Eccentric composer and virtuoso cellist in the service of the Prince of Carignan in Paris in the first half of the eighteenth century, Venceslaus Spourni has left us a large and very interesting group of publications, in which we find symphonies, concerts and Burlesques for pastoral instruments such as the hurdy-gurdy and the bagpipe, and collections of chamber sonatas, at least three of which are dedicated to his instrument. This is the first ever recording of Opus IV for two cellos, the success of which is evidenced by the inclusion of the second of these sonatas in a successful collection of "several eminent authors" published in London in 1748.