Only few works in music history can adorn themselves with the attribute 'epoch-making'. Arcangelo Corelli's trio sonatas are among them. With his Sonate da chiesa Op. 1 and Sonate da camera Op. 2, Corelli, in 1681 and 1685 respectively, laid the foundation for a genre which was to become the authoritative chamber music genre for almost 100 years. It was only in 1781 that it was superseded by Joseph Haydn's String Quartets Op. 33, which also constituted a work group of epoch-making significance. From the historical point of view, even the string quartet is a 'child' of the trio sonata; thus, Corelli's significance as founder of the European chamber music genre cannot be valued too highly.
As a consequence, the Wiener Urtext Edition publishes a representative selection of 12 of a total of 48 trio sonatas on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the composer's death. Volume 1 contains six sonatas of the Da Chiesa model, Volume 2 six representative pieces of the Da Camera type. The new edition was based on original editions, the first Italian reprints and the important Amsterdam edition of Roger. In addition to parts for the melodic instruments, the new edition also contains a continuo score with realised, easily playable basso continuo. On the basis of this material and due to the medium technical demands, the edition is perfectly suitable for starting to play chamber music pieces.