Balletti a Quattro

The following edition of Tomaso Albinoni’s 12 Balletti a Quattro is based on the copy kept in Vienna among the ‘Estensische Musikalien’ in the National Library of Vienna (catalogue number EM 94/94). This collection contains other manuscript works that have been attributed without any doubt to Albinoni, thanks to the comparison with printed copies (eg: Trattenimenti Armonici, op. 6). The Vienna specimen is made up of four folders with the following titles on the front cover: Violino Primo, Violino Secondo, Violetta (Alto Violetta inside), Basso Continuo. The name ‘Albinoni’ is written on all four frontispieces. The movements are numbered inside the folders in sequence from 1 to 48, but there is an evident sub-division into 12 dance suites of 4 movements each, also justified by the harmonic uniformity between the movements. The suites are in the following keys: G Maj., B min., D Maj., A Maj., C Maj., E min., F Maj., A min., Bb Maj., D min., E Maj., G min. Each suite is invariably characterized by the following agogic succession: Grave, Balletto, Corrente, Gavotta.