Giovanni Battista Viotti
Six string quartets op. 3 (WII: 7-12)
edited by Mariateresa Dellaborra

(Instrumental Music, 15)

XXXII, 167 pp.; 4 parts: 59, 53, 44, 45 pp.; 21 x 29 cm
Intro and Apparatus in Italian and English

Viotti’s Opus 3 — Sieber, Paris, between 1782 and 1786; Leduc reprint, early 19th century — is a valuable contribution to the quatuor concertant genre. Its six quartets form an ideal sequel to Viotti’s Opus 1, yet contain a more virtuosic writing, thus qualifying as challenging benchmarks for professional players. The three-movement plan (No. 2, 4, 5, and 6) prevails on the two-movement one (No. 1 and 3). Although redolent of Haydn’s influence, especially in the opening movements, all quartets display the composer’s unique style, not only in their thematic material, but also in their interesting harmony and well-built form.

Mariateresa Dellaborra teaches Music History at the Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali “Franco Vittadini”, Pavia. An authority on 18th- and 19th-century Italian music, she published books and essays for Olschki, Ets, Brepols, L’Epos, Lim, Ut Orpheus, Rugginenti, and Marsilio, wrote entries for The New Grove (2nd edition) and MGG, and edited instrumental compositions by Niccolò Paganini, Giovanni Battista Viotti, Alessandro Rolla, and Saverio Mercadante, as well as operas by Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Tommaso Traetta, Niccolò Jommelli, Marcos Portugal, and Alessandro Stradella. A board member of Arcadia Foundation, Milan, she coordinates the Monumenti Musicali Italiani section at SIdM, and participates in the ITMI (Indici della Trattatistica Musicale Italiana) working group, Franceschini Foundation, Florence.