The scarse biographical information gathered to date indicates that Giuseppe Agus was born in Cagliari in 1722 and was christened there at the Church of Sant’Eulalia in March of the same year. Son of Vincenzo, musician in the Chapel of Cagliari, Giuseppe Agus, at eight years of age, was sent to study the violin in Naples, centre of excellence for musical education in eighteenth century Italy.

At the end of his studies, Giuseppe Agus, now in his twenties, returned to Cagliari but, despite public attestations of his musical talent, was not able to find a suitable position at the Musical Chapel. His tracks are then lost for a few years, until 1750, when his name appeared on the musical scene in London.
In London, Agus had a primary role in the cultural life of the city that, thanks to the presence of musicians such as Händel and Johann Christiann Bach, was considered one of the musical capitals. It was the collaboration with these two illustrious figures in the eighteenth century musical world that determined the success and credibility of Giuseppe Agus, who had his music published by the very finest British publishers.

A testimony to the integration of the composer from Cagliari on the London musical scene is the comic opera A Love in a Village. A collective work that was performed for over fifty years at Covent Garden, the greatest musicians present in London in the mid-eighteenth century contributed to the work, including Händel, Abel, Galuppi, Paradisi, Arne, Boyce, Geminiani and our very own Agus.

Despite the tendency in eighteenth century London to lean towards a typically Corellian style, a fashion that was well-worn but still valid, Giuseppe Agus courageously followed a more innovative path. The recognition he received from Johann Christian Bach probably had a fundamental role in the artistic choices made by the Sardinian composer, who fully embraced the Galante style in which the London Bach was the principal author.
The Nocturnes op. 4 published by Welcker in 1770 are a typical example of the new style. The composition for two violins and ‘cello has no relation whatsoever to the three part sonatas that had sealed Corelli’s success. The two upper voices dialogue freely with each other and the ‘cello no longer has a singly supportive role but instead has a few solistic moments of its own. It still did not represent the real writing of ‘cello obbligato, however, proof of which are the figures used in the score for harmonising the bass. Agus’ use of the brief solos throughout the work showed a strong innovative character to his writing.

The Six Sonatas op. VI published by Welcker in 1775 establish a formal, modern and solid style, representing full maturity in the compositions of the Sardinian musician with regards to both musical ideas and instrumentation.
The work is made up of two trios for violin, viola and ‘cello obbligato (for which the composer gives an alternative version for two violins and harpsichord obbligato), two trios for two violins and basso continuo and two trios for flute, violin and basso continuo.

Such variety in the various instrumental ensembles was designed to achieve commercial success, although it must be noted that, contrary to common use in that period, the composer demonstrates careful attention in shaping and characterising his work according to the instruments used.

The first two trios (for violin, viola and ‘cello) represent an important innovation in the use of the viola, which has an equal role to the violin throughout, reflecting the similar use of the ‘cello in the Nocturnes op. 4. In this period, the viola was still considered to be an instrument that had the almost exclusive function of filling out the orchestra. In this case, however, Agus avoids the problem of distance between the ‘cello and upper parts, usually solved by the harmonisation of the figured bass, by substituting the violin with the lower register of the viola.

It is interesting to observe how Agus, not too trusting of the technical abilities of the viola players and ‘cellists of that era, also published another version of the first two trios of opus VI. The adaptation substitutes the viola with a violin and adds a harpsichord obbligato option to join the ‘cello. In this latter arrangement, Agus does not simply transpose the part, as was common praxi, but instead made a tentative attempt to write for the keyboard.

Sonatas n° 3 and 4 op. VI by Giuseppe Agus for two violins and basso continuo are perhaps the most splendid in the collection. Not having to find solutions to the more experimental trios that preceded them, the composer fully takes advantage of the Tartinian tradition and launches the two violins into an intense dialogue that, in some moments, such as in the splendid Larghetto of Trio n° IV, gives the listener a taste of vibrantly expressive passages, using modulations that were much braver than those typically used at the time.

The final two Sonatas op. VI are written for the flute, violin and basso continuo. Although these compositions seem the most conventional of the collection, the writing of the flute part, so appropriate for the instrument’s technical capacity at the time, must be acknowledged. The composer selects two tonalities that are among the most comfortable for the instrument of that era; D major and A major. Avoiding adventurous modulations, Agus writes in a linear way that guarantees an acceptable performance from a good amateur player, but also allows a decent professional to add the appropriate ornamentation, according to common practice, in many parts of the score. A further point of interest is the absence of a slow movement in both trios. This was most unusual, as the expressive qualities of the flute had been brought out thus by all the principal composers of the eighteenth century. However, it should be noted that all compositions for flute published by the Welcker editor written in that period by Johann Christian Bach and Muzio Clementi did not have slow movements either.

The Six Sonatas op. VI were most probably highly successful as they were published in a further edition, also in London, by Longman & Broderip.

Enrico Di Felice