‘Viennese-Flavored’ Orchestration in Antonio Bononcini’s Stage Works for Emperor Joseph I: A Preliminary Inquiry

Antonio Bononcini’s years at the Viennese court of Emperor Joseph I were particularly meaningful as an occasion for experimenting with new techniques of orchestration and performance practice. The concerto grosso genre applied to his chamber cantatas for voice and strings (1708) has been investigated by comparing full score and parts (Livio Marcaletti, Le cantate con strumenti di Antonio Bononcini (1708), 2009), yet studies on his serenatas are yet to be undertaken. These scores, all written at the beginning of the eighteenth century, reveal original combinations between strings and different types of winds. Andromeda (1707) is distinguished by a constant alternation of violins and recorders in most pieces, while an aria from La presa di Tebe (1708) surprises the listener thanks to an unexpected concerto grosso technique which contraposes a concertino with six violins (playing bassetto), chalumeau and traversiere to strings, chalumeau, bassoon and basso continuo. Antonio Bononcini then obtains intermediate nuances not only through frequent and differentiated dynamic markings, but also through precisely numbered groups of violins (six in La presa di Tebe, four in Arminio c. 1706). Was this a peculiarity of his own style or of Italian music in Vienna at the beginning of the eighteenth century, or did he adapt to the availability of a large orchestra? This essay aims to shed light on Antonio Bononcini’s orchestration through comparison with works by other Italian colleagues in Vienna, such as his brother Giovanni Bononcini, Carlo Agostino Badia, and Marc’Antonio Ziani.