Italian Baroque Favourites
Giovanni Battista Sammartini
(1700/01 -1775)
Sinfonia in A major
Francesco Geminiani (1687 -1762)
Concerto grosso in E minor, Op.
3, No.3
Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695-
1764)
Concerto grosso in D major, Op.
1, No.5
Giuseppe Torelli (1658 -1709)
Concerto grosso in G Minor, Op.
8, No.6
Arcangelo Corelli (1653 -1713)
Concerto grosso in B flat major, Op. 6 No.11
Francesco Geminiani
Concerto grosso in D minor, Op. 2, No.5
Francesco Onofrio Manfredini
(1684 -1762)
Sinfonia No.10 in C major
Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (1671
-1751)
Sonata a cinque in G minor, Op.
2, No.6
Pietro Antonio Locatelli
Concerto grosso in D major, Op.
1, No.9
The present collection of Italian Baroque
favourites contains orchestral works that span some three quarters of a
century, from the heyday of Corelli in Rome and Torelli in Bologna in the late
seventeenth century, to the later activities of Sammartini in Milan. Giovanni Battista
Sammartini was born at the beginning of the new century, probably in Milan, and it was there
that he made his career. His importance lies in the fact that he belonged to
the first generation of composers writing in the newly developing form of the
symphony, a form that was to dominate European music as the century went on. 68
of his symphonies survive, often in collections outside Italy, confirming his
international rather than local popularity in this respect. In style he
represents a period of transition between the Baroque and the classical,
exhibited in symphonies that in general are in the usual Italian three-movement
form.
The earlier generation is heard in the Concerto
grosso in B flat major, Op. 6, No.11 by the violinist and composer Arcangelo
Corelli. Trained, it seems, in Bologna, Corelli made his career, one of
considerable distinction, in Rome, at one time in the service of Queen
Christina of Sweden, who had installed herself as one of Rome's leading patrons
of the arts, and then serving in the musical establishment of Cardinal Pamphili
and then of Cardinal Ottoboni, the young nephew of Pope Alexander VDI. His
sonatas and concerti grossi served as a model for later generations. The set of
twelve concerti grossi, published posthumously, but seemingly heard in Rome in
the 16808, include compositions for church use or in 'church' form, Concerti
da chiesa and chamber works, da camera, the latter lacking the
formal contrapuntal content of the former, and generally consisting of a series
of dance movements. The present concerto grosso, after a Preludio goes
on to include the basic movements of a dance suite, Allemanda, Sarabanda and
final Giga. The form of the concerto grosso, derived from the popular
trio sonata, involved the contrast of a small group of players, the concertino,
here two violins, cello and harpsichord, with the whole body of the string
orchestra, the ripieno.
Five years younger than Corelli, Giuseppe Torelli
was born in Verona in 1658 and in 1684
moved to Bologna, where he soon was
able to join the musical establishment of the Basilica of San Petronio as a
string player. After 1696, when the cappella of San Petronio was disbanded, he
worked in Germany and in Vienna. By 1701 he was
again in Bologna, serving in the
revived San Petronio cappella. Torelli's concerti grossi, like those of
Corelli, were published posthumously, in his case in 1709, but represent
earlier work.
The next generation of composers here included
may start with Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni, the son of a well-to-do paper merchant
in Venice, where he was born
in 1671. The comfortable circumstances into which he was born made it possible
for him to avoid engaging in any immediate profession, although he came
eventually to devote himself exclusively to music, avoiding participation in
the family business after his father's death. His compositions include more
than fifty operas, church music, secular cantatas and orchestral compositions.
Ambiguity in titles, with the word sonata used in a more general sense
than today, allows the inclusion of the Sonata a cinque among the Sei
Sinfonie e sei concerti a cinque that form his Opus 2, published in
Venice in 1700, at a time when Vivaldi, seven years his junior, was at the
beginning of his career.
Francesco
Onofrio Manfredini, born in Pistoia in 1684, was a violin pupil of Torelli in Bologna and a composition
pupil of Perti, whose work Torelli did so much to promulgate. He was in Ferrara for some years, but
returned in 1704 to rejoin the San Petronio musical establishment, where he had
served until 1696. His employment in his native town of Pistoia is recorded in 1727,
when he served as maestro di cappella at the Cathedral. His Sinfonie, in
fact church sonatas in which there are sections for concertina soloists,
were published in Bologna in 1709 and reflect the influence of his teacher Torelli.
A number of Italian musicians chose to make their
careers in other countries. Pietro Antonio Locatelli, who later enjoyed a
reputation to equal that of the demon violinist Paganini, was born in Bergamo in 1695, but studied
in Rome, perhaps with
Corelli but more probably with Valentini. He travelled as a virtuoso performer
but in 1729 settled in Amsterdam, remaining there more or less continuously until
his death in 1764. Here he associated with the publisher Le Cene and occupied
himself largely with the work of gentlemen amateurs. Something of his
virtuosity is evident in the 24 Caprices that form part of his Opus 3.
He published his XII concerti grossi, Opus 1, in Amsterdam in 1721, but revised
the set when he had moved there in 1729. His concerti grossi, although relying
on the standard model of Corelli, differ by the inclusion of one or two violas
in the concertino.
Born in Lucca in 1687, Francesco Geminiani was a pupil of
Corelli in Rome and won a reputation
as virtuoso violinist. It was in this capacity that he moved, in 1714, to London, where he enjoyed
the patronage ofa number of the nobility, performing at court with Handel. Much
of his later career centred on London, although he eventually settled in Dublin, where he died in
1762. His influence both on violin-playing and composition was considerable and
he taught pupils who later achieved some fame, while his theoretical work,
notably The Art of Playing on the Violin, has proved a useful source for
present knowledge of mid-eighteenth century performance practice. Geminiani's Concerti
grossi, Opus 2, were published in 1732, a set of six, followed in the same
year by the Concerti grossi, Opus 3. Both sets use a concertino of
two violins and basso continuo (bass instrument and keyboard) against the full
string orchestra, while later concerti grossi by Geminiani respond to a
presumed public demand by including the viola in the concertino.