Giovanni Battista Sammartini is still almost unknown to the wider public. After a lifetime of recognition and esteem nearly everywhere in Europe, he was subsequently “forgotten” by critics and history.
Only after the Twentieth century did interest in Sammartini return, in relation especially to his contribution to the Milan school of symphony and instrumental music..[...] These nocturnes for four instruments were written towards the end of the ‘fifties when the flute had become established. They show an idiomatic grasp of the instrument and its tones, which for the most part are suitable for playing techniques. Sammartini was an expert on the instrument and its brilliance and singing qualities. In the same way he introduces a “choral” conversational style between the flute itself and the first violin, although he also includes virtuoso passages for each instrument. This style was to characterise many contemporary works and culminated in Sammartini’s own later concertini, and chamber music by J. Ch. Bach, Haydn and Mozart.

Marica Testi