Works for Strings and Continuo

The four Sonate a cinque from Op. 3, the three Sonate a quattro from Op. 6, and the Concerto for strings [with violino obbligato] and basso continuo, by the violinist and composer Carlo Antonio Marino, from Bergamo (1670-1735), represent the climax of this musician’s considerable production of pieces for strings and basso continuo.
The Sonate a cinque (1697) are elegant and ambitious, while the Sonate a quattro (1706) are more intimate and bent on seeking a new mode of expression.
All these pieces are characterised by a perfect balance between a rigorous, monodic style and amarked lyricism in the slow movements.
The Concerto a quattro for strings and basso continuo, the second of the threethat were composed by Marino and are still in manuscript form, shows, within a structure that is quite similar to thatof the Sonate, a refined violinistic style, based on double-string imitations, arpeggios and high-note passages that bear witness to the degree of virtuosity attained by this violinist.