A native of Asti (in the Piedmont region), Carlo Graziani was one of the greatest Italian cellist-composers of the seventeenth century. Mirroring his own skill as a player, Graziani’s pieces are of great importance in the development of the cello and constitute an important enrichment of the instrument’s repertoire.

With few exceptions, Graziani’s output consists of sonatas for cello and basso: eighteen sonatas published in three sets (Opp. 1-3), and eighteen others, most of which remain in manuscript form. Gaetano Nasillo offers here a representative sample from his catalogue with four published sonatas and three other Berlin works: the Capriccio, the Sonata in D (‘in scordatura’) and his Sonata in A (‘Il viaggio da Berlino a Breslavia con l’affettuoso ricevuta di S. A. R.’).

Graziani’s cello music features skilful technique with distinctive ideas in the individual movements.

The highlight of the programme, Graziani’s 1778 ‘Il viaggio da Berlino a Breslavia’ is unique in its inclusion of a descriptive title: this title refers to the year 1777 when Graziani, still in residence at the Prussian Court, travelled from Berlin to Wroclaw.

Included are authoritative liner notes by Mara Parker, who has pursued research on Carlo Graziani over a long period and whose critical edition of nine of Graziani’s previously unpublished works was published by A-R Editions in 1997.