Handel’s G major Sonata was published in 1739 as the fourth of his Op. 5 set of trio sonatas, although much of its material had appeared in earlier works. Scored for two violins and continuo, it moves through five contrasting movements, including a graceful Passacaille, a lively Gigue and a poised Minuet. The mixture of contrapuntal writing, dance rhythms and theatrical flair is characteristic of Handel, whose instrumental music often seems to carry the energy and drama of his operas and oratorios into the chamber.

Telemann’s Sonata in F is a four-movement work for two violins, two violas and continuo: an affectionate opening Affetuoso, followed by an Allegro, Adagio and sparkling Presto. The five-part scoring gives the music a particularly rich, conversational texture, with the individual string parts continually exchanging ideas. Telemann’s extraordinary versatility is on display here: elegant and lyrical one moment, rhythmically alert and exuberant the next. The work survives in a Dresden manuscript copied in the early eighteenth century.

Georg Muffat’s Armonico Tributo, first published in Salzburg in 1682, brings together the Italian and French styles that Muffat encountered during his travels and studies. Sonata II is particularly expansive, unfolding through a succession of contrasting sections: grave and allegro music, an expressive Aria, a Sarabanda and a final Borea. Its mixture of intimate solo writing and fuller ensemble textures gives the music a remarkable sense of variety. Handel may well have known the sonata: the melody and bass of its Aria appear in several of his later works.

Romanus Weichlein was a Benedictine monk, composer and musician who worked in the Austrian lands and knew Biber during his studies in Salzburg. His Encaenia Musices, published in 1695, contains twelve sonatas written for two violins, two violas and continuo, with additional trumpets in three of the set. Weichlein described the music as suitable both for church and for secular occasions. Sonata VI is one of those in which the violas may be replaced by violas da gamba, an indication of the flexible and richly coloured performance practice envisaged by the composer.

Biber’s Fidicinium sacro-profanum was published in Nuremberg around 1683 and contains twelve sonatas for strings and continuo. The third is scored for two violins, two violas and continuo, and is a concentrated example of Biber’s ability to extract extraordinary colour and intensity from a relatively small ensemble. The title Fidicinium sacro-profanum — broadly, a ‘sacred-profane stringed instrument’ — reflects the collection’s deliberately broad character: music capable of serving both devotional and secular settings. Its five-minute span makes this compact D minor sonata a particularly vivid interlude within the programme.

The final sonata in Muffat’s Armonico Tributo is the most expansive and perhaps the most ambitious of the set. Rather than beginning with the usual slow-fast Sonata sequence, it opens with an expressive Allemanda, followed by an Adagio and a substantial fugue. Further slow music leads to the extraordinary closing Passacaglia, built over a recurring bass and developed through 25 variations. Muffat later reworked this movement for his Concerti grossi of 1701, testament to the importance he attached to it. It brings the programme to a grand conclusion, combining Italianate lyricism, French dance forms and German contrapuntal craft.