Domenico Gabrielli's seven trumpet sonatas are among seventeenth-century trumpet repertoire predominant in the instrumental tradition of the basilica San Petronio, which flourished roughly from the election of Maurizio Cazzati as maestro di cappella in 1657 until the dissolution of the orchestra of the church in 1695. Fostered by numerous occasions for performance, the Bolognese trumpet works tend to exhibit a uniform musical style imposed by musical academies. After a discussion of the probable cause of the termination of the instrumental tradition and of the role of musical academies, this paper will be primarily concerned with formal aspects of fast movements of Gabrielli's sonatas. Despite the fact that the predominant organizing principle of the fast movements appears to be textural, a step toward ritornello form is taken in some of the movements, in which tutti and solo sections are independently developed. In particular, the recurrence of identical material in tutti confirming different keys, the thematic relation between tutti and solo, and the symmetrical and balanced tonal plan are unmistakable seeds of full ritornello form. The text is followed by critical notes and transcriptions of the seven sonatas.

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