An ensemble selected from the excellent Capelle of Friedrich August I in Dresden, the Cammer-Musique and its leader, the phenomenal oboist Johann Christian Richter, inspired some of the leading German composers and Italian guests at the court around 1720 to write sonatas in which oboes and bassoon are challenged with extremely expressive and virtuosic parts. This was the time and place in which the largest amount of impressive music with oboe and bassoon as soloists in history was written. German composers such as Heinichen, Zelenka (to be heard by Zefiro on ARCANA A 394), Fasch and Quantz wrote these pieces in the Italian style, with the typical alternation between singing adagios and brilliant allegros. Telemann composed a sonata with ornamentation and affects inspired by the French style. Lotti, who resided in Dresden between 1717 and 1719, also noticed the outstanding skills of the court’s wind players and wrote his only solo pieces for these instruments there. Vivaldi met Richter during the latter’s visit to Venice in 1716, when he accompanied the Elector to the city, and he too dedicated some remarkable oboe and bassoon solos to the German musician.
