ABSTRACT
Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre is remembered as an outstanding harpsichordist and also as composer of two books of solo harpsichord music that were published during her lifetime. By 1707, when Jacquet de La Guerre published her collection of violin sonatas, the solo sonata had displaced the popularity of the sonata for two treble instruments. Jacquet de La Guerre's sonatas for one and two violins are preserved in manuscript and printed sources. Jacquet de La Guerre's sonatas from manuscript sources are remarkably diverse in formal structure, and one can hear evidence of experimentation in them. The physical state of preservation of Jacquet de La Guerre's sonatas in manuscript or printed sources bears greatly on how confident players will be in making decisions about the composer's intentions for performance of the works. This chapter presents examples of the type of performance indications found in the manuscript and printed sources, evaluates their relative authority, offers suggestions for how they can be interpreted.
