La Suave Melodia (c. 1650)
Andrea Falconieri (1585-1656)

A native of Naples and a contemporary of Guarino, Falconieri worked in various Italian cities (Florence, Modena, Parma and Genoa) before returning to Naples, where he was employed as a lute player and later maestro di cappella at the viceregal court. The pensive La Suave Melodia is taken from Falconieri’s Il Primo Libro, a collection of close to sixty instrumental pieces comprising dances as well as tunes with descriptive titles. Customary to early scoring practices, the title of the collection encourages performers to use flexible instrumentation.

Performed by:

Denise Fan (Cello)

David Chung (Harpsichord)