Sonata in G for Violin and Obbligato Keyboard (Campioni)

Charles-Antoine Campion was born of French parents (Jacques and Charlotte Bruget) in Lunéville (Meurthe-et-Moselle) on 16^th November, 1720. At this time, his father was in the service of the Court of Lorraine, but in 1737 he transferred to the Italian Court in Florence.

Campioni’s early career as a professional musician is sparsely documented, but evidence reveals that he was able to establish an early reputation as a composer of sacred choral music. He re-settled in the Italian city of Livorno, where he adopted the Italian version of his name, Carlo Antonio Campioni.

In 1766, Campioni married Margherita Perloz Brunet, an artist and harpsichordist. She was doubtless the inspiration for the set of six harpsichord sonatas ‘printed and sold by R. Bremner at The Harp and Hautboy, opposite Somerset House, in the Strand ‘. The last sonata in the set is the only one conceived for keyboard with violin obbligato.

The writer and historian Charles Burney praised Campioni’s skill as a ‘serious collectionist of old music’ at a time of rapid change in musical tastes, suggesting that he retained a strong link between Baroque and the emerging Classical styles.

From 1772 onwards, Campioni occupied the position of Superintendent of Music at the Court of the Grand Duke Leopold in Florence. Campioni died in 1788.