Sette Concerti a quattro

Baldassare Galuppi’s Seven Concerti a quattro form an organic group, with close stylistic connections, those works constitute a nucleus of particular interest within the composer's instrumental production, both for their contrapuntal commitment, clearly revealed in the title, and for the melodic nobility that sustains the various episodes.
These concertos are richly inventive, testifying to a constant level of inspiration.
They are thus enjoyably fresh works, musically clear and concise.
A natural melodic ease goes hand in hand with a carefully worked-out counterpoint, closer to his sacred works than his more famous operatic production, Where the counterpoint is dominant, a major role is played by the imitative interweaving of the parts in a stylistic context that ranges from the still Baroque flavour of the instrumental writing to the more classical juxtaposition of symmetries in clearly distinct episodes.
In this sense it is possible to see Galuppi's concerti a quattro as heralding the string quartets of the classical age.