Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709) was a Veronese composer whose music represents major developments in the evolution of the concerto grosso  and concerto forms. A highly respected violinist (and the brother of a noted painter, Felice), Torelli worked in Bologna, where he played with the San Petronio Orchestra and published seven volumes of concertos, sonatas and sinfonias. He was unusually interested in the trumpet, perhaps influenced by a virtuoso trumpeter who occasionally appeared with his orchestra, and wrote ground-breaking concertos for that instrument. During the 1690’s, Torelli toured Germany with his long-time companion, a famous castrato named Pistocchi; the two earned substantial fees and were held in high esteem, but Torelli’s legendary hypochondria is said to have forced their return to Bologna. The “Christmas Concerto” is, as it was when it was during Torelli’s lifetime, one of his most popular works. It takes its name from the pastoral last movement, which invokes the peaceful vigil of the shepherds who were the first to see the Christ child. This was a popular form for eighteenth-century Italian composers: Torelli, Corelli, Vivaldi, Manfredini and Locatelli were among many who wrote concerti grossi with pastoral themes for the Christmas season. 

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was born in Saxony, and demonstrated a remarkable musical talent at an early age: he wrote an opera before he was twelve!  Alarmed, his mother hid away all of his musical instruments and sent him away to school.  The young Telemann nonetheless taught himself to play the recorder, flute, oboe, chalumeau (an early clarinet), violin, viola da gamba, double-bass and bass trombone, before entering the University of Leipzig as a law student.  He also studied languages and science, but his great musical creativity could not be contained, and he soon began receiving commissions to write music for the prominent churches of Leipzig. In 1702, he was appointed as a cantor, the first post in a long and illustrious career; Telemann was to become one of the most celebrated musicians in Europe. The cantata heard here was written in Hamburg, where Telemann worked from 1721 until his death. His duties included overseeing the musical activities of five churches, and composing two cantatas for every Sunday (he also produced a great deal of other sacred music, and volumes of instrumental works). This cantata, Gottwill Mensch und sterblich werden, was written for Advent.  The two arias (which are separated by a recitative) both feature sparkling unison violins, which frolic around the soprano’s line for a wonderfully festive effect.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was considered in his day to be very much a lesser light than Telemann; his job as Cantor in Leipzig had been turned down first by Telemann (and one other applicant, Christoph Graupner). History, however, has stripped Bach’s music of any whiff of temporal unfashionableness and revealed, magnificently, its genius. The Brandenburg concertos were written during Bach’s years in Cothen, where he was employed by Prince Leopold, an intellectually and musically sophisticated man who retained an excellent orchestra. This stimulating atmosphere gave rise to much of Bach’s most enduring instrumental music. (Later, in Leipzig, he would focus on sacred vocal writing.) The set of six concertos for various combinations of instruments was sent as a gift by Bach to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721 with the following dedication: “Sire: Since I had the happiness, a few years ago, to play by command before Your Royal Highness, and observed at that time that you derived some pleasure from the small musical talent that Heaven has given me; and since, when I was taking leave of Your Royal Highness, you did me the honor to request that I send you some of my compositions: I have therefore, in compliance with your most gracious demand, taken the liberty of tendering my most humble respects to Your Royal Highness with the present concertos, arranged for several instruments, begging you most humbly not to judge their imperfection by the strict measure of the refined and delicate taste in musical pieces that everyone knows you possess, but rather to consider kindly the deep respect and the most humble obedience which I am thereby attempting to show to you. For the rest, Sire, I beseech Your Royal Highness most humbly to have the kindness to preserve your good will toward me and to be convinced that I have nothing so much at heart as to be able to be employed on occasions more worthy of you and your service, since I am with matchless zeal, Sire, Your Royal Highness’ most humble and obedient servant, Johann Sebastian Bach.”  No reply was forthcoming from the now-obscure nobleman. 

The fourth concerto, written for violin, two recorders and strings, is a joyous example of the concerto form, with a tender quartet as its middle movement.  The outer movements are notable for episodes of dazzlingly virtuosic violin writing, which burst onto the contrapuntal landscape with breath-taking speed.

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) was one of Rome’s foremost violinists, whose reputation reached the farthest corners of musical Europe. While his output was relatively small, it was revolutionary in many ways, and his influence on both contemporary and subsequent composers cannot be over-estimated. Perhaps his most important contribution was the development of the concerto grosso form, which features a small group of solo instruments contrasted with a larger so-called ripieno ensemble.  While other composers had experimented with this earlier, the concerto grosso reached its mature form with Corelli, laying the groundwork for the great literature of solo concerti to follow. Corelli’s music was popular even into the 19^th century, and its widespread dissemination during his lifetime was unprecedented. His compositional style is very orderly, providing a rational framework for the Italian emotionality which is found here as well. The opus 6  “Christmas Concerto” was surely an influence on many others, with its extended concluding pastorale. 

Now we turn to a set of pieces which need no introduction: three arias from the great oratorio Messiah by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). While this oratorio has become one of the most frequently performed and best-loved works of all time, it was actually composed in only three weeks during the summer of 1741. The unmatched emotional intensity of this work and its flawless dramatic pacing reflect the fact that Handel was primarily a theatrical composer (he wrote forty operas). Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742 as a fund-raiser (400 pounds were raised)—Handel was well known for his generosity to charitable causes. By the last decade of his life, performances of Messiah had already become an annual tradition. As in the Telemann cantata heard earlier, all three arias presented here are written for soprano with unison violins. This device, especially favored by Handel in his vocal writing, allows the orchestral accompaniment to be full-bodied in sound while functioning as another “voice.” Rejoice is a wonderful manifestation of its title, while How Beautiful are the Feet is an eloquent tribute to humility and good. The third aria we present, I Know that my Redeemer Liveth, opens Part III of Messiah:  the darkness of Part II has gloriously lifted with the Hallelujah and there is a sense of deep, true faith. The first-person pronoun of the text reflects the intensely personal nature of this beautiful aria.    

Michel Corrette (1707-1795) was a French organist who was active in Paris for much of the eighteenth century, although details of his life are not well-known. He was sought-after as a teacher, and held various posts as an organist. He has come to interest contemporary musicologists mostly for his numerous method books, which offer instruction on a variety of instruments as well as humorous anecdotes. These books have provided glimpses into both performance practice and the social position of musicians in eighteenth-century France. As a composer, Corrette’s output includes sacred and secular vocal works, operas and ballet, and twenty-five so-called Concertos Comiques, based on popular tunes. The concertos based on noels (Six Symphonies en Quatour contenant les plus beaux Noels Francois et Etrangers avec des Variations) are in this vein; these are tuneful, bright pieces with well-known Christmas tunes of the day incorporated throughout.