Sieben Parthien von zweyen Violinen und Baß - Höckh, Carl 1707-1773 (Berlin Winter, 1761)
Three parts (violino primo, violino secondo, cembalo) in an engraved paper envelope
The term parthia or partita is by no means to be understood as an unambiguous genre designation; rather, it is used as a kind of collective term. In the present works, it is applied to a trio sonata type with two equal violins and basso continuo, which in turn can be interpreted as a transitional stage to the sonata forms of the burgeoning genres of string trio, piano trio and string quartet.
Höckh, who was music director at Zerbst on the recommendation of Benda, is considered "one of the founders of the German school of violin playing". He wrote extensively and idiomatically for the instrument, incorporating more advanced techniques than most of his contemporaries. His works include eleven symphonies, seventeen violin concertos, seven partitas, twenty-seven violin sonatas, and thirty-four capricetti.
Edited by Phillip Schmidt, Ortus Musikverlag, om97
What is curious about the parthias is their unusual number for the 18th century. The Seven Parthias in A, B, C, D, e, F, g are inscribed with Italian tempo markings and are mainly structured in their movement sequence like the modern trio sonata according to the principle fast - slow - fast. Exceptions are the IIIrd Parthia, in which the first movement is heard again after the second, and the IVth Parthia, whose structure is four movements. The final movement here is a tempo di minuetto. Some of the middle movements are in the key of the subdominant, the fourth in the key of the Variant, the sixth in the key of the dominant and the last in the key of the mediant.
Keywords: 18th Century (1701-1800); Instrumental music; Violin; Trio sonata; Germany