Anna Bon di Venezia (c. 1739 - 1767)

Anna Bon di Venezia is a fascinating figure among women composers in the 1700’s. Among the rarity of women composers, she is an enigma because not much is known of her.

Her only biography is available from the frontispieces and from the dedications of the only three works printed by her and published between 1756 - the year Mozart was born, and 1759 at the "Vedova di Baltas Schmidt in Norimerga".

Vladimir Soares and Fabian Grosch perform the the six sonatas for flute op. 1 composed by Anna in 1756 at the age of 16. Anna Bon made herself heard offor the first time with this publication. Each of the sonatas is in three movements: a fast centre movement is framed by a slow introductionand a slow closing movement. This formal pattern shows more German than Italian influence. Stylistically, the sonatas are best perhaps comparable to works by J. J. Quantz and C. Ph. E. Bach, musicians at the Prussian court of Friedrich the Great, where Anna Bon stayed as a child.