Julio Ribeiro Alves, guitar

Wendell Dobbs, flute

Stephen Lawson, horn

Violauta Duo

Program Notes:

Antonio Nava was one of the most renowned guitarist composers working in Italy during the early decades of the 19th century. His compositional output for the guitar consists of the Metoda completo per chitarra francese (Complete Method for French Guitar, around 1815) and about seventy pieces that include transcriptions from operas for solo guitar, canzonette and ariette (ditties and ariettas) for voice and guitar, and several duos for guitar and flute.

The four sonatas for solo guitar that comprise his opus 1, Stagioni dell' anno (The Seasons of the Year) was the first guitar work included in the catalog of the prestigious Milanese publishing company Ricordi in 1808. As a performer he gave concerts in Italy and France. He spent some years living in Paris and London, where he became a reputable teacher of guitar and voice.

Italian guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani is mostly remembered for his contributions to modern guitar technique. During his life he was a prominent feature of musical life in early 19th century Vienna. Among is professional colleagues were Beethoven and Hummel. He toured widely in Europe displaying his formidable virtuosity mostly by performing variations on well-known themes. His Grand Potpourri, opus 126 in C Major is one of a dozen major works where Giuliani collaborates with flute, another enormously popular instrument of the day. In his Potpourri, or "mixed pot" Giuliani combines two tunes from Rossini operas, Zelmira (1822) and Semiramide (1823), with a popular Neapolitan tune, "Mannaggia Pallece," and a third opera tune from Alfred the Great (1818) by Donizetti. Grand Potpourri features a maestoso introduction and an energetic finale in the style of Rossini. Each tune, except the Andante from Semiramide, is followed by a set of variations.

Little is known about Christian Dickhut other than he was a hornist in the Mannheim orchestra in 1812. He was both a hornist and a guitarist and is credited with the invention of a small slide on the natural horn, moved by the thumb that added a semitone to the horn's range. Dickhut's Serenade is typical of early 19th century European Hausmusik, that is, light, readily accessible music intended for entertainment in the home.