Book 2 of Dario Castello's
Sonate concertate in stil moderno was published in 1629. The fifth sonata is for winds: solo cornet and trombone with continuo. The pattern of soprano and bass instrument that we saw in sonatas from Book 1 continues, as does the treatment of the bass solo as largely an ornamented version of the continuo part. The overall design is very similar to the sonatas we have already looked at in previous posts (nos. 7 and 10 from Book 1). Like those pieces, this sonata has eight sections: a fugal section in duple time is followed by a short homophonic section [probably meant to be an adagio, though it's not marked] and another fugal section; next are two solos, first for cornet and second for trombone, a fugal section in triple meter, a short section in sequences, and a closing adagio that begins in imitation but quickly turns into a cadenza.
The points of interest include the closing cadence of section 1 and its approach, which is the most extended and direct that I have seen in Castello's sonatas (but see also the end of section 4 below).
Within the brief section 2, there is a rare 6-8 cadence:
The end of section 4 is similar to that of section 1, but this time note the firmly marching parallel tenths between the continuo and the solo cornet.
Finally, a curiosity: the cadence ending section 7 and leading into the final adagio attempts to combine the cadenza perfetta and the cadence with 4-3 suspension. Presumably performers would have understood ways to manage this that were more musically effective than the written notation.
