Instrumental Works
Of the fourteen publications in Vitali’s output, nine are ‘da camera’ dance collections (Opera 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12 and 14), two are sacred vocal (Opera 6 and 10), and three are free or ‘da chiesa’ sonatas (Opera 2, 5 and 9). The remaining set, Opus 13, does not fit comfortably into these categories, being a pedagogical assembly of sixty compositions all concerning contrapuntal techniques.
The majority of the da chiesa works (thirty-six sonatas in total) are scored for two violins and organ continuo. Opus 5, however, is unusual in that it contains a variety of scorings: as well as sonatas for two violins and continuo, Vitali includes sonatas for two violins, violone and continuo and as well as sonatas for four and five parts and continuo.
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