Luigi Guatri

In their way, the two Brahms cello sonatas are among his most complex works, although the Cello Sonata in F major, Op. 99, is also one of his sunniest. Throughout, in a dozen different ways, Brahmselegantly solves the problem of what to do when his melody instrument is mainly lower than his accompaniment one, and the two sonatas are fascinating essays in register and balance.

Polyphemus, a cyclops of ancient Greek legend with one eye and three fingers on each hand, became a central figure in many myths and in their musical settings by Baroque composers. This son of Poseidon, a giant of insurmountable strength, appears in many fables, the best known of which are his encounters Odysseus during the hero's homeward journey and with Theseus, who kills Polyphemus.

The sonatas presented in this recording, labelled as Sonate à Violino e Viola in the autograph score at the Biblioteca Musicale Greggiati in Ostiglia and as Sonate Per Violin solo con accompagnamento di Viola in the parts at the Salzburg Museum, are likely to date back to the very beginning of Gatti’s stay in Salzburg. The autograph is written on paper whose watermarks suggest a date of about 1783. If so, the works were probably commissioned by archbishop Colloredo, for whom a similar cycle of six sonatas was composed in the same year by Michael Haydn, MH 335–38, and W. A. Mozart, K 423–24. (Another set of six by Joseph Hafeneder in the Toggenburg Collection of Bolzano, minus the first sonata, may share the same origin). In which case, the violin part was probably intended for Colloredo himself, a “good performer on the violin” according to Charles Burney.The archbishop was also said to “enjoy performing on the violin, which he played very well” and to be in the habit of “mingling with the court musicians and playing the violin with them” before dinner. Liner notes by Alessandro Lattanzi, the world’s leading authority on Luigi Gatti.