Product Description
Joseph-Hector Fiocco (1703-1741) was the son of Pietro Antonio Fiocco, an Italian composer who
married and settled in Flanders. Apart from his surname, there is little of the Italian about him.
Having written several masses and motets, he is best known for his choral music, though he also
wrote sonatas and the two harpsichord suites that form his op 1, dedicated to the Duke of Arenberg.
Both suites are written almost entirely in the French style, with the exception of Nos. 9 to 12: the
last four movements of the first suite, which could constitute a "Sonata in the Italian Style" (though
there is no indication of this on the score!).
Four of the pieces from op 1 were arranged for violin and piano, with little regard to XVIII century
style or practice, by Arthur Bent and Norman O'Neill (1875-1934). One of these was the
aforementioned No 10 from the first suite. The latter took a life of its own, losing whatever
character was left by being played prestissimo by violinists more interested in showing their mastery
of XIX century techniques than their understanding of XVIII century musicality. In fact, the
ornamentation that Fiocco himself suggests in the original, militates against speed and most
harpsichordists tend to take it at a more leisurely allegro.
I have been making converts to this theory even among violinists, who, listening to the slower
tempo, are surprised how well it sounds.
My project is to engrave all four movements of the "sonata", but, due to the difficulty in reading the
original print, I have only finished the first movement.
This is, of course, the version for harpsichord, not the violin transcription!
I have kept to the original ornamentation, though I have "modernised" the tièrces coulées, rendering
them as accacciature. The metronome suggestion is mine and I have written out in full the da capo
and abstained from the use of the C clef.
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