Franz Benda was employed at the court of King Frederick the Great of Prussia, and his exceptionally expressive violin playing led Charles Burney to describe him as �a truly great genius�. Benda�s cantabile composing style allowed space for elaborate ornamentation during performance which was the height of fashion in this period. This world premi�re recording reveals Benda�s authentic and often spectacular written-out �improvisations� in new editions of his sonatas, re-uniting them with a violin preserved unaltered since its creation in 1735.