Classical Sunday: Corelli’s 12 Concerti Grossi Op. 6

Arcangelo Corelli: 12 Concerti Grossi Op.6
Slovak Chamber Orchestra 1975:
Bohdan Warchal, Violin
Quido Holbling, Violin
Juraj Alexander, Violoncello

1 No. 1 in D major 0:00
2 No. 2 in F major 14:07
3 No. 3 in C minor 25:26
4 No. 4, in D major 37:17
5 No. 5, in B-flat major 47:50
6 No. 6, in F major 1:00:35
7 No. 7, in D major 1:13:46
8 No. 8, in G minor 1:24:05
9 No. 9, in F major 1:39:55
10 No. 10, in C major 1:50:30
11 No. 11, in B-flat major 2:04:15
12 No. 12, in F major 2:14:19

Maybe not quite as well-known as Vivaldi these days, he surely was back in his own time:  Arcangelo Corelli (17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713), also referred to as “Arcangelo Bolognese” or “Il Bolognese”, was an Italian violinist and composer of the Baroque era.  His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence of the violin, and as the first coalescing of modern tonality and functional harmony.  Although he was probably better known as a violinist than as a composer, his compositions for the instrument mark an epoch in the history of chamber music.  His influence was not confined to his own country: Johann Sebastian Bach studied the works of Corelli and based an organ fugue (BWV 579) on Corelli’s Opus 3 of 1689, and Händel‘s Opus 6 Concerti Grossi take Corelli’s own older Opus 6 Concerti as models.