Sonata Primo a Soprano Solo

Little
is known about the life of Castello, except that he was one of the
leaders of instrumental music at St. Mark’s in Venice during the
period when Monteverdi served there as maestro
di capella. This was
a time when the Venetian masters were leading the way towards
establishing the genre of the sonata, and Castello made an important
contribution to this movement in his publications of two books of
Sonate concertante in
stil moderno in 1621
and 1629. Sonata
Prima is a work
which moves between the new and old styles, alternating carefully
worked polyphonic passages in the older canzona style with dramatic
quasi-recitative sections, demanding virtuosity from the soloist in
the written-out passaggi.
The sonata does not have separate movements, but as with many of
these early works, the alternating sections move seamlessly into one
another, joyful dance sections bursting into expressive and sometimes
melancholic passages, evoking all the drama of a miniature opera.