Matthieu Camilleri - Tartini: Senti lo mare. Sonates pour violon seul (2018) [Hi-Res]

Out of around 350 works which are attributed to Tartini today, a group of sonatas, along with their isolated themes, sketches and hastily-jotted-down ideas stands out by virtue of the very long period of editing which they underwent (from the 1750s up to the composer's death twenty years later); their deliberate collation into a single manuscript by the author (never published in spite of its gobsmacking richness); but also by virtue of their unique instrumentation, with a solo violin, but no bass at all, either written or suggested. They seem to indicate a kind of intimate conversation with their author, who never intended to share them with anyone. He dubbed them "little sonatas", a name which probably owes as much to false modesty as it does to affection to these pages, whose experimental nature is made clearer at every turn. A number of other pieces, as well, remain annotated in the form of sketches, phrases thrown down on the page in a moment of inspiration, and a few of these phrases are taken up by violinist Matthieu Camilleri, to distil a very original ensemble of improvised pieces. He notes, though, that these improvisations have been "fixed" to an extent, on paper; and these are recording sessions, not a concert, so the artists can choose the best from several takes. The guided improvisation inspired by Tartini and in the style of the great musician, who was said to have conversed with the Devil. Camilleri gives us a number of reference points, in the form of a few sonatas originally 100% written by Tartini in this famous manuscript, which also involve a few moments of this improvised-noted element. It's a fascinating juxtaposition of two imaginations, two and a half centuries apart!

Matthieu Camilleri, violin