style’.