Taylor: Chamber Music

This edition presents the six sonatas for harpsichord or piano forte with violin accompaniment, op. 2, and the six sonatas for violoncello with keyboard accompaniment by the early-American composer Rayner Taylor. The keyboard sonatas, published in London around 1781, have a violin part that is more prominent and independent than generally found in the “accompanied” genre. In the cello sonatas, published here for the first time, Taylor makes idiomatic use of the more resonant tenor register of the instrument, unlike Graziani or Boccherini, who principally explored the cello's higher range. The basso continuo part seems to call for an extensive realization, producing an idiomatic ensemble sonata and a unique contribution to the cello sonata literature. This edition is based on a manuscript copy of the cello sonatas in the Library of Congress.

Sonata No. 1 in C Major

Sonata No. 2 in F Major

Sonata No. 3 in B-flat Major

Sonata No. 4 in D Major

Sonata No. 5 in G Major

Sonata No. 6 in E-flat Major

 

Sonata No. 1 in A Major

Sonata No. 2 in D Major

Sonata No. 3 in A Major

Sonata No. 4 in D Major

Sonata No. 5 in G Major

Sonata No. 6 in C Major

Joanne Swenson-Eldridge, American Music Research Center Journal, Volume 12, 2002; Huguette Brassine, Music & Letters, 54:2