Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) was born in Fusignano, and as a young man ventured to Rome. He soon won the patronage of the Swedish Queen Christina, who had abdicated her throne and established in Rome a remarkable court of literati which would later become known as the “Arcadian Academy.”  As a violinist, Corelli was probably as popular in his day as Paganini was during the 1800s, renowned above all for his beautiful tone. He was among the first to analyze violin technique, and he published five books of sonatas for one and two violins; altogether, Corelli did much to elevate the instrument to the prominent position it now holds in western music. What truly made him one of the most influential composers of all time, however, was his development of the so-called concerto grosso. Other composers had experimented with this form, but with Corelli it blossomed into full maturity, facilitating the evolution of the solo concerto. In the concerto grosso, two or more soloists are contrasted with a large ripieno or back-up group, allowing for sharp contrasts and a conversational interplay between the many and the few.  Corelli’s opus VI is a collection of twelve of these works, each impeccably crafted.  No. 4, which we have included on this program, is a particularly festive work in which brilliant violin writing is punctuated by supple adagios and graceful dance-like sections, culminating in a wonderfully unexpected drum-beat ending.

The composer who has come to be seen as a successor to Corelli, in terms of his influence on later composers as well as widespread acclaim during his lifetime, is Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741).  Born during an earthquake, he was the eldest son of a barber-turned violinist who taught him to play as a boy.  He was trained for the priesthood, and ordained, but evidently found music more compelling. Asthma prevented him from touring as extensively as he might otherwise have done, and after a brief period of travels Vivaldi settled in his native Venice. He worked at an orphanage for girls, the Pieta, where under his training the students formed an orchestra which was renowned all over Europe. (One visiting French critic, Charles de Brosses, found it superior to the Paris Opera.)  Vivaldi composed operas, sacred vocal works, and chamber music, but is best known today for his hundred of concertos. The Concerto in A minor for two violins is a fiery work in which the two violins are treated as true equals. The final Allegro is noteworthy for the beautiful melody given to the second violin mid-way through the movement: this tune departs radically from the overall mood of the movement, a revolutionary idea which would later be taken up by Mozart and others in their formal development of the “second theme.”

Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) was renowned in his day as a composer of opera and, when opera was banned from Rome by the church, sacred oratorios and cantatas (which are frankly operatic). It is his son, Domenico, who has become immortalized for his keyboard writing; however, here we sample Alessandro’s instrumental output with the Toccata in g minor. A toccata is almost always a keyboard piece, written in a free and often rhapsodic form; this one demonstrates the sense of timing and drama which made Scarlatti such a successful composer of theatrical music.

Vivaldi was, along with Alessandro Scarlatti, one of the most prolific opera composers of his day; he claimed to have authored ninety-four operas. This number was doubted by musicologists for many years, but scholars are now piecing together evidence of a truly vast operatic output-- future generations of opera lovers will surely be the fortunate recipients of their efforts. L’Olimpiade is the story of Aristea, a King’s daughter who has been promised in marriage to the winner of the Olympic Games. Unaware of this, her lover, the champion Megacle, has unfortunately agreed to participate in the games under the name of his friend Licida (who once saved his life). Honor compels him, upon winning the games, to renounce Aristea’s love and to try to convince her to accept Licida’s hand.  Aristea, however, is disgusted and rejects Licida, while Megacle tries unsuccessfully to kill himself. To make a very long story short, in the end, Licida is recognized as the twin brother of his would-have-been bride Aristea, and all ends with rejoicing. The work’s three arias for the character of Licida are presented here, offering a glimpse into Vivaldi’s lesser-known but magnificent operatic writing.

Francesco Geminiani (1680?-1762) was a student of Corelli in Rome, where he also studied with Alessandro Scarlatti. In 1744 he moved to London, where he enjoyed a formidable reputation as a violinist; from 1733 until his death he made his home in Dublin. Renowned as a teacher as well as a performer, Geminiani’s 1730 treatise The Art of Playing the Violin was the first method book ever published for the instrument. With it Geminiani intended no doubt to pass along what he had learned form the great master, Corelli. As stated earlier, Corelli was one of the most influential musicians of the baroque, imitated almost universally by subsequent composers; Geminiani went so far as to make orchestral arrangements of Corelli’s opus V violin sonatas. The sonata no. III in C major is a sunny work; it is in the typical “church sonata” form (slow-fast-slow-fast) with an extra Gigue at the end. Its perfection of form adapts easily to Geminiani’s judicious padding, resulting in a wonderfully satisfying concerto grosso.

Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1768) was a flamboyant figure, notoriously arrogant and suspected of insanity (in 1722 he fell from a third-story window; it is unknown whether this was an attempted suicide or an attempted murder). He was also one of the greatest violinists of his day. Veracini spent his youth in Florence, but soon established himself in the more musically sophisticated city of Venice. He performed extensively and in 1712 was heard by the famous Giusppe Tartini; legend has it that upon hearing Veracini play, Tartini decided to withdraw from performing for a time in order to cultivate a better bow-arm. Veracini spent many years working in Dresden and also in London (the northerners being wildly enthusiastic about Italian virtuosi), and composed operas and sacred vocal works in addition to his better-known violin concertos and sonatas. His compositional style was clearly influenced by Vivaldi, and he was himself the teacher of the famous  Pietro Locatelli. The sonata presented here is notable for its lovely extended Siciliana, a lilting 12/8 movement.  The final movment is interestingly titled an “aria,” indicating Veracini’s concern with lyricism even while his writing is characterized by driving virtuosity.

Vivaldi wrote 37 cantatas. Cessate, omai cessate combines all the exuberance of his instrumental style with a keen sense of drama, and requires a formidable vocal technique. The anonymous text requires the singer to move from vulnerability to bitterness as he reflects on the end of a love affair: the first aria finds the protagonist resolving to kill himself, and in the second he envisions himself already a shade. This fairly generic melodrama becomes the vehicle for Vivaldi’s brilliantly and inimitably colorful music, in which virtuosity is always infused with sensuality and passion.