This anonymous seventeenth century German work, scored specifically for trumpet, cornett and alto, tenor and bass trombones, was discovered at the end of a collection of vocal pieces published in 1684 under the title of “Die Bankelsangerlieder.” The term “bankelsanger” or bench singer referred, at that time, to an itinerant musician who often performed in the local tavern while standing on benches. The sonata in this case, is not to be confused with the classical sonata of Haydn and Mozart. At this period, it was one of several instrumental forms that eventually evolved into both the fugue and the classical sonata. The earlier seventeenth century sonata made much less use of imitation than did its companion forms, the canzona and the ricercar. The word sonata is derived from the Italian “sonare,” meaning to play or to sound, as opposed to cantata from “cantare,” to sing. This lively work is unusual in the ebullient quality of its themes and even more so in the antiphonal effects produced by the answering back and forth between various groupings of two and three instruments, foreshadowing the later concerto.

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