Late baroque discovery
The first of the six sonatas for violoncello and continuo by Johann Sebald Triemer is available.
Johann Sebald Triemer (1704-1756) was born in Weimar. We have only scant information about his life, but it is known that he was a member of the theater orchestra in Hamburg as a cellist in 1725 and studied composition with Joseph Bodin de Boismortier in Paris from 1727 to 1729. He then lived in Holland, where he died in Amsterdam in 1756.
Triemer's six sonatas for violoncello and continuo were published around 1741 - around the same time as the sonatas by Vivaldi and Marcello - but soon fell into oblivion. The Ponticello Edition has now republished the five-movement first sonata op.1/1 in C major.
As the solo part does not exceed the 4th position, the work is well suited for pedagogical use and, with its effective mixture of sensitive style and dance characters (Largo - Allegro - Cantabile (Siciliano rhythm) - Tempo di Gavotta - Giga Allegro), also achieves a festive effect in a concertante or church setting.
Petra Marianowski was responsible for the continuo realization. The extensive preface by the editor Holger Best provides competent information about the sources for Triemer's biography and the history of the sonata's transmission.
Johann Sebald Triemer: Sonata in C major op. 1/1 for violoncello and basso continuo, edited by Holger Best, PON 1021, € 14.95, Ponticello Edition, Mainz 2015
Further issues are planned or have already been submitted.
