Virtuoso chamber music from the 18th century by four composers: Johann Gottlieb Graun, Johann Gottlieb Janitsch, Carl Heinrich Graun and Franz Benda. They all worked...

Virtuoso chamber music from the 18th century by four composers: Johann Gottlieb Graun, Johann Gottlieb Janitsch, Carl Heinrich Graun and Franz Benda. They all worked for the Prussian king Frederick The Great, who was himself a flautist and composer of professional ability. Although this music probably was not performed for the king himself, it is preserved in manuscripts associated with one of the musical “academies” that sprang up during and after his reign (1740–86) in the Prussian capital city of Berlin. There the roots of the modern concert tradition could be seen in semi-public gatherings that took place in the homes not only of certain professional musicians but of the city’s elite.

This new recording presents a selection of Sonatas for viola and/or violin and Basso Continuo, written on the boundary between the Baroque and Classical styles. They include some of the earliest chamber music to treat the viola as an equal partner of its sister instrument the violin, demanding considerable virtuosity from the players of both, while expressing a wide range of emotions, both passionate and tender.

Played by violinist Augusta McKay Lodge (“the real thing, a true virtuoso” and “an exceptional violinist” Seen and Heard International), enjoying a flourishing career as an international prize-winning baroque and modern violinist based in New York and Paris, and violist Georgina McKay Lodge, who appeared on viola with European ensembles Les Arts Florissants, Holland Baroque, Camerata Øresund, Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.