Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1717) is especially known for his keyboard music, explained by the fact that he held the post of organist at the most important Roman churches: the Chiesa Nuova, Santa Maria Maggiore and finally at Santa Maria in Aracoeli, the church of the 'senate and the Roman people'.
His keyboard music has survived essentially in two groups of largely autograph manuscripts, conserved respectively in Berlin and the British Library. The 14 Sonate a due cimbali form part of the latter collection, which is dated 1704.
The Sonatas were conceived by Bernardo Pasquini as exercises for his pupils in the extemporized contrapuntal realization of a figured bass.
