Arcangelo Corelli

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) was an Italian composer and violinist. His instrumental works established the chamber music style and form of the late baroque era, and he founded the modern school of violin playing.

Arcangelo Corelli was born in Fusignano on Feb. 17, 1653. At the age of 13 he went to Bologna, where his main teacher was Leonardo Brugnol, a native of Venice. Corelli studied in Bologna until 1670 and then entered the famous Accademia Filarmonica. In 1671 he left for Rome, where he completed the study of composition under Matteo Simonelli. It has been said that Corelli visited Germany, but this cannot be proved.

In 1689, when Alexander VIII ascended the papal throne, his nephew, Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, appointed Corelli to conduct weekly concerts at his palace, where Corelli lived for the rest of his life. These concerts helped to establish Corelli as "master of masters."

Corelli's music was published in six opera, each opus containing 12 compositions: Opus 1 (1681), 2 (1685), 3 (1689), and 4 (1694) are trio sonatas; Opus 5 (1700), solo sonatas for violin and continuo; and Opus 6 (1714), concerti grossi for string orchestra.

The trio sonatas of Opus 1 and 3 were intended for church performance (da chiesa) with figured bass for organ, and those of Opus 2 and 4 were chamber music (da camera) with harpsichord and/or archlute accompaniment. The church sonatas are generally abstract: slow-fast-slow-fast, with the first fast movement being fugal. The chamber sonatas begin with a prelude, followed usually by an allemande, a sarabande, and a gigue. A gigue was also occasionally used in a church sonata.

The most influential of Corelli's works was his Opus 5 for violin, containing the Folía variations. Like the trio sonatas, the 12 solo sonatas are generally divided between church and chamber sonatas. As is true of much music of the time, the printed page only partially reflects the composer's intent; the performer of these sonatas was expected to improvise elaborate virtuoso ornaments, particularly in slow movements. There are contradictory reports about the ornaments to Corelli's Opus 5, which were published in Amsterdam in 1716 with the "graces" added to the slow movements as the composer "would play them." Later in the century Roger North challenged the authenticity of these graces, but an equally reliable authority, Johann Joachim Quantz, did not. Supporting the latter view is the fact that they are excellent and the germ of them can be found in the first edition in the penultimate measure of the first movement.

Corelli's crowning achievement is his Opus 6, the concerti grossi for string orchestra. In this group is his famous Christmas Concerto (No. 8). Although these concerti grossi were not published until the year after his death, Georg Muffat reports that he heard concerti grossi by Corelli in 1682, which could give reason to believe that he, and not Giuseppe Torelli, was the originator of this form. Once again the opus comprises both church and chamber works. Concerti 1-8 are concerti da chiesa; 9-12 are concerti da camera.

Although famous for the calmness and nobility of his music, Corelli is also known for the "Corelli clash," a bold harmonic suspension. From the standpoint of performing technique his music is less advanced than that of his German contemporaries. That the German violin school was at that time farther advanced than the Italian school might be assumed from the fact that when Corelli heard Nicolas Adam Strungk play he exclaimed, "I am called Arcangelo, but you one might justly call Archidiavolo." But though tamer than the German works, his music when first brought to France was too difficult for the violinists there and was performed by the singers. This would seem to contradict the report by John Mainwaring (1760) that George Frederick Handel found Corelli's playing lacking in fire and demonstrated how he wished to have a passage played, whereupon Corelli said, "This music is the French style, of which I have no experience." Nevertheless, Francesco Geminiani, a pupil of Corelli, reported that Corelli was influenced by Jean Baptiste Lully.

Owing to the modern objective style of playing, Corelli's music sounds very calm today; however, he was noted for his passionate playing, and one observer said that Corelli was so moved that his "eyeballs rolled." Because of the modern smoothly connected bow strokes, his music sounds organlike; however, North reports that Corelli tried to make his violin "speak" and that he said, "Do you not hear it speak?" To obtain this effect today, it would be necessary to follow the instructions of North, Leopold Mozart, and others, who said that every bow stroke must begin with a small softness.

Manfred F. Bukofzer (1947) well states Corelli's historical position: "The decisive step in the development of the concerto proper was taken by Corelli and Torelli, both closely associated with the late Bologna school. Corelli can take the credit for the full realization of tonality in the field of instrumental music. His works auspiciously inaugurate the period of late baroque music." Corelli died in Rome on Jan. 8, 1713.

Further Reading

Marc Pincherle, Corelli: His Life, His Work (1933; trans. 1956), analyzes Corelli's music and its unique position in the baroque era and discusses Corelli's influence on other composers. A contemporary appraisal of Corelli is in Roger North on Music, edited by John Wilson (1959). See also Manfred F. Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era: From Monteverdi to Bach (1947); William S. Newman, The Sonata in the Baroque Era (1959); and David D. Boyden, The History of Violin Playing: From Its Origins to 1761 (1965).

Additional Sources

Pincherle, Marc, Corelli: his life, his work, New York: Da Capo Press, 1979, 1956. □

Corelli, Arcangelo

Corelli, Arcangelo , celebrated Italian composer, violinist, and teacher; b. Fusignano, Feb. 17, 1653; d. Rome, Jan. 8, 1713. He was born into a family of well-to-do landowners. After musical training in Faenza and Lugo, he went to Bologna in 1666 to pursue his studies in earnest. At the age of 17, he was made a member of Bologna’s Accademia Filarmonica. By 1675 he was in Rome, where he worked as a violinist in churches and theaters. He acquired a distinguished reputation, and soon found a patron in Queen Christina of Sweden, who made him a chamber musician in her service. His 12 trio sonatas, op.l (Rome, 1681), were dedicated to her. In 1684 Corelli became a regular performer in the Sunday academies of Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili given at his Palazzo al Corso, and was soon asked to assume their directorship. He also was made a member of the Congregazione dei Virtuosi de S. Cecilia in 1684, and he became director of the instrumental ensemble in 1700. Corelli dedicated his 12 chamber trios, op.2 (Rome, 1685), to Cardinal Pamphili, who made him his music master in 1687, where he took up his residence. His next set of 12 chamber trios, op.3 (Rome, 1689), were dedicated to Francesco II, the Duke of Modena. Corelli remained in Cardinal Pamphili’s service until 1690. He then found a new patron in Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, in whose palace, the Cancelleria, he lived and oversaw the Monday academies and the opera performances. Cardinal Ottoboni became the dedicatee of Corelli’s 12 chamber trios, op.4 (Rome, 1694). His famous set of 12 violin sonatas, op.5 (Rome, 1700), were dedicated to Sophie Charlotte, the Electress of Brandenburg. In 1706 he was made a member of the Accademia dell’Arcadia, where he was given the name of Arcomelo Erimanteo. Corelli made his final public appearance in 1708, and then lived at the Cancelleria until settling in the Palazzetto Ermini in 1712. He died a famous and wealthy man, and was given interment in S. Maria della Rotonda, the Pantheon. His former pupil, Matteo Fornari, oversaw the publication of Corelli’s 12 Concerti grossi, op.6 (Amsterdam, 1714), which added luster to the composer’s renown. Corelli was one of the outstanding instrumental composers of his era. His sonatas and concerti grossi became paradigms of the Baroque era, being particularly esteemed for their assured command of counterpoint and harmony, and for their idiomatic string writing. His works were widely distributed and emulated. As a performing musician, he was also held in high regard. His influence as a violin teacher was profound, for he numbered among his students such native musicians as Carbonelli, Castrucci, Gasparini, Geminiani, and Somis, and such foreign musicians as Anet, Herrando, and Storl.

Works

(12) Sonate a ire for 2 Violins, Violone or Archlute, and Organ, op.l (Rome, 1681); (12) Sonate da camera a ire for 2 Violins and Violone or Harpsichord, op.2 (Rome, 1685); (12) Sonate a ire for 2 Violins, Violone or Archlute, and Organ, op.3 (Rome, 1689); (12) Sonate a ire for 2 Violins and Violone, op.4 (Rome, 1694); (12) Sonate for Violin and Violone or Harpsichord, op.5 (Rome, 1700); (12) Concerti grossi, op.6 (Amsterdam, 1714);(6) Sonate a ire for 2 Violins and Basso Continue, op.posthumous (Amsterdam, 1715). Also 2 sonatas for 2 Violins, Viola, and Bass (n.d.) and the overture to G. Lulier’s oratorio S. Beatrice d’Este (1689). See J. Joachim and F. Chrysander, eds., Les oeuvres de A. C., Denkmaler der Tonkunst, III (1871), and H. Marx et al. eds., A. C.: Historisch-kritische Gesamtausgabe der musikalischen Werke (Cologne, 1976 et seq.).

Bibliography

C. Piancastelli, In onore di A. C.: Fusignano ad A. C. nel secondo centenario dalla morte, 1913 (Bologna, 1914); M. Pincherle, C. (Paris, 1933; 2nd ed., rev. and enl., 1954 as C. et son temps; Eng. tr., 1956); M. Rinaldi, A. C. (Milan, 1954); Studi c.ani: l[00aa] congresso internazionale: Fusignano 1968 (Fusignano, 1968); Nuovi studi c.ani: 2[00aa] congresso internazionale: Fusignano 1974 (Fusignano, 1974); Nuovissimi studi c.ani: 3[00aa]congresso internazionale: Fusignano 1980 (Fusignano, 1980); G. Morelli, ed., L’invenzione del gusto: C. e Vivaldi: Mutazioni culturali, a Roma e Venezia, nel periodo post- barocco (Milan, 1982).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

CORELLI, ARCANGELO

Baroque composer, violinist, and teacher; b. Fusignano, Italy, Feb. 17, 1653; d. Rome, Jan. 8, 1713. From 1666 until 1670 he studied with Benvenuti, Gaïbara, and Brugnoli in Bologna, where he acquired the stylistic traits of the Bologna school. From 1675 until his death he was active mainly in Rome, where he moved in the most brilliant musical and literary circles, his principal patron being Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, who gave him every opportunity to develop his talents. His compositions, in which the use of tonality and of a contrapuntal texture within a harmonic structure reveal the mentality of the late baroque era, influenced the history of baroque instrumental music enormously. His sonate da chiesa (church sonatas) are of special importance for baroque chamber music, since he standardized the four-movement form in which the first and third movements in slow tempo contrast with the second and fourth in a fast one. He wrote 30 such sonatas, all requiring organ continuo. Although designed to be performed during Mass and Vespers, when the liturgical action permitted incidental music, their use was not restricted to the church.

Bibliography: Sämtliche Werke, op. 1–6, ed. j. joachim and f. chrysander, 5 v. (London 1888–91). Sonate a tre, op. 1–4, ed. w. woehl (Kassel 1933). There are a number of other modern eds. b. paumgartner, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed. f. blume (Kassel-Basel 1949–) 2:1668–79. p. david and h. c. colles, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. e. blom, 9v. (5th ed. London 1954) 2:438–440. m. f. bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era (New York 1947). w. s. newman, The Sonata in the Baroque Era (Chapel Hill, N.C. 1959). p. allsop, "Da camera e da ballo-alla francese et all'italiana: Functional and National Distinctions in Corelli's sonata da camera, " Early Music 26 (1998) 87–96. n. cook, "At the Borders of Musical Identity: Schenker, Corelli and the Graces," Music Analysis 18 (1999) 179–233. w. corten, "Fatto per la notte di Natale: le Concerto opus VI no. 8 de Corelli," Analyse Musicale 29 (1992) 5–17. l. della libera, "La musica nella basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore a Roma, 1676–1712: nuovi documenti su Corelli e sugli organici vocali e strumentali," Recercare 7 (1995) 87–161. l. u. mortensen, "'Unerringly Tasteful'?: Harpsichord Continuo in Corelli's op. 5 Sonatas," Early Music 24 (1996) 665–679. r. pecman, "Corellis Concerti grossi als Vorboten des Klassizismus," Sborník Prací Filosofické Fakulty Brnenské University 3 (1968) 29–42. r. e. seletsky, "Eighteenth-Century Variations for Corelli's Sonatas, op. 5," Early Music 24 (1996) 119–130. n. zaslaw, "Ornaments for Corelli's Violin Sonatas, op. 5," Early Music 24 (1996) 95–115.

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Corelli, Arcangelo (b Fusignano, nr. Milan, 1653; d Rome, 1713). It. violinist and composer. By 1675 was in Rome, where he became one of leading violinists. Joined court of Queen Christina 1679–86. From 1687 was under patronage of Cardinal Pamphili, and from 1690 under that of Cardinal Ottoboni. Lived in cardinal's palace and died a rich man with a fine art coll. His importance as a composer lies in his sonatas da camera and concerti grossi from which the solo sonata and the orch. concs. of Handel and Bach evolved. They are beautiful in themselves, notably the Christmas Concerto. His works are grouped under 6 opus nos.

1. 12 Sonatas a tre; 2. 12 Sonatas da camera a tre; 3. 12 Sonatas a tre; 4. 12 Sonatas da camera a tre; 5. 12 Sonatas for vn. or vn. and cembalo (also arr. as concerti grossi by Geminiani). 6. 12 Concerti grossi.

Corelli, Arcangelo (1653–1713) Italian Baroque composer. He achieved early distinction as a violinist under the guidance of Giovanni Benvenuti. He helped to develop the concerto grosso, composed many sonatas and did much to consolidate the principles behind modern violin playing.