Cambini: 6 Flute Quartets

Composer: Giuseppe Maria Cambini Artists: Quartetto DuePiùDue Giuseppe Maria Cambini was probably active in Naples in the mid-1760s, but nothing certain is known of him until his move to Paris in the early 1770s, where his Op.1, a set of string quartets, was published shortly afterwards. Within the next 35 years upwards of 600 instrumental works had appeared under his name – enough to stretch even the famous Brilliant catalogue of ‘complete’ composer boxes… But Cambini’s well-crafted melodies and good-humoured charm are well worthy of investigation, and from this set of quartets with flute, it is easy to see why his music was so popular: he was the galant Parisian composer par excellence. His life was even more anonymous than his music, and his death still more so; he may have died in Paris in 1825, or perhaps a decade earlier in the Netherlands. The structure of these quartets is generally in no more than two movements, often both quick and in the same key. The themes are easy on the ear,