Amazing pieces of classical music - 43
Arcangelo Corelli's Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8, known as his 'Christmas Concerto', performed by The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields with Neville Marriner (1974). The work was originally commissioned by the Venetian Cardinal Ottoboni, grandnephew of Pope Alexander VIII, and published posthumously in 1714 as part of Corelli's Twelve Concerti Grossi, Op. 6.
Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni was the significant patron of Corelli, commissioning works from him and supporting his music career. He lived even in Ottoboni's palace in Rome, conducting weekly concerts there starting from 1689. The Venetian cardinal grew into being a major figure in Rome's music scene, also supporting composers like Alessandro Scarlatti and George Friedric Handel.
Like the reviewer David Vernier once stated, these concerti influenced Handel’s later masterpieces in the same style greatly, and Dave Hurwitz talked even about them "being iconic examplars of the form and perfect gems of baroque musical expression". Corelli’s career flourished during one of Rome’s most artistically fertile periods but his reputation stands today still not firm on its merit.
Among Corelli's students wasn't only a Geminiani but also the famed Vivaldi. It was this last one who became the successor as a composer of the great Concerti Grossi and who greatly influenced the music of Bach. Funny enough, even Rachmaninoff gave his last piano work, consisting of twenty variations on Follia, the strictly speaking incorrect title 'Variations on a Theme by Corelli' (Op. 42).
Our specific concerto bears the inscription "Fatto per la notte di Natale" (literally "made for the night of Christmas"), and though its composition date is really uncertain, there's a record of Corelli having performed a Christmas concerto as early as 1690 for the enjoyment of his new patron cardinal Ottoboni. It was then scored for two solo violins, string ensemble and basso continuo.
Because of its six movements, it's technically a 'concerto da chiesa', a designation that marks the work as meant for performance in a church, although not for liturgical use. One can describe it even as a ‘sonata da chiesa’ (a church sonata), usually played in church as overture before the Mass, but extended from the typical four to a six movement structure.
The lovely Pastorale (Largo) which concludes the composition, in a very typical Italian ‘bel canto’ style, has become the most famous movement of all. In the German tradition, particularly in the works of J. S. Bach, we can see a very different development, but here the fiery nature of the binary-form movement serves to highlight the Pastorale, which closes the work in serene repose.
Corelli appears to have been the first to include a pastorale in a concerto and even to have such a piece performed in a church on Christmas Eve. The work is indeed undeniably one of the greatest Baroque masterpieces, and there have been many fine recordings of these concertos but I like somehow the recording of the ASMF directed by Neville Marriner the best
[media=https://youtu.be/NkO7kxB6nbg]
[media=https://youtu.be/Gy2PNewPcXM]
[media=https://youtu.be/b2K1GMwFU04]
Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni was the significant patron of Corelli, commissioning works from him and supporting his music career. He lived even in Ottoboni's palace in Rome, conducting weekly concerts there starting from 1689. The Venetian cardinal grew into being a major figure in Rome's music scene, also supporting composers like Alessandro Scarlatti and George Friedric Handel.
Like the reviewer David Vernier once stated, these concerti influenced Handel’s later masterpieces in the same style greatly, and Dave Hurwitz talked even about them "being iconic examplars of the form and perfect gems of baroque musical expression". Corelli’s career flourished during one of Rome’s most artistically fertile periods but his reputation stands today still not firm on its merit.
Among Corelli's students wasn't only a Geminiani but also the famed Vivaldi. It was this last one who became the successor as a composer of the great Concerti Grossi and who greatly influenced the music of Bach. Funny enough, even Rachmaninoff gave his last piano work, consisting of twenty variations on Follia, the strictly speaking incorrect title 'Variations on a Theme by Corelli' (Op. 42).
Our specific concerto bears the inscription "Fatto per la notte di Natale" (literally "made for the night of Christmas"), and though its composition date is really uncertain, there's a record of Corelli having performed a Christmas concerto as early as 1690 for the enjoyment of his new patron cardinal Ottoboni. It was then scored for two solo violins, string ensemble and basso continuo.
Because of its six movements, it's technically a 'concerto da chiesa', a designation that marks the work as meant for performance in a church, although not for liturgical use. One can describe it even as a ‘sonata da chiesa’ (a church sonata), usually played in church as overture before the Mass, but extended from the typical four to a six movement structure.
The lovely Pastorale (Largo) which concludes the composition, in a very typical Italian ‘bel canto’ style, has become the most famous movement of all. In the German tradition, particularly in the works of J. S. Bach, we can see a very different development, but here the fiery nature of the binary-form movement serves to highlight the Pastorale, which closes the work in serene repose.
Corelli appears to have been the first to include a pastorale in a concerto and even to have such a piece performed in a church on Christmas Eve. The work is indeed undeniably one of the greatest Baroque masterpieces, and there have been many fine recordings of these concertos but I like somehow the recording of the ASMF directed by Neville Marriner the best
[media=https://youtu.be/NkO7kxB6nbg]
[media=https://youtu.be/Gy2PNewPcXM]
[media=https://youtu.be/b2K1GMwFU04]
