# If you bother to give the name of a composer piece at all, why change the name?



## obwan (Oct 24, 2011)

Alessandro Scarlatti: Recorder Sonata (Sinfonia) in G major:





Please just someone tell me what is this piece.

Is it a sonata or a sinfonía?

And where can I find the music?


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## torilacey (May 16, 2014)

This is a sonata. Sinfonia is a foreign word for symphony. You should be able to find the music to purchase online in any number of places.

*Sorry, I couldn't tell that specification from your original question. It would be called a Sinfonia in its title.


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## obwan (Oct 24, 2011)

I'm not convinced. What I'm asking is what is the official title that the composer gave it, so I'll be able to look for it online. My guess is the poster of the youtube took the liberty to call it a sonata on a whim, throwing into doubt any credibility of the name given. Is it a sinfonia for a solo instrument ala J.S. Bach's 'Invention's' so named by convention oweing to their similarity with the other Bach-named Inventions? Or is it a condensed form of a string quartett or quintett which were often called sinfonias in the baroque period? Or is it an actual Sonata with basso continuo, and if so which one? And lastly, was it even originally written for recorder?


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

obwan, I know the baroque recorder repertoire reasonably well. I am not at home and so can't go through my collection of scores, but off the top of my head, I can't remember that particular sonata. Note that the terminology in this period is still fluid. From what I can see, Scarlatti normally uses the term "sinfonia" to cover what would become concerti grossi, but he also seems to apply the term to what later would be called "sonata." So the folks who posted that video are not incorrect. It is structurally similar to later baroque recorder sonatas. I've never seen the term "sinfonia" applied to works of that sort, but Scarlatti seems to have composed a number of flute "sinfonias". Note these records, for instance:

















Also it is commonplace among wind players, both baroque and modern, to transcribe flute sonatas for recorder and vice versa. So I wouldn't be so hard on those folks who posted the video if they happen to be playing a work originally scored for flauto traverso; such a transcription could be modern or baroque. It is, by the way, quite a solid performance.


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## obwan (Oct 24, 2011)

Thanks so much for your replies. I might point out though, that the recordings you mentioned are in fact scored for recorder. Not only is "Flauto dolce" 'sweet flute' or recorder, but the term flauto, from what I have read, was origially designed as a shorthand form for 'flauta dolce'. So apparently, whenever you see 'flauta' in italian, it means transverse flute, flauto though is recorder. No help with google translate on this however. I'm still going to go with my program notes from a Horacio Franco cd over google. 

And yes, the scarlatti youtube is ecellent, thats why I'm looking for it so I can play it


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## satoru (May 29, 2014)

obwan said:


> Thanks so much for your replies. I might point out though, that the recordings you mentioned are in fact scored for recorder. Not only is "Flauto dolce" 'sweet flute' or recorder, but the term flauto, from what I have read, was origially designed as a shorthand form for 'flauta dolce'. So apparently, whenever you see 'flauta' in italian, it means transverse flute, flauto though is recorder. No help with google translate on this however. I'm still going to go with my program notes from a Horacio Franco cd over google.
> 
> And yes, the scarlatti youtube is ecellent, thats why I'm looking for it so I can play it


Hi,

The YouTube comments (in Japanese) are discussing where the sheet music can be obtained (the answer was given by the recorder player in the video). If you are looking for the sheet music, then it is following (double check the return policy in a case I'm wrong!):

http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/2-sonatas-sheet-music/19499280
http://www.earlymusicshop.com/produ...atti-trio-sonata-for-two-treble-recorders-and

Interestingly, these pieces are not in the IMSP library. Considering that the publisher was founded by an arranger, it is quite likely that these "sonatas" were arranged from "sinfonias", just a possibility, though. In the time of Scarlatti, "Sinfonia" referred to instrumental music pieces (wide and vague), including intrument-only part of catatas, oratoris, etc. "Sonata" was for music for one or few instruments with bass continuo. To confuse you more, I found some entries on IMPS library, for example "Concerto grosso in F major" was titled "Sonata a quattoro" on the scanned score. Oh, the "Concerto grosso in D major" is titled "Symphony No. 2 in D major" by the publisher... Well, the IMSP adopts the name of the pieces from the first publication, so they must be the most original. It is quite common to see modern publishers take the liberty on "renaming" the pieces they publish, especially for early music. Enjoy!

Best,


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