Giovanni Vitali's set of twelve sonatas Op. 5 for various combinations of strings and continuo, published in 1669, was the Bolognese composer's most ambitious collection of chamber music to date. He most likely wrote it as an application piece for membership of the prestigious Accademia Filarmonica, for each sonata has a dedicatory subtitle bearing the name of one of the city's noblemen. This first volume of Martin Perkins's scholarly performing edition contains five works – the sonatas for two ...