Sonata in B flat major

Andrea Lucchesi (also Luchesi) was born in 1741 near Treviso in Italy. In 1757 he moved to Venice where he received his musical education. His career proceeded quickly and he became well known as an organ virtuoso and composer of instrumental, sacred and theatre music.

In 1771 he travelled to Bonn on the invitation of the Prince Elector Archbishop of Cologne Maximilian Friederich who wished to raise the quality level of his court chapel. After the death of the previous Kapellmeister (Ludwig van Beethoven senior, i.e. the grandfather of LvB), Andrea Luchesi was nominated official court Kapellmeister in 1774.

The young LvB was a member of the court chapel from 1781 to 1792 as an assistant organist, harpsichord and viola player. Although LvB's musical and compositional training was probably influenced by Lucchesi, we have no evidence of any formal student/teacher relationship.With the exception of a visit to Venice in 1783-84, Lucchesi lived in Bonn until his death in 1801.

There is a collection of 10 organ sonatas available from Butz Publishers in Bonn. Each sonata has only one movement. I combined three of them to form a three-movement sonata.

I recorded these three sonatas a few years ago on the Velesovo sampleset.