Donizetti, G. — Sonata for Pianoforte and Violoncello

There are stories you only read in books, of scholars finding secret manuscripts in forgotten shelves of dusty libraries, unearthing treasures beyond comprehension. Some of those stories, though, are true!

It is with the greatest pleasure, then, that I here present you the Sonata for piano and cello by Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848). If you have never heard of it, worry not, because you are not alone, as no one could have. While we were not able to trace every single step back to its inception, we know that, at a certain point at the end of the last millennium, the manuscript of this sonata found its way into the safe of Bergamo’s Biblioteca Donizetti’s vault.

With the help of the library’s curator, Donizetti scholar and composer Fabrizio Capitanio, we were able to bring this manuscript back to life in modern notation, correct the (several) mistakes, and build the first complete contemporary edition of the piece.

The state of the manuscript could be described as “hastily written” as most of the cello part in the third movement is missing, with no surviving manuscript cello part today. M° Capitanio—with very minor assistance from my part for playability checks—masterfully completed the fragmentary cello part of the third movement, allowing this fascinating piece to be finally performed again.

A thorough Editorial Notes section precedes the music, while detailed Critical Notes close the book. The edition (score 48 pp, part 12 pp) will be available in both printed and digital formats.