Toccata by Giovanni Battista Martini Brass Ensemble - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1945233

Giovanni Battista Martini was an Italian Franciscan friar, who was a leading musician and composer of the late Baroque period. He spent almost his entire life in Bologna writing mainly for church and built an extensive collection of musical literature and over 17,000 books. In addition, he provided scholarly books on musical topics such as a Dictionary of Ancient Musical Terms and a treatise on the Theory of Numbers as Applied to Music. Much of his sacred musical works for church remain unprinted.

His father, Antonio Maria Martini, a violinist, taught him the elements of music and the violin and he later learned singing, harpsichord, and counterpoint for his musical training. He received his education in classics from the priests of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri. He then professed his religious vows and received the religious habit of the Order in 1722 becoming a Friar. In 1725, though only nineteen years old, he received the appointment of chapel-master at the Basilica of San Francesco in Bologna, where his compositions attracted attention. At the invitation of amateurs and professional friends he opened a school of composition at which several celebrated musicians were trained, some with relations to Bach and Mozart.

Presented here is his Toccata in D Major, written for Organ and transposed to a lower key (Bb) arranged for brass quintet with optional Organ. Much of the original organ part has been placed in the brass leaving a simple pedal part and chordal background. This piece can be performed by the brass alone or supplemented with the optional organ part.