Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/632

620 As an example of the Italian style of operatic 'Sinfonia' the following quotations from the Neapolitan composer Alessandro Scarlatti are interesting, as showing an independence of the prevailing Lulli model that is remarkable considering the period. The extracts are from the orchestral prelude to his opera 'Il Prigioniero fortunato,' produced in 1698. They are given on the authority of a MS. formerly belonging to the celebrated double-bass player Dragonetti, and now in the British Museum (Add. MSS. 16,1 26). The score of the Sinfonia (or Overture) is for four trumpets and the usual string band, the violoncello part being marked 'con fagotto.' It begins Allegro, with a passage for ist and 2nd trumpet:—

This is repeated by the other two trumpets; and then the strings enter, as follows:—

Then the trumpets are used, in alternate pairs, after which come passages for strings on this figure:—

This is followed by 12 bars more in similar style; the trumpets being sometimes used in florid passages, and sometimes in harmony, in crotchets.

Then comes a movement 'Grave' for strings only, commencing thus:

19 more bars of a corresponding kind lead to a short 'Presto,' the 1st and 2nd trumpets in unison, and the 3rd and 4th also in unison:—

6 more bars of a like kind follow, with a repeat; then a second part, consisting of similar passages, also repeated. This 'Sinfonia,' it will be seen, has no analogy with the stereotyped form of the Lulli overture.

The increased musical importance given to the Overture by Handel, while still adhering to the model fixed by Lulli, is proved even in his earliest specimens. A few quotations from the overture to 'Rinaldo,' the first Italian opera which he produced in England (1711), will serve as indications of the influence adverted to. The instrumentation is for string quartet, the 1st oboe playing with the 1st violin, and the 2nd oboe with the 2nd violin.

etc.

10 more bars follow, in a similar style; the