Sonata in a, Op. 13/6

Willem de Fesch was among the generation of northern European composers that grew to maturity under the spell of Italian string music, particularly Corelli and Vivaldi. His lifetime parallels that of Händel’s, and in the 1730s de Fesch likewise settled in London and even performed in Händel’s opera orchestra. The quality of his own violin playing assures the music of certain idiomatic details and a careful attention to detail and gesture that performers, and audiences, will enjoy.
The Sonata in A Minor, op. 13 no. 6, for cello and keyboard is one of the last de Fesch wrote, and it represents his advance beyond sheer virtuosity to incorporate traces of Händel’s vocal style. The work departs from the conventional four-movement scheme (slow-fast-slow-fast) that Corelli institutionalized for early 18th-century sonatas. De Fesch’s work opens with a broad Larghetto in common-time, giving it the feeling of an allemande. The accompaniment is simple and structural, while the cello solo embodies the best of Italian melodic shape, stepwise motion, ornamentation, and occasional pinpoint dissonances. (It bears mentioning that keyboard parts in such sonatas were often only indicated by figures in the bass, which the performer would “realize” at his or her discretion.)
The second movement, Alla breve, forms the massive central portion of the sonata’s structure; its 99 measures making it as long as anything by Corelli, though they pass quite quickly because of the cut time signature. It ends with a brief cessation of action in the form of an Adagio final cadence progression. De Fesch now eschews the conventional slow third movement and dives into his spirited Giga. Often fugal, this dance form closes many Baroque sonatas. The concluding giga here rounds off the sonata with a flourish of compositional skill and excitement, merging counterpoint with the infectious dance rhythms and up-tempo propulsion.

(c) Jason Stell