February 17, 2014. Corelli. Arcangelo Corelliwas born on this day, February 17th, in 1653 in a small town of Fusignano, not far from Ravenna. We’ve written about Corelli a number of times, for example here and here. Corelli might not have been a towering figure in the history of music, but judging by the number of students he had, who became major composers, by the influence he exerted, and the number of references to him by composers of following generations, from Rameau to Rachmaninov, he occupied a very important place in the history of music of the 17th century. By the time Corelli was born, the Baroque style had been in development for about 50 years. Claudio Monteverdi, born in 1567, was one of the first composers to transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque (his early madrigals, like thisLamento d'Arianna in the performance by Concerto Italiano, exquisite as they are and fresh of new ideas, are still looking back to the older era, whereas his opera L'incoronazione di Poppea is clearly a baroque composition). Girolamo Frescobaldi and German Heinrich Schütz, both followed a similar path. On the other hand, Jean-Baptiste Lully, 20 years older than Corelli, was already a pure Baroque composer. Our knowledge of Corelli’s childhood is rather vague. He probably studied music in Faenza. In 1666 he went to Bologna where he studied the violin and composition. By 1675 he was already in Rome, known as “Arcangelo Bolognese” and one of the leading violinists in town. He found several patrons, among them Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, Queen Christina of Sweden and, in particular, Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. (All three were extraordinary figures and patrons of art. Benedetto Pamphili, for example, a scion of the Pamphili family, whose forbearers included the Pope Innocent X and several cardinals, built the famous Galleria Doria Pamphilj, wrote libretti for Alessandro Scarlatti’s operas, and extended patronage to many composer, including George Frideric Handel. Cardinal Ottoboni, a nephew of a pope, who resided in the enormous Renaissance Palazzo della Cancelleria, just off Campo de' Fiori, supported not only Corelli, but also the abovementioned Scarlatti and, later, Antonio Vivaldi. And, just like Benedetto Pamphili, he wrote libretti. Art wasn’t his only pleasure: according to Montesquieu, Ottoboni had numerous mistresses, whose portraits in the guise of saints graced the walls of his rooms, and with whom he had more than 60 children).
During his lifetime, Corelli was probably more famous as a violinist and teacher than composer (many of his students became famous violinists with their own pupils; modern violinists still like to trace their roots to him). These days he’s noted as composer, mostly for his Trio Sonatas and Concerti Grossi. Corelli didn’t invent Concerto Grosso, in which a group of soloists (“concertino”) are juxtaposed with the rest of the orchestra (“tutti”), but he certainly developed it much further and wrote some great music in this genre. His Op. 6 consists of twelve Concerti Grossi, the first eight designated as Concerti da chiesa (Church concertos, sometimes called Church sonatas) and the last four as Concerti da camera (or Chamber concertos). We’ll hear Concerto Grosso no. 4 op. 6 in a very energetic performance by Fabio Biondi’s ensemble Europa Galante.
Luigi Boccherini was also born this week, on February 19th, 1743. Here’s his String Quintet in C major, Op. 25, no. 4. A virtuoso cellist, Boccherini wrote his quintets for two cellos and one viola, instead of the customary instrumentation with one cello and two violas. The performance is also by Europa Galante. George Frideric Handel’s birthday falls on Sunday February 23. We’ll write about him next week.
Corelli 2014
February 17, 2014. Corelli. Arcangelo Corelli was born on this day, February 17th, in 1653 in a small town of Fusignano, not far from Ravenna. We’ve written about Corelli a number of times, for example here and here. Corelli might not have been a towering figure in the history of music, but judging by the number of students he had, who
became major composers, by the influence he exerted, and the number of references to him by composers of following generations, from Rameau to Rachmaninov, he occupied a very important place in the history of music of the 17th century. By the time Corelli was born, the Baroque style had been in development for about 50 years. Claudio Monteverdi, born in 1567, was one of the first composers to transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque (his early madrigals, like this Lamento d'Arianna in the performance by Concerto Italiano, exquisite as they are and fresh of new ideas, are still looking back to the older era, whereas his opera L'incoronazione di Poppea is clearly a baroque composition). Girolamo Frescobaldi and German Heinrich Schütz, both followed a similar path. On the other hand, Jean-Baptiste Lully, 20 years older than Corelli, was already a pure Baroque composer. Our knowledge of Corelli’s childhood is rather vague. He probably studied music in Faenza. In 1666 he went to Bologna where he studied the violin and composition. By 1675 he was already in Rome, known as “Arcangelo Bolognese” and one of the leading violinists in town. He found several patrons, among them Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, Queen Christina of Sweden and, in particular, Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. (All three were extraordinary figures and patrons of art. Benedetto Pamphili, for example, a scion of the Pamphili family, whose forbearers included the Pope Innocent X and several cardinals, built the famous Galleria Doria Pamphilj, wrote libretti for Alessandro Scarlatti’s operas, and extended patronage to many composer, including George Frideric Handel. Cardinal Ottoboni, a nephew of a pope, who resided in the enormous Renaissance Palazzo della Cancelleria, just off Campo de' Fiori, supported not only Corelli, but also the abovementioned Scarlatti and, later, Antonio Vivaldi. And, just like Benedetto Pamphili, he wrote libretti. Art wasn’t his only pleasure: according to Montesquieu, Ottoboni had numerous mistresses, whose portraits in the guise of saints graced the walls of his rooms, and with whom he had more than 60 children).
During his lifetime, Corelli was probably more famous as a violinist and teacher than composer (many of his students became famous violinists with their own pupils; modern violinists still like to trace their roots to him). These days he’s noted as composer, mostly for his Trio Sonatas and Concerti Grossi. Corelli didn’t invent Concerto Grosso, in which a group of soloists (“concertino”) are juxtaposed with the rest of the orchestra (“tutti”), but he certainly developed it much further and wrote some great music in this genre. His Op. 6 consists of twelve Concerti Grossi, the first eight designated as Concerti da chiesa (Church concertos, sometimes called Church sonatas) and the last four as Concerti da camera (or Chamber concertos). We’ll hear Concerto Grosso no. 4 op. 6 in a very energetic performance by Fabio Biondi’s ensemble Europa Galante.
Luigi Boccherini was also born this week, on February 19th, 1743. Here’s his String Quintet in C major, Op. 25, no. 4. A virtuoso cellist, Boccherini wrote his quintets for two cellos and one viola, instead of the customary instrumentation with one cello and two violas. The performance is also by Europa Galante. George Frideric Handel’s birthday falls on Sunday February 23. We’ll write about him next week.