Viaggio musicale
A musical journey in the footsteps of the cornetto
(A. Stradella, G. Legrenzi, T. Merula, D. Castello)
Les Cornets Noirs (Germany)
Thursday 26 July 2007, 7.30 pm
St. Gallus Church, Havelská ul., Praha 1
The cornet, cornetto in Italian, is one of those few instruments associated solely with the 17th century. It belongs to the group of mouthpiece instruments, even though wood or ivory was used in its manufacture. It was slightly curved and notes were produced through the covering of holes as on a recorder. Indeed good cornetists were able to coax from their instrument a quality of tone akin to the human voice and not without reason did cornets hold a leading position within an ensemble. Italian cornetists in particular were greatly favoured by composers and as a consequence numerous collections of music for solo cornet and for ensembles emerged in 17th century Italy. It was from these compilations that the programme of this spectacular concert was drawn.
