Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (1686 - 1739) - Venetian musician, composer, and politician. Marcello came from a noble family, he studied law and music at the same time, with A. Lotti and F. Gasparini. He divided his life between politics and music, his sensitivity to social events is also reflected in the satirical literary work
Il teatro alla moda (1720), in which he describes the operatic manners of the time and takes aim at A. Vivaldi. B. Marcello's best-known work is the setting of 55 psalms
Estro poetico-armonico, which gained immense popularity in its time and is still in the concert repertoire today. For recorder players, the 12 sonatas are the most important for alto recorder and basso continuo, op. 2.
Note
Basso continuo: Martin Perkins (courtesy of the artist)
Sheet music sources
Modern edition:
Zwölf Sonaten op. 2 - Band I: Sonaten 1-3, Amadeus 1982
3 Sonatas, Schott 1996
IMSLP:
12 Recorder Sonatas, Op.2