Born in Rome in 1678 to a family of German extraction, Nicola Francesco Haym was employed (from 1694 to 1700) as a violone and cello player by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni in the orchestra led by Arcangelo Corelli. In the final years of this period the 2nd Duke of Bedford (Wriothesley Russell, 1680-1711) visited Rome and invited the violinist Nicola Cosimi to follow his entourage back to London. Cosimi in turn invited Haym to come with him as continuo cellist. Haym therefore moved to London in 1701 and would serve as the Duke of Bedford’s ‘master of chamber music’ until the patron’s death in 1711. A significant number of Haym’s compositions were produced during this first period in his life, among them diverse instrumental music for concerts at the ducal residences.

That Haym’s sonatas for transverse flute (traverso) and basso continuo are the first ever known to be published by an Italian author inspired this recording and its exploration of the early-18th-century Italian flute repertoire. With their strong Corellian influence, Haym’s Sonate a Tre (op.2) and his works in the 6 Sonate da camera a flauto traversa, haubois o violino solo can be securely ascribed to the Italian – specifically the Roman – musical scene, despite the composer’s living in London and the music’s publication in Amsterdam.

This recording presents all of Haym’s surviving instrumental works assigned specifically to be played on the flute. His Opus 2 nos. 6–9 are for two violins or flauti (recorders) and continuo, and no.12 is specifically for two flauti and continuo. Of the 6 Sonate da camera only the first four are by Haym. Since early-18th-century Italian repertoire for flute is inextricably tied up with that of the violin and its Corellian model, this recording also features an adaptation for flute of a Corelli violin sonata and a direct borrowing from the violin repertoire with extemporaneous adjustments by the performers in Corelli’s ‘Ciaccona’.