PREFACE AND BRIEF ANALYTICAL NOTES

The three sonatinas op.71 by Mauro Giuliani in C, G, and D were first published in 1816 in Vienna and were intended as student pieces of progressive difficulty. In parallel with this intention they are also fully developed three-movement works which reveal Giuliani’s technique as a composer with harmony, counterpoint, and structure. They certainly have the time length and the variety of full scale sonatas, but here Giuliani has chosen to use the supporting structures of sonatas met in movements other than the first, such as Menuetto and Trio, Rondo, Marcia and Trio, Scherzo and Trio, etc, rather than sonata form itself.

As it stands, this first sonatina in C has the following three movements: 1 Maestoso (Moderato) which is a set of a theme and three variations, or better termed as a set of mathematical divisions reminiscent of an earlier era, as the accompaniment of the theme is given in crotchets, quavers, quaver triplets, and semi-quavers. 2 Menuetto-Trio-Menuetto da capo written typically in the subdominant key of F and fully developed as per classical 19th century usage. 3 Rondo. This movement is also written in a classical rondo style and form as an A-B-A-C-B-A-codetta structure, with a typical tonal scheme of A in the tonic Key ©, B in the dominant key (G), and C in the relative minor key (Am). Therefore in this work we do not meet with structural innovations of any kind, but with strong affirmation of already existing and well established early 19th century structural norms, but the beautiful personal melodic and harmonic style of Giuliani and even his routine guitaristic nuances and formulas are present in all three movements and can be enjoyed as always.

TECHNICAL This publication keeps each separate movement within the limit of two pages, thus avoiding page turns. It is published with two versions of the same pieces given in undecorated and decorated pages for the user to select which version he prefers to print out. Blank pages have been provided for insertion/deletion for the correct placement of left-right hand pages. Metronome marks are only editorial suggestions that need not be taken too literally. Sibelius Mp3 archive has been extracted for this publication using Note Performer playback engine.

Socrates Arvanitakis London 2024