Early Italian Baroque music is lots of fun to play... it hasn't always been my main focus as I do prefer the music of the later Baroque, but I do love the style which has much more in common with rhetoric and speech... something that music (Classical...) has lost completely.

So, there is much more flexibility of timing and pacing, in addition to more emphasis on the different aspects of consonants and vowels that form the different parts of "words". It is quite interesting that many modern Classical musicians do find it difficult to play this sort of music, as there is very little in the way of "instructions" from the composer... and that is what we learn in the Early Music field.

Dario Castello was quite instrumental (haha... ) in creating this "new" form of instrumental sonata in the early 17th century (early Baroque). It mixes recitativo-like sections that are more heavily speech orientated, and the aria-like sections that are more lyrical or dance-like depending on the character of the section.

This particular sonata is the first from a set of sonatas for treble instrument and continuo by Dario Castello... it is quite common to hear this on the recorder, but I have always enjoyed playing this one on the violin instead. I find that the violin has so much more bite and range of effects than a recorder... but of course, I'm hideously biased!

The performance is from our ensemble archives, posted to our YouTube channel and website.

I can also be found cross-posting at:
Hive
Steem
Publish0x

Handy Crypto Tools

Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
WooX: The centralised version of WooFi. Stake WOO for fee-free trades and free withdrawals! This link also gives you back 25% of the commission.
GMX.io: Decentralised perpetual futures trading on Arbitrum!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.
KuCoin: I still use this exchange to take part in the Spotlight and Burning Drop launches.