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'The father of Swedish music' and 'the Swedish Handel' are two descriptions of Johan Helmich Roman one of Sweden's most important composers. About as cosmopolitan as you could get, he spent six years in Handel's orchestra at the King's Theatre, and his extensive travels around Europe brought him into contact with fellow composers in France, Italy and Germany. London was home to many composers from mainland Europe, notable among them, not only Handel, but Francesco Geminiani. Roman composed around twenty Assaggi (Assaggio has been translated as 'sample', 'essay', 'study' or 'experiment') and they range from multi movement works to single movements, with some surviving as just fragments. They were composed in the 1730s, and they were published, making it very likely that the composer intended them to be performed. If they were intended to be exercises, then their composer possessed a formidable technique. They are also beautifully written for the violin and reveal a startling musical imagination at work.
