Giovanni Benedetti Platti (1697-1763)
VI Sonate a flauto traversiere solo con basso continuo Op. III
Giovanni Platti was born in Venice in 1697. Eminent flutist, oboist, harpsichordist and composer, from 1724 he held the post of "Virtuoso di Camera" to Prince Friedrich, bishop of Bamberg and Würzburg. He died in this city in 1763. His collection of Sei sonate a Flauto traversiere Solo con Violoncello ovvero Cembalo op. 3 was printed in around 1743 by the publisher Johann Ulrich Haffner of Nuremberg, and its dedication sheds light on an important aspect of the artistic contents of the work. In just a few deferential lines, Platti defines himself as "the unworthy flute teacher of the Illustrious Lord Pietro Filippo di Krufft", who was such an excellent player of this "exceedingly sweet instrument" that he showed up not only dilettantes but also the teachers themselves. Thus it was the great talents and abilities of the student to whom the sonatas were dedicated which inspired the numerous virtuosic passages contained therein. This characteristic element, normally absent from collections intended for amateurs, is most evident in the last sonata. In op. 3, the presentation of the melody is always clearly inserted into a solid formal structure.