Heidi Fardell • Robert Valentine: 12 Sonatas for Recorder and Basso Continuo, Op. 11 (CD)

PRE-ORDER! CDs available in time for official release on 4th September 2026 – place your order now and we will ship your item as soon as we receive it.

Printing music was expensive in the 18th century and copying manuscripts was commonplace. The works in this première recording are part of a collection of five volumes of recorder music titled Sinfonie dei varij autori  bearing the name Paolo Antonio Parensi (1688–1749), who was thought to have been an amateur musician in Lucca, Italy. Several of the works in this collection are by Robert Valentine (c. 1674–1747) but there is little know about his life: he was from Leicester, England, but left for Rome in his early 20’s to carve out his career. We don’t know what his connection to Parensi was, but this collection is a hugely valuable source of Italian recorder repertoire from the earlier part of the 18th century. Several of his sonatas were also published by Walsh & Hare, but this première recording presents his Opus 11 as it appears in Parensi manuscript, as 12 recorder and basso continuo sonatas. Valentine wrote over 60 works for the recorder – his output makes him one of the most prolific composers of recorder repertoire in the early 18th century. 

Heidi Fardell recorder
Lynda Sayce lute, baroque guitar
Poppy Walshaw baroque cello
Robin Bigwood harpsichord