III

Vitali is the dance composer par excellence of the seventeenth century. His Correnti e balletti da camera a 2 violini col suo basso continuo (1666) have melodic value and clarity of structure and form. In his Balletti correnti, e capricci per camera for two violins and bass (1683), in his Sonate da camera for two violins and bass (1667), and in sonatas for two to five instruments (1669) we find inspiration, expression, and a dignified style. Vitali’s sonatas consist of three movements. The first and the last are in fast 4/4 time, and in fugal style; the middle, in 3/4 or 3/2 time, is more tranquil in character. Sometimes a short largo precedes the first movement, sometimes a largo is inserted before or after the middle movement. The two allegros are thematically connected. In one sonata Vitali uses the same theme through all three movements with a dexterity that suggests the influence of his teacher, Cazzati.

Antonio Veracini (1690) was not a fertile composer, and he is important rather for his personal influence than for the volume of his work. His Sonate a 3, Sonate da chiesa a violino e violoncello and Sonate da camera a 2, possess nobility and individuality of style, with a certain melodic originality. His forms are clear, his contrapuntal combinations not unattractive, and all his details with a few exceptions show careful workmanship. His adagios are especially fine.[60]

Giovanni Battista Bassani, too, derives his importance largely from his personal influence, especially as the teacher of Arcangelo Corelli. Bassani’s chamber music compositions include Balletti, Correnti, Gighue e Sarabande a violino e violono overo spinetta, con il secondo violino (1673); twelve sonate da camera (each containing four dances in the following order: 1—Balletto, 2—Corrento, 3—Gigha, and 4—Sarabanda); Sinfonie a due o tre instrumenti con il basso continuo per l’organo (1638), in which each single piece bears the title of ‘sonata.’ All these compositions are interesting rather than attractive; though while emphasizing and broadening the technique and form of his predecessors, Bassani improved upon their harmony and exhibited more fluency and smoothness through better modulations and transitional passages. We may note especially his independent part-writing, his rythmic steadiness, and his ingenious working-out of motives taken from the main theme. The device of developing themes in contrapuntal works had been variously used since Gabrieli, but the credit for first resolving a theme into its motives and working with them skillfully belongs to Bassani. The following examples will clearly show Bassani’s skill in thematic development.

The theme of a Sonata (for two violins, violoncello ad libitum and organ, 1683):

The motives:

and

Here again we are reminded of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

The large amount of chamber music composed toward the end of the seventeenth century is eloquent of the popularity of this class of composition. In fact chamber music was so much favored that a certain Thomas Britton (in London) formed a chamber music club (1678) and gave weekly concerts for thirty-six years, at first free of charge but afterwards at a subscription fee of ten shillings. Later, similar and stronger organizations came to play an important part in the development of music.