Federico Fiorillo (1753 – after 1823)
Quintet for Flute, Horn, Violin, Viola and Basso
Federico Fiorillo was born in 1753, the third son of Ignazio Fiorillo, who was Kapellmeister at the court of Brunswick (Braunschweig). He played the mandolin, violin and viola. In 1780 he was in Poland, in 1782 in Riga – probably as a répétiteur – and in 1786 he was living in Paris. From 1791 he is mentioned as a viola player in England.
This quintet is the third of three quintets for horn, flute or oboe, violin, viola and basso, published around 1789 by Sieber in Paris under the name of the horn virtuoso Giovanni Punto. In the third quintet, Fiorillo's name does appear – in small print – which is only fair. Whether the work was originally conceived for this instrumentation may be doubted: Punto may have arranged it himself, as Fiorillo is better known for his string quartets. Such arrangements were, however, entirely legitimate at the time and an integral part of the musical culture of the day.
Movement 1: Allegro