DuniEnsemble, Leonardo Massa, Claudia Di Lorenzo - Duni: 6 Sonatas for Flute/Violin & B.C. (2025)

Tracklist

01. Sonata No. 1, Op. 2: I. Largo
02. Sonata No. 1, Op. 2: II. Allegro Ma Non Presto
03. Sonata No. 1, Op. 2: III. Largo
04. Sonata No. 1, Op. 2: IV. Tambourin en Rondeau Rondeau-Danse De Bergers
05. Sonata No. 2, Op. 2: I. Largo
06. Sonata No. 2, Op. 2: II. Allegro
07. Sonata No. 2, Op. 2: III. Largo
08. Sonata No. 2, Op. 2: IV. Allegro
09. Sonata No. 3, Op. 2: I. Allegro-Largo E Dolce
10. Sonata No. 3, Op. 2: II. Allegro
11. Sonata No. 3, Op. 2: III. Largo
12. Sonata No. 3, Op. 2: IV. Rondeau Mineur
13. Sonata No. 4, Op. 2: I. Largo
14. Sonata No. 4, Op. 2: II. Allegro
15. Sonata No. 4, Op. 2: III. Lento
16. Sonata No. 4, Op. 2: IV. Allegro
17. Sonata No. 5, Op. 2: I. Largo
18. Sonata No. 5, Op. 2: II. Non Molto Allegro Et Staccato
19. Sonata No. 5, Op. 2: III. Largo
20. Sonata No. 5, Op. 2: IV. Menuet en Rondeau
21. Sonata No. 6, Op. 2: I. Largo
22. Sonata No. 6, Op. 2: II. Allegro
23. Sonata No. 6, Op. 2: III. Adagio
24. Sonata No. 6, Op. 2: IV. Allegro-Menuet en Rondeau

Antonio Duni and his better-known younger brother, Egidio, were sons of Francesco Duni, kapellmeister of the Matera Cathedral from the early 18th century. Antonio studied music in Naples as was the established practice at the time and as a composer and violinist himself became a kapellmeister. An extraordinary talent and restless genius, he left Naples in search of fortune, moving to Barcelona, then Vienna, then Madrid where in 1726 he became Master of the Royal Chapel; he then moved on to Paris, Trier and again Madrid, where in 1736 he befriended the famous singer and composer Carlo Broschi Farinelli, becoming director and choirmaster to the Duke of Osuna. By 1757 Antonio Duni could be found in Moscow, where he was commissioned by the rector of Moscow University to found the Moscow University Choir, a task that was to occupy him for more than eight years. This was followed by a short stay in Riga on the Baltic Sea and possibly a trip to China. From 1765 he moved with his wife and four children permanently to Schwerin in Germany, where in severe financial straits he died around 1766.

The recent discovery of the 6 Sonatas is thanks to Thomas Suárez, a descendant of the Duni family on his mother’s side, who, upon discovering a microfilm of the only printed edition in the Moscow State Library in 2019 produced the modern edition from which this recording was performed. The Sonatas were printed in Paris at the M.lle Vendôme Publishing House (most active between the years 1737–1762), and the fact that the printed manuscript was found in Moscow suggests that Antonio Duni brought it with him on beginning his stay in the Russian capital (1757–65), suggesting the composition of the sonatas predates 1757.

The six sonatas each feature four movements in the Corellian pattern, Lento–Veloce–Lento–Veloce. The melodic line presents cantabile themes that are never banal or “mannered”, characterised by a strikingly original creativity on harmonic, phraseological and formal levels. The extremely precise articulation indications and passages modulating to keys not often frequented in the Baroque period make for challenging and interesting interpretative work. Taking up the subtitle’s given option for flute in place of violin, this recording divides the sonatas between the two solo instruments.

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