"Both the life span and the professional career of Giovanni Battista Costanzi ran their courses entirely within Rome; and indeed, he was born in the city, on September 3, 1704. He began to study the cello at an early age and clearly his talents must have been considerable, since at the age of only 17 he entered into the service of Cardinal Ottoboni, who had previously been the patron of figures such as Corelli and Handel. The combination of that youth and his ability on the instrument earned Costanzi the nickname of 'Giovannino del violoncello'. He was to enjoy a meteoric rise within Roman musical life. In 1722 he was appointed as one of Ottoboni’s 'auitanti di camera' and joined, as a cellist, the orchestra of the church of San Luigi dei Francesi. In 1727 the première of his first opera took place with 'L'amor generoso'.
"Following Ottoboni’s death in 1740, Costanzi took up employment with another cardinal, Troiano Acquaviva d’Aragona. With the passing of the years, his commitment to sacred music became steadily greater, in a way which coincided with his successive appointments as maestro di cappella in the churches of Santa Maria di Loreto (1742), San Marco and Santa Maria in Vallicella (1743) and Sant'Apollinare alle Terme (1747). In 1754, he became the assistant to the director Pietro Paolo Bencini at the Cappella Giulia, the full position becoming his from the start of the following year; he would continue in that position until his death, which took place on March 5, 1778.
"Whilst vocal music occupies a predominant place in Costanzi’s output (divided between operas, oratorios and cantatas), it is his works for the violoncello which nowadays are regarded more highly: in them the composer developed and enriched the technical and expressive resources of an instrument for which he was a recognized virtuoso. Costanzi composed one concerto for the cello, as well as sonatas with basso continuo (which Giovanni Sollima has recorded on a previous Glossa disc), sinfonias with basso continuo and sonatas for two cellos, amongst which is one subtitled, 'ad uso
di corni da caccia'.
di corni da caccia'.
"If there are no great formal differences to be found between Costanzi’s sinfonias and his sonatas, the former do reveal a somewhat more advanced stylistic orientation. Where the sonatas show clear evidence of a thorough reading of Corelli's music, the sinfonias are infused with a spirit which is more open to the proposals offered by the stile galante, a greater receptiveness to the ideas coming from elsewhere in Europe and the rest of Italy. The organizational model of the four movement 'sonata da chiesa' is followed in the sinfonias in D major and B flat major, except for one difference: the placing of a minuetto at the end. The other sinfonias are provided with a three-movement structure – as found in the sonata da camera – but are also almost completely freed from dance rhythms, except as found in their closing minuets (Sinfonias in G and E flat), serving as a further nod in the direction of the emerging style.
"The new consciousness is also pointed to by the 'amoroso' marking which appears above several movements: that of eavesdropping on an emotional display of warmth far from the guarded lyricism of Corelli. A pronounced interest for the 'popular' also crops up at various points alongside the galant accents. Nor, in this context, should the instrumental writing and the broadening of the cello’s technical and expressive potential be forgotten. Two examples are worth noting here. The direction 'amoroso' which opens the Sinfonia in C major sees the instrument’s double melodic and harmonic character being explored, by means of a wealth of accents probing (like in Bach) the polyphonic possibilities of the cello and the inter-register dialogue. Another 'amoroso' movement – that which comes third in the Sinfonia in D major – projects the cello into its high register; the technique employed here is one of Costanzi’s most personal discoveries, in which he impels the instrument into creating stratospheric harmonic sounds.
"Something of interest is to be found in each of the sinfonias. The Sinfonia in G major is still flecked with a Corellian gravitas both in the balanced lyricism of the 'Grave' as in the controlled ardour of its virtuosic 'Allegro', while the final movement probes the more attractive, French aspect of the minuet. In the Sinfonia in E flat, Costanzi demonstrates what a consummate man of the theatre he had become. The 'Adagio' sets off with an elegant and noble carriage, but then undergoes a form of 'cultural memory loss' during the course of its development, until – as if by surprise – it assumes the habits of a popular tone in the final bars. The 'Allegro' is a dishevelled corrente supplied with unreserved and temperamental rhythms; there is an almost spiritual mien to the Minuet, which ends up with a type of vanishing gesture. In addition to what has already been mentioned about the opening 'Amoroso' movement of the Sinfonia in C major, it can be said that its internalized tone contrasts with the outgoing nature of the ensuing 'Allegro', a virtuosic explosion of arpeggios and double-stoppings communicating an optimistic exuberance – features which extend into the concluding 'Allegro'.
"The Sinfonia in D major gets going with a broad and lyrical 'Adagio staccato', although it ends with an unexpectedly ecstatic finale. The same sense of unpredictability characterizes the 'Allegro' with its popular moods and sudden suspensions, and in the 'Amoroso' also, in which plaintive inflections appear occasionally in its cantabile. The 'Minuetto amoroso' is also marked by mood swings, with its restless and abrupt demeanour – some distance from the galant lightness typical of the minuet.
"A Neapolitan expressiveness hovers over the Sinfonia in B flat, starting with an 'Adagio' which would appear to be fashioned along the lines of music by Leo or Porpora, stopping off for the street sounds of the 'Spirituoso', which lead up to a frenetic culmination, and for the chromaticisms and ornamentations of the 'Sarabanda amoroso', with its wistful and Eastern touches. In this Sinfonia, once again, the 'Minuet' veers away from its aristocratic character in order to take on a popular and vigorous character.
"If Costanzi’s sonatas for cello are swept by a Roman air, his sinfonias catch a glimpse of broader horizons. Despite not moving from his city, Costanzi established and maintained contacts with travellers, diplomats, members of the nobility and musicians coming from the furthest reaches of Italy and Europe. Such was the case with his friendship with James Francis Edward Stuart known as' the Old Pretender', or with Paul- Hippolyte de Beauvilliers, Duke of Saint-Aignan, France's ambassador at the Holy See who, in 1737, was to commission from Costanzi a 'componimento drammatico' in order to celebrate the diplomat’s admission into the Ordre du Saint-Esprit. These and other connections provided Costanzi with information and clues as to what was happening elsewhere. The Neapolitan, Northern European and French echoes which run across his sinfonias for cello can thus be seen as stages along an imaginary journey, the manifestation of a cosmopolitan and yet wider feeling: this is the world’s diversity as contemplated from the perspective of one who is seated in the place towards which all roads converge. In this sense, Costanzi acts as the ideal embodiment of a city, Rome, which regarded itself as the 'caput mundi'.
"The sinfonias of Costanzi are supplemented on this recording with a sonata da camera for two cellos without basso continuo 'ad uso di corni da caccia'. This piece is structured in three short movements, in which – and as is made clear from the outset – the instruments imitate the sounds and the appropriate melodic gestures of horns. The central 'Adagio' is, however, a delicate siciliana interrupted by vigorous flourishes of repeated notes. The 'Presto' which ends the work is the movement which evokes in the clearest manner the atmosphere of the hunt, the pursuit of the animals, the shots being fired… The performers here have opted for heightening the programmatic and spectacular dimension of this sonata by the inclusion of percussion instruments.
"Within Giovanni Sollima’s interest for the figure and creative activity of Giovanni Battista Costanzi lies an attraction which perhaps transcends the purely musical. In more than a single aspect Costanzi represents an alter ego for Sollima: both are performer-composers who place their curiosity and imagination at the service of the cello, from which they explore the most detailed resources and the most varied voices in a constant broadening of the instrument’s possibilities. In his 'The Hunting Sonata', Sollima pays homage to the cosmopolitan vision of a composer who did not need to move
from home in order to savour the world’s variety. The rhythms and the sound materials of the 'Sonata ad uso di corni da caccia' provide a departure point for this, transfigured and moulded in order to shape visions of sound landscapes, distant from each other to a greater or lesser degree, but all related to an imaginary South. Thus, the initial pizzicati sketch the outline of a Neapolitan tarantella to which, little by little, are added all kinds of Mediterranean flavourings (Spanish, Eastern, Maghrebi…). The 'Siciliana' which opens the second movement broadens out Costanzi’s original conception, and the succeeding 'Giga' drives this journey towards a dazzling and tremendous culmination. (Stefano Russomano. From the liner notes.)
from home in order to savour the world’s variety. The rhythms and the sound materials of the 'Sonata ad uso di corni da caccia' provide a departure point for this, transfigured and moulded in order to shape visions of sound landscapes, distant from each other to a greater or lesser degree, but all related to an imaginary South. Thus, the initial pizzicati sketch the outline of a Neapolitan tarantella to which, little by little, are added all kinds of Mediterranean flavourings (Spanish, Eastern, Maghrebi…). The 'Siciliana' which opens the second movement broadens out Costanzi’s original conception, and the succeeding 'Giga' drives this journey towards a dazzling and tremendous culmination. (Stefano Russomano. From the liner notes.)
Performers: Giovanni Sollima, Arianna Art Ensemble, Monika Leskovar
1. Sinfonia In D Major: I. Adagio Staccato
2. Sinfonia In D Major: II. Allegro
3. Sinfonia In D Major: III. Amoroso
4. Sinfonia In D Major: IV. Minuetto Amoroso
5. Sinfonia In B-Flat Major: I. Adagio
6. Sinfonia In B-Flat Major: II. Spiritoso
7. Sinfonia In B-Flat Major: III. Sarabanda
8. Sinfonia In B-Flat Major: IV. Minuet
9. Sonata Da Camera In F Major: I. Amoroso
10. Sonata Da Camera In F Major: II. Adagio
11. Sonata Da Camera In F Major: III. Presto
12. Sinfonia In G Major: I. Grave
13. Sinfonia In G Major: II. Allegro
14. Sinfonia In G Major: III. Minuè
15. Sinfonia In E-Flat Major: I. Adagio
16. Sinfonia In E-Flat Major: II. Allegro
17. Sinfonia In E-Flat Major: III. Minuet
18. The Hunting Sonata: I. Adagio-Allegro
19. The Hunting Sonata: II. Siciliana
20. The Hunting Sonata: III. Giga
21. Sinfonia In C Major: I. Grave
22. Sinfonia In C Major: II. Allegro
23. Sinfonia In C Major: III. Variazioni
