Compositions of a cosmopolitan

Carl, Charles, Natalis Carolus or Noël Charles - the names and name variations suggest it: Rosier(s), like most musicians of the time, was cosmopolitan, as the sparse known details about his life attest. Born in Liège in 1640, he was a violinist from 1663 and later deputy conductor in the service of the Cologne Elector Max Heinrich in Bonn. After the dissolution of the court chapel, Rosier settled in Cologne in 1675, returning to Bonn after a few years to take up a permanent position as cathedral conductor in Cologne in 1701, a post he held until his death in 1725. Prints and autographs, as well as concerts with his Collegium Musicum, prove that he was also active in the Netherlands.

The eight solo sonatas for treble recorder and basso continuo come from a collection of works for various instrumentations compiled by Charles Babell, which also includes sonatas, suites and duets by other composers such as Finger, Paisible, Courteville and Fiocco.

Rosier's sonatas consist of four to seven movements, in which all the Baroque styles of Europe at the time are combined: The motivic and harmonic relationship and thus the cyclical formation of the individual movements refers to the model of the Italian sonata da camera. Some sonatas seem more inspired by the French style and use typical suite movements - but there are also examples of completely free forms. Interestingly, there are also some references to Henry Purcell's semi-opera The Fairy Queen. Thus three of Purcell's arias reappear virtually unchanged as movements in Rosier's sonatas in G and C minor.

The present edition is in two volumes, each with four sonatas. There is a single flute and bass part, a score with both parts and one with the basso continuo omitted. Almost simultaneously with the publication of the German edition, David Lasocki published an electronic version of the parts and score in the USA, which is also based on the Babell copy: www.instantharmony.net

Carl Rosier, Eight solo sonatas for treble recorder and basso continuo, edited by Anne Kräft with a continuo realization by Thorsten Mann, first edition; vol. 1 (1-4), EW 855; vol. 2 (5-8), EW 884; € 21.50 each, Edition Walhall, Magdeburg 2012