Michael Elphinstone

Scheibe's three sonatas for flute (or violin) and obbligato harpsichord were published by Haffner in the late 1750's, but were probably composed much earlier; they contain a significant quantity of el...

Boismortier's final surviving set of trio sonatas, the [IV] Sonates pour deux flutes traversieres avec la basse, Op. 78, dates from late 1739 or early 1740. With this set the composer has, in a sense,...

Boismortier's numerous musical achievements include composing the first (and probably the only) concertos for two unaccompanied melody instruments, namely his Op. 38: VI Concerto pour 2 Flutes-travers...

While the quartet for flute and strings in C major (c. 1827) by itinerant flute virtuoso Louis Drouët belongs to a genre that had seen its heyday in the late 1770s and early 1780s, this composition sh...

Boismortier's Six Concerto pour les Flutes-Traversieres, Violons, ou Haubois; avec la Baße, Op. 21, were published in early 1728. They are the second set of concertos to be composed by a Frenchman, th...

Boismortier's Op. 21 was intended for a flute, a violin or second flute, and basso continuo (with a musette or recorder proposed as alternatives to the flute in Concerto No. 3), but the deliberately g...

Of particular interest amongst the numerous sets of instrumental duos composed by François Devienne is the fifth ‘livre’ comprising six ‘duos concertants’ for the uncommon pairing of flute and viola;...

These works contain some of Boismortier's finest and most accomplished music. Written in the 'Italian' style, they are an extension of his sonata writing for one or two instruments and continuo, and y...

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier's Op. 20 sonatas for solo violin and basso continuo (1727) are the least known of all his sets of sonatas for one or more violins and accompaniment. These very fine works a...

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier's Op. 20 sonatas for solo violin and basso continuo (1727) are the least known of all his sets of sonatas for one or more violins and accompaniment. These very fine works a...

Boismortier’s Six Sonates a deux violons Op. 71 were published in 1738, but it can be assumed that few copies were printed; all recent catalogues of Boismortier’s compositions describe Op. 71 as being...

Boismortier has imbued his Op. 28 sonatas with the same elegance, melodic and harmonic interest, and contrapuntal ability that characterise his other 'Italian' trio sonatas, and the works are technica...

Partly on account of their instrumentation, the Op. 18 sonatas are closely modelled on Corelli's Opp. 1-4, both in terms of style and violin technique. Each consists of four or five movements, at leas...

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier's [VI] Sonates en Trio Pour deux Violons avec la Baße Op. 18, which appeared in 1727, are veritable gems of high baroque French instrumental music.

These works contain some of Boismortier's finest and most accomplished music. Written in the 'Italian' style, they are an extension of his sonata writing for one or two instruments and continuo, and y...

The chaconne was particularly dear to French baroque composers, from Lully to Leclair, from Marais to Rameau, and Boismortier was no exception. In one of his most original works, the Quinque sur l'oct...

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...