Progetto di ricerca 

History of the Trio Sonata
Catalogue Raisonné of the Tradition

Ludwig Finscher is Professor Emeritus at Ruprecht-Karls-Universtität, Heidelberg. Finscher set aside half of the sum of the Balzan Prize for the publication of an extensively annotated catalogue on the tradition and transmission of the trio sonata from its first appearance around 1650 until around 1780, in order to establish the hitherto unwritten bases for the history of the genre as well as give a considerable stimulus to musical practice.
The project was established by Ludwig Finscher together with Laurenz Lütteken [>> Interview with L. Lütteken, by W. Rauhe, April 20, 2015] , who acted as project manager responsible for administration. The project was set up with two 50% positions designated for young scholars. The first position was intended for a researcher who had completed his/her doctoral studies and was working towards the Habilitation. These were held by Cristina Urchueguía and Nicola Schneider. The second position, for a doctoral candidate (PhD student), was first held by Elisabeth Wanzenried, who was replaced by Gabriela Freiburghaus. By May 2011, about 1,350 editions with three to twelve sonatas had emerged from more than 2,000 sources – many more than were expected. A distinction was thus drawn between printed editions and manuscripts, giving priority to the former. A specific data base was developed for organizing the materials, and made available to specialized music libraries, students and professors. In another initiative connected to the project, the Baroque violinist Professor Monika Baer and harpsichordist Sergio Ciomei worked with a specialized ensemble, and helped to bring some of this lost music to life.

The complete catalogue raisonné of the sonata a tre was published by Henle in Munich in 2016 under the title Die Triosonate. Catalogue Raisonné der gedruckten Quellen. The culmination of Finscher’s research project, it is the first complete inventory of one of the main forms of chamber music in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, bringing to light many lesser known, long neglected composers and their works.
Publications
In total over fifty publications have come out of the project, including the following of particular note:
Finscher, Ludwig, ed. Die Trio Sonata, Catalogue Raisonné der gedruckten Quellen. Munich: Henle, 2016.
Finscher, Ludwig. “Was heißt und zu welchem Ende studiert man musikalische Gattungsgeschichte?” In Passagen. IMS Kongress Zürich 2007. Five Keynote Speeches, edited by Laurenz Lütteken and Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen, 21-37. Kassel etc.: Bärenreiter, 2008.
Lütteken, Laurenz. “Matthesons Orchesterschriften und der englische Sensualismus.” Die Musikforschung 60 (2007): 203-213.
Lütteken, Laurenz. “Christian Wolff und die Musikästhetik seiner Zeit.” In Christian Wolff und die europäische Aufklärung. Akten des 1. Internationalen Christian- Wolff-Kongresses, edited by Jürgen Stolzenberg and Oliver-Pierre Rudolph. Halle (Saale), 4-8 April 2004. Teil 4. Sektion 8: Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften. Sektion 9: Ästhetik und Poetik. Hildesheim etc.: Olms, 2008.
Lütteken, Laurenz. “Werk - Opus.” In MGG, Supplement (2008): 1102-1114. Urchueguía, Cristina. “Das Projekt Die Triosonate - Catalogue Raisonné. Ein Ein- blick in das Versuchslabor der Kammermusik.” Sonus: Musikwelt Zürich II (2008):
18-19.
Urchueguía, Cristina. “Die Triosonate - Catalogue Raisonné, Die Suche nach kom-
plexen Antworten auf einfache Fragen.” In Kammermusik im Übergang vom Barock zur Klassik, edited by Christoph-Hellmut Mahling. Mainz, 2009. Schloss Engers. Colloquia zur Kammermusik. Vol. 5.
Urchueguía, Cristina. “Die Triosonate - Catalogue Raisonné. Ein Katalogisierung- projekt zur frühen Kammermusik.” Ensemble. Magazin für Kammermusik 1 (2010).

Excerpt from the: The Balzan Prizewinners’ Research Projects: An Overview 2018

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Catalogue of the Sonata a Tre - L. Finscher’s Research Project