Adagio sostenuto

Italian violinist and composer Gaetano Pugnani is chiefly known for a work he did not actually compose, while his Violin Sonatas and Trio Sonatas have lapsed into oblivion, along with his symphonies and stage works. Pugnani was born in Turin and after spending time in Rome, Paris and London he eventually returned to become director of the royal orchestra in the city of his birth. His pupils included the virtuoso violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti. Pugnani’s name is now most often remembered in association with the ‘Prelude and Allegro in the style of Gaetano Pugnani’ by virtuoso violinist Fritz Kreisler: Kreisler published the work in a series of ‘classical manuscripts’ by masters of early music – but later confessed that he had composed all the pieces himself. This Adagio sostenuto, on the other hand, is an expressive and lyrical original composition actually written by Pugnani, arranged for violin and piano by Alfred Moffat. Edition based on plate nos. 03663 (piano part) and 03889 (violin part), first published in 1908 as plate no. 28318.