Jacques Duphly (1715-1789) was the last of the great French clavecinists, a student of D’Agincourt and a contemporary of Corrette, de Mondonville, Daquin, Dandrieu, Boismortier, and especially François Couperin and Rameau, whose music Du Phly’s high-Baroque / gallant style perhaps most closely resembles. Du Phly early gained an outstanding reputation, with Couperin and Balbastre, as an esteemed teacher. He was cited by Rousseau as “an excellent master of the harpsichord, especially in the perfection of ‘le doigte’ … consisting in general of a soft, light, and regular movement”. P.-L. Daquin, wrote in 1753 that “one discerns a great deal of ‘lightness in his touch,’ and ‘a certain languor,’ which, ‘sustained by ornamentation’ (graces), marvelously renders the characters of his pieces.”

Fabio Bonizzoni: Performing the complete sonatas for violin and harpsichord is like embarking on a long hike; heavy, difficult, sometimes dangerous. Playing them is not an activity for lazy people: you need to enjoy making an effort. As in the mountains on difficult terrain, every step needs concentration, good balance, the ability to sense danger, to foresee the unstable stone. The complete cycle is like a long hike; one that leaves your legs tired and maybe painful the next day but at the same time one that enriches your eyes and soul with the beauty of ever-changing landscapes. It is like starting from a valley on soft grass and starting to ascend slowly, step by step, reaching the woods, seeing the type of trees changing. Eventually the forest is left behind and we are again on the grass, but more sparse now, and the first rocks are looming closer and closer. The snow is not far away either… There is not a moment or a view that is not memorable, that will not leave a significant imprint in our memory; a gem, a hidden flower, an unexpected harmony, a daring counterpoint, a melancholic melody. And as one does not need to be a geologist or a botanist to be moved by the beauties of the mountains, similarly one does not need to be a musician to listen passionately to these sonatas.

Franz Benda (1709-1786) worked for much of his life at the court of Frederick the Great. He was a prolific composer but very few of his works were published. His brother Georg (1722-1795) received a similar education as choirboy, violinist and harpsichordist. Il Gardellino was founded in 1988 and its members are specialists in performance on early instruments.

While program music is more strongly associated with the Romantic Era in music than any other era, It was by no means new with that era. This 1754 composition by one of the most popular composers of pieces in concerto grosso form is a set telling a popular tale of the First Crusade, based on Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata. This tale of chivalry, bravery, and romance has been made into countless operas and ballets over the years. Although it was published in 1754 as a purely instrumental work, it had been staged the year before in Paris, as a ballet-pantomime.

A superb account of J.S. Bach's Sonatas for violin and harpsichord obbligato by Ryo Terakado and Fabio Bonizzoni.