Henricus Albicastro: XII Sonate a tre, Due Violini e Violoncello col Basso per l’Organo, Opera Quarta

Composer(s)

Henricus Albicastro (b ?Bieswangen, Bavaria, c1660; d ?c1730). Dutch composer and violinist of German extraction. The name Henricus Albicastro is a Latin-Italian translation of his true name, Johann Heinrich von Weissenburg. The designation ‘del Biswang’ on the title-pages of some of his works presumably refers to Bieswangen as his place of birth (there is, moreover, a town called Weissenburg nearby). There is nothing to corroborate Walther's statement that he was Swiss, but many details about his life are still unclear. His compositions adhere closely to the Italian style in string music with continuo, but there is no way of telling whether this results from study with an Italian composer in Italy or elsewhere, or from the study of Italian music available north of the Alps.