Guitar Concerto in A major, op. 8a

Carulli published the Concerto in A major, op. 8a, for guitar with orchestra during his Paris years; he had moved there from Naples in 1808 and became the city's leading guitar teacher at a moment when the instrument was fashionable in salons. The concerto is written for the six-string guitar of the period, with the orchestra kept light so that the soloist is never covered — a practical solution to the balance problem that limited the genre. Carulli's catalogue runs past four hundred opus numbers, most of it teaching and chamber material rather than concert works.