Violin Sonatas Op.11 (No.3 and No.5)

These two sonatas are selected from a set of eight published in 1775 and dedicated to Anne Sawbridge, the year she was Lady Mayoress of London. They were probably written for François-Hippolyte Barthélemon, a colleague of Arnold’s and a violinist whom Fanny Burney’s Evelina described as “a player of exquisite fancy, feeling, and variety”. In his dedication, Arnold describes the sonatas as “trifles” but this simply affirms them as belonging to the English fashion of conviviality. This volume is edited with an introduction by Robert Hoskins.