Editing Domenico Cimarosa (section)

==Works==
{{main|List of compositions by Domenico Cimarosa}}
Although Cimarosa wrote a considerable quantity of instrumental and church music, he was, and remains, best known for his operas.<ref name=penguin/> He was famous for his facility as a composer, although he frequently reused material, as was usual in his day, and employed assistants for routine tasks such as composing [[recitative]]s.<ref name=penguin/>{{sfn|Osborne|2007|p=170}} In the article on Cimarosa in ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'' (2001), Jennifer E. Johnson and [[Gordana Lazarevich]] write that he rose above the mediocrity of some the librettos he set and produced music "suffused with lightness, elegance and finesse".<ref name=works>{{cite Grove|last1=Johnson|first1=Jennifer E.|last2=Lazarevich|first2=Gordana|author2-link=Gordana Lazarevich|id=05785|title=Cimarosa, Domenico – Works|year=2001}}</ref>

Cimarosa avoided the rigidity of the traditional [[da capo aria]], and wrote solo numbers consisting of more flexible divisions, with changes of tempo, metre and key to reflect the words of his librettists. Johnson and Lazarevich comment that this freedom of form conveys spontaneity and flexibility. Cimarosa's arias often speed up for the closing section, in the style of [[cabaletta]]s. Providing contrast to the vocal display pieces, he often wrote quite simple arias in the manner of [[cavatina]]s. A feature of his scores is the sustained writing for concerted voices. In the words of the ''Grove'' article:
{{blockquote|One of Cimarosa's strengths was the composition of witty and vivacious ensembles. ''Il matrimonio segreto'', an ensemble opera in the style of Mozart's ''[[Le nozze di Figaro]]'', is composed of eight arias, four duets, three trios, a quartet, a quintet and two finales featuring all six characters.<ref name=works/>|}}
Harmonically, Cimarosa was not innovative, remaining content with traditional diatonic conventions. In the view of Johnson and Lazarevich his musical strengths are to be found in "the richness of his melodic invention, the brilliance and energy of his rhythmic and melodic motifs and his constantly lively accompaniments".<ref name=works/>

Cimarosa's approach to orchestration developed over his career. His earlier works are generally written for strings, oboes, horns and trumpets, and occasionally bassoons and flutes. In these pieces the function of the orchestra is to provide discreet support for the voices. During his four years in Saint Petersburg, he began to use clarinets, and to orchestrate more fully and richly. Johnson and Lazarevich instance ''Il matrimonio segreto'', in which a large orchestra "provides colour and exhibits independent motivic and rhythmic material that serves as commentary on the action".<ref name=works/>

Cimarosa wrote a number of piano sonatas, which were discovered in manuscript in the 1920s; the quantity has been asserted as over 80 single-movement works, but it is thought that many of these may in fact belong with each other as three-movement works.<ref name=works/> The work sometimes referred to as Cimarosa's "Concerto for [[oboe]]" is in fact a 1949 confection by [[Arthur Benjamin]], consisting of arrangements of movements from the sonatas.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=composition|id=mc0002357379|title=Domenico Cimarosa Oboe Concerto in C major/C minor|author=Rita Laurance}}</ref>