This program takes us on a journey through three musical worlds of the early 18th century: the passionate warmth of Naples, the virtuosity of the Roman-Italian Baroque, and the contrapuntal rigor of German court music. The unifying element is a musical movement that flourished during these decades, particularly in Germany: Sturm und Drang, an artistic movement originating in literature that took shape in music through dense compositional styles, the daring use of chromaticism and syncopation, and an immediate emotional expressiveness.

Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (1727-1756) was born in Danzig and would go on to become a prominent figure in the Dresden music scene. He received intensive training from Johann Sebastian Bach, who considered him his most talented student – and you can hear why. The Sonata a quattro in C minor bears strong similarities to Bach’s polyphonic style, and some of Goldberg’s works were attributed to Bach himself until the end of the last century. At the same time, the sonata reveals the influence of the Sturm und Drang movement in its most intense German manifestation: dense chromaticism, expressive harmony, and an almost menacing intensity. Goldberg died young, at the age of only 29 – his limited body of work gives a sense of what a compositional voice has been lost to posterity.

Francesco Durante (1684-1755) was one of the central figures of the Neapolitan school, both as a composer and as an influential teacher. His Concerto No. 2 in D minor for strings and basso continuo combines elements of the Sturm und Drang movement with a polyphonic tradition traceable to Palestrina, as well as the galant Neapolitan style. A characteristic feature of this work is an ironic, almost sarcastic use of dissonance: employed not merely as an expression of lament (lamento), but as a witty, pointed gesture. Durante spent extended periods in Rome and at the Saxon court in Dresden – encounters that profoundly enriched his compositional thinking.

Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688 – 1758) hailed from northern Germany; his Sonata in D minor is also featured in this program. Fasch was court Kapellmeister in Zerbst and maintained a wide-reaching network of musical contacts, whose members included Pisendel, Telemann, and C. P. E. Bach, among others. Through his close friend Johann Georg Pisendel – concertmaster of the Dresden court orchestra – Fasch supplied instrumental works to Dresden for many decades. His work marks particularly clearly the transition from the late Baroque to early Classicism, and his music stylistically bridged the gap between Bach’s contrapuntal legacy and the forward-looking galant style. J. S. Bach himself held Fasch’s compositions in such high regard that he made handwritten copies of five of his suites.

The fourth musical world of this concert belongs to Antonio Montanari (1676 – 1737) and his “Dresden” Concerto in C major for violin and strings. As a native of Modena, Montanari arrived in Rome at the age of 14, where he became a student of Arcangelo Corelli and quickly gained fame as a sought-after violin virtuoso. His violin concerto bears the nickname “Dresden” because the manuscript was presumably acquired by Johann Georg Pisendel – the very same Dresden concertmaster who was also closely associated with Fasch – during a stay in Rome and brought back to Saxony. To this day, the work is preserved in the famous “Schranck II” collection at the Saxon State and University Library in Dresden, a treasure trove of Baroque music that holds numerous largely unknown masterpieces.

Thus, this program comes together like a cartographic network: Naples, Zerbst, Gdańsk, Modena, and Rome – linked by Dresden, which played a central role as a melting pot of these styles and as a hub of vibrant musical exchange. Behind this lies a deeply human story: musicians who traveled, learned from one another, transported manuscripts, and inspired one another – at a time when this was the only way to broaden musical horizons.