WCZESNE WŁOSKIE KONCERTY KLAWISZOWE FRANCESCA DURANTEGO
EARLY ITALIAN KEYBOARD CONCERTOS BY FRANCESCO DURANTE

Summary/Abstract: Compositions for solo keyboard with orchestral accompaniment represent a separate subgenre of the instrumental concerto, with its history (based on preserved sources) having been traced back to the first half of the eighteenth century. This subgenre, associated mostly with German composers, was also being cultivated at that time in Italy, where some of the earliest keyboard concertos were those by Francesco Durante (1684–1755), who was active in Naples. So far, only his concerto in B-flat major has received any attention in the scholarly literature, while the two other incompletely preserved harpsichord concertos by this composer – in A major and C major – have been neglected by researchers. A study of all of these three pieces together reveals stylistic changes that took place in Italy during Bach’s and Haendel’s era, and at the same time provides some essential information on the compositional history and performance practices of the keyboard concerto.

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