SONATA V
SONATA V
Sonata V is one of a collection of sonatas by Mattia Vento, an Italian composer who was born in Naples in 1735 and died in London in 1776. Three documents kept at the Lisbon’s Biblioteca Nacional have been consulted for the present version for the guitar:
- An edition printed in London: «The Eighth Book of Six Lessons for the Harpsichord or Forte Piano with an Accompanyment for a Violin or Flute Composed and humbly Dedicated to the Countess Dieden by Mathias Vento».
- An anonymous manuscript for a similar ensemble.
- An anonymous manuscript of a version for the keyboard, without accompaniment, entitled "Tocata".
For a long time, this Sonata was attributed to the Portuguese composer João de Sousa Carvalho (1745- c.1799) and bore the name "Toccata". Having read João Pedro D’Alvarenga's article «Sobre a autoria das obras para tecla atribuidas a João de Sousa Carvalho» («Concerning the authorship of works for the keyboard attributed to João de Sousa Carvalho») published by Revista Portuguesa de Musicologia (No. 4-5, Lisboa, 1994-1995), I felt compelled to study in detail the arguments presented by the musicologist who attributed the Sonata to Mattia Vento. A careful examination of the afore-mentioned documents allows me to confirm the veracity of his thesis. The original version of Mattia Vento's Sonata V is in G minor.
